On a strong Sunday page one that was led by reporter Jeff Lehr's newsmaking interview with suspected serial killer Jeremy Jones, why on earth did the Joplin Globe put a story about the infamous runaway bride on page one?
It wasn't as if the story was going to sell newspapers. Even if Globe editors thought it would, it was at the bottom of page one and not above the fold, so it was not going to be seen in vending machines or on the racks by store counters.
On a day when there was an increase in attacks by insurgents in Iraq, it is an insult that Globe editors thought the runaway bride was worthy of page one coverage. If a tabloid story like that occurred in this area or as KSN would put it, if a four-state bride ran away from a four-state wedding and is believed to be hiding somewhere in the four states, that is a different matter. I have no problem with a newspaper or a television station giving a tabloid story top-drawer treatment...if it happened here...but when you put nonsense like the runaway bride on page one, you are indicating to your viewers that that's the kind of news you think is important. Perhaps a nice touch would have been to have had a Father's Day feature at the bottom of the page. Just a thought.
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For anyone interested in some of the thought processes Globe editors go through on an everyday basis, check out the homepage on the Globe's website, www.joplinglobe.com and find the Talk Back ad. If you click on it, you will find archived programs of the weekly radio show done by Globe Editor Edgar Simpson and KDMO in Carthage. Last week, Simpson and Globe Metro Editor Carol Stark had an informative program, in which they talked about the Globe selects the stories it covers. They also talked about many of the big stories currently in the news including the efforts to put a law enforcement sales tax on the ballot and the Joplin police situation.
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