That is some kind of special story. I saw it earlier and sent it variously around the country.

Story of the month for all parties concerned ... and us.

Holy!! "Australian cross-country runner and his wife."? Those are a couple hasher buddies of mine, they've gotta be. Wow, what a story; I'm still crying 10 minutes later.

BTW, the WW had it in "Murmurs" on Wednesday. Then it's banner front-page head in The O the next day. Sound familiar?

So? And the main story in today's WW was on the front page of The O two months ago. BFD.

Dig your blog, Jack, but don't let your O crankiness get the best of you. You really think The O wasn't already working on their 40-inch takeout before WW's squib? Think about it. The cops are sitting on an amazing story that puts one of their own in a very good light. Which are they gonna aim for, a paragraph inside a weekly or a big splash in front of a half-million pairs of eyeballs on The O's front? (And on to the national wires from there.)

The Oregonian is always "working on" stories that other people break. Bob Packwood, Neil Goldschmidt, the list goes on.

The WW goes to bed on Monday, and you get your 40-incher out on Thursday? That's beyond slow.

It's now a world where news is broken instantly, on the internet. For a monopoly daily to come in second to a weekly on a regular basis is pretty weak.

BTW, Wednesday's headline, "Potter forces runoff," should win a prize for worst-miss-of-the-real-story in many a year. Truly f***ed up.

Finally, if you're going to be snotty, leave your real e-mail address.

Jack said:
>BTW, Wednesday's headline, "Potter forces runoff," >should win a prize for worst-miss-of-the-real-story >in many a year. Truly f***ed up.

I love reading your blog, and although I am often annoyed by your crankiness, it made me happy to see someone mention the Oregonian headline. I read that on Wednesday morning and just cracked up. Shouldn't it have been "Francesconi forces runoff" or "Potter suprises Francesconi" or just plain "Holy Crap, Potter got the Majority?"

Keep up "your O crankiness"!

Jack, you're right. It was late, and I didn't mean to come off as snotty. I apologize.

I think WW is put to bed Tuesdays, but I could be wrong. Regardless, on a story like this, it's not really about who's first. We're not talking about breaking news about the sexual crimes of public officials here. It's a great story that deserves to be told well. Spending a few more hours on it and nailing the details is sometimes preferable to rushing a paragraph into print. Even if it means somebody else gets a paragraph out first. The obsession with getting something first instead of getting it right is much of what's wrong with some media outlets (see also: networks, cable news).