By Marilyn Brennan Santa Monica
Am I the only one who finds some of your headlines slightly pun-ish and a little too cutesy? In a recent issue of the SMDP, “Dung diggity: More farmers turning to manure as fertilizer” (March 22, page 14) is one that falls under the too cutesy category. Cutesy in a newspaper (outside of the comic strip page or topping an article intended to be light and/or humorous) makes one not take the paper as seriously as it should be taken.
But that is your choice and we can live with it. However, in the same issue there was the AP article on the sodium and fat content of Chinese cuisine with the following headline: “Me so unhealthy: Chinese cuisine gets taken to task.” I am not Chinese, or even Asian, but I found the “me so unhealthy” to be offensive. If it was the AP writer’s headline, you shouldn’t have run it. If a staffer at SMDP wrote it, shame on you... I would expect that the SMDP would be above such stereotyping.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 28, 2007. Read the original PDF.