After the Flood
Dear Jodi,
I feel a little like a contestant on an old-time game show like "Supermarket
Sweep," staggering to the check-out counter with boxes of Cheerios and
cellophane-wrapped Porterhouse steaks dropping off the top of my overstuffed
grocery cart. So many newspapers, so little time.
Jodi, it seems like months ago that we started these exchanges musing about
the cosmic meaning of day trading. It may be a reflection of our amnesiac media
culture that Monday's societal menace of crazed stock-market fiends has already
disappeared down the memory hole.
As I prepare to pack up my newspapers, I can't resist passing on one more
gem. Today's Washington Post ran a mournful headline that read,
"Hundreds Are Killed, Millions Left Homeless by Asian Floods." Guess where the
Post played this story? Page A-15, beneath the fold.
But don't blame the Post . The Wall Street Journal kissed off
1.8 million homeless Chinese in six terse lines towards the bottom of its
front-page news briefs. And what about the Times , rightly famed for its
international coverage? Not a word in today's paper about the Chinese floods,
presumably because they deemed a chatty feature on the Italians' obsession with
cell phones to be more relevant to its readers. In fairness, the paper of
record ran a wire-service picture on Wednesday's Page A-6 of flood-drenched
South Korean mourners crossing over to a funeral in rowboats.
Jodi, I'll especially miss our e-mail exchanges tomorrow morning when the
Journal arrives with its special "Weekend" section, which frankly I find
addictive, packed with stories about $7 million vacation homes and new
electronic gizmos for the bored executive. (Last week, the Journal found
a business titan who admitted that he had fired someone over his cell phone
while lounging on the beach.)
This is getting to be a long good-bye. So before I wax too maudlin, let me
just say, Jodi, that you've been a great morning pen pal. Enjoy the F train.
And here's hoping that you enjoy the summer weekend without thinking for a
single New York minute about the upcoming Senate race.
Fondly
