BREAKING: Our dumbnification study continues!

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2022

As found online, today's Washington Post: We sit here typing at 9:15 A.M. on this Sunday morning. 

Proceeding from the top of the page, here are the top eight news reports presented on the front page of the (online) Washington Post:

U.S., U.K. say Russia’s retreat from Lyman is ‘significant’

Hurricane Ian is the ‘second-largest catastrophe loss event on record’ in U.S.

NFLPA dismisses independent doctor involved in clearing Tua Tagovailoa

MAD magazine’s oldest active artist is still spoofing what makes us human

Stampede at Indonesia soccer game kills 125, officials say

Oklahoma is in deep trouble (college football winners and losers)

National Archives says it is missing electronic messages from Trump administration officials

The essential pre-trip checklist of house chores

That strikes us as an odd assortment of featured news reports. Should MAD magazine's oldest active artist, or a pre-trip checklist of house chores, be given such prominent display in a major Sunday newspaper?

How about Oklahoma's college football woes, or a stampede at a soccer game half a world away? (Three of the eight featured reports concern events from the world of sports.)

That strikes us as a peculiar assortment of featured news reports. That said, those were the only reports given prominent, full banner display on the front page of the online Post at 9:15 today. For the record, this was the sub-headline on that eighth report: 

Follow this checklist and you'll return from traveling to a clean, safe home.

In the face of presentations like that, it seems to us that the online Post is being dumbed way down.

A person could say that we're being unfair to the online Post. A few sub-headlines appear beneath that first report about Russia. We've also skipped four less-prominent offerings in a secondary section called ONLY FROM THE POST.

That said, those offerings tend to be a bit more "human interest" aligned than the typical front-page news report. Also, and just for the record, one of those secondary offerings has now been featured on the Post's front page for seven consecutive days. Another has been featured online for the past eight days.

Is the online Post being dumbed down? That is a matter of judgment! We'll note that, directly after those eight banner-treatment reports, the next section we met was ADVICE. These four reports were featured:

Carolyn Hax: Evict the cat so the boyfriend can move in? Maybe ... not.

Ask Damon: I’m terrible at keeping in touch with friends. Is something wrong with me?

Miss Manners: My sister brings up her grief whenever anyone complains

Ask Amy: Should I tell my kids the truth about their grandparents?

The online front page is constantly changing. But this was the Post's (online) front page as we found it at 9:15 this morning.

Judged by traditional norms, is the Washington Post being dumbed down? As always, a matter of judgment!

11 comments:


  1. "is the Washington Post being dumbed down?"

    Who cares, dear Bob? Eat, if you must, what's served to you by the liberal-neocon establishment, by Jeff Bezos and his minions.

    ...or don't. It's up to you, dear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "A person could say that we're being unfair to the online Post. A few sub-headlines appear beneath that first report about Russia. We've also skipped four less-prominent offerings in a secondary section called ONLY FROM THE POST."

      Shouldn't you be concerned that Somerby is deemphasizing news about Russia?

      Delete
  2. I think it is pretty dumb to consider a report of 125 people being crushed to death at a soccer game a sports story.

    "How about Oklahoma's college football woes, or a stampede at a soccer game half a world away? (Three of the eight featured reports concern events from the world of sports.)"

    Understanding how people get crushed in large crowds is pretty important to everyone's safety in public places. Apparently, Somerby only cares about people's deaths in the USA? Or maybe only in Baltimore? Or maybe not at all, since he doesn't ever express much concern about them, unless it is Kyle Rittenhouse who executed a man for being mentally ill (while Somerby excused him for it).

    I am glad that Somerby is not the person choosing which stories should take priority for readers. It is pretty dumb to be the only person online who doesn't know how to use the table of contents to go directly to the national or world news section he most wants to read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mista Dobalina, Mista Bob Dobalina
      Mista Dobalina, Mista Bob Dobalina
      Mista Dobalina, Mista Bob Dobalina
      Mista Dobalina, Mista Bob Dobalina

      First he was my money grip,
      Then he stole my honey dip,
      So ya gotta kick it with the homies,
      But my man is already hip to your cronies.

      Delete
  3. How does a reader reconcile these two conflicting statements:

    1. "The online front page is constantly changing. But this was the Post's (online) front page as we found it at 9:15 this morning."

    2. "...one of those secondary offerings has now been featured on the Post's front page for seven consecutive days. Another has been featured online for the past eight days."

    Is the front page changing too quickly or too slowly? And which is the dumbest? I forget...

    Who spends his time sitting around worrying about how long a story remains on a newspaper front page? How dumb is that?

    ReplyDelete
  4. If you spend most of your time sitting around under your pear tree, annoying the neighbors, are unmarried and have no significant relationships, maybe you don't need advice. Most people are not in that situation. Most people do care about getting along with other people, and they want those people in their lives, even when they are allergic to one's cat.

    Why does Somerby call it dumb when a newspaper talks about advice on relationships and complicated social situations? Such relationships tend to be the MOST IMPORTANT thing in most people's lives. More important than the arrangement of stories in the Sunday paper. More important than the wording of an isolated question on a racism survey discussed in an op-ed piece, which Somerby devoted his time to for the past two days (his front page is not constantly changing).

    Somerby might well ask: "Ask Damon: I’m terrible at caring about what other people care about -- other people. Is something wrong with me?"

    Does Somerby have any idea how many people died in Hurricane Ian? Would he care if he knew? It is one of those stories listed on the front page of the dumbed down paper, except that story talks about property damage, not deaths. Liberals might care about such priorities. Somerby only cares about whether his paper flatters his intelligence with its choice of front-page stories. Not what matters in the world, or what should matter to us.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Our dumbnification study continues!"

    Preferred spelling seems to be "dumbification".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Calling others dumb is more complicated than it seems.

      Delete
  6. The Post is dumb reporting for dumb people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And by extension, Somerby is dumb media criticism by a dumb person of The Post's dumb reporting for dumb people and this is a dumb comment by a dumb consumer of Somerby's dumb criticism.

      Delete
  7. The editors of the Post are good decent people.

    ReplyDelete