There are not many guarantees in life.
But most days I can be fairly sure of one thing.
Just about every day I am going to tick off a lot of people.
It's one of the hazards of this business.
Take our front page, for instance.
I field complaints just about every day about Page One.
People believe we sensationalize stories so that we can sell newspapers.
Don't wait for me to deny that.
There is some truth to it.
Listen, I am in the business of selling as many newspaper every day as I can. In case you haven't noticed, these are not the best of times for the newspaper racket, in particular that lovely old dinosaur we call our print edition.
Today most people are getting their news online. So we do both, we push information out online via our website, and on social media. I live on Twitter and Facebook most days.
But we still create a print edition every day.
Here's the problem, one of many I confront every day. Most days the story that graces the lead position on Page One is something that people already know.
In case you haven't noticed, this business now operates on a 24-hour news cycle. Try it sometime. It can be a daunting experience.
So when I put together that front page, I am usually looking for some kind of hook to hang the story, a different spin. Yes, sometimes that can rub people the wrong way.
They take a look at the front page and wonder what the hell we were thinking.
They believe we are either downplaying - or overplaying - a story. They complain that we are making fun of a very serious situation.
A few weeks back, I heard from a lot of teachers who were not happy with the front page that appeared the day after a lockdown at the school. For them it was a very tense experience. As it turned out, no one was injured and a student was found to be carrying a toy pellet gun.
The next day our front page carried a picture of that gun and the headline, TOY STORY. Yes, it was a bit irreverent. But I was not looking to make fun of the situation or downplay it. That's not the way a lot of teachers took it.
Earlier this week I used the photo of a car on its side, almost appearing as if it was impaled on a telephone pole. The police told us the driver of the car was operating the vehicle under the influence of heroin. I used that photo with a headline that spelled out D-U-HIGH. Again I heard from several readers who believed I was making fun of the situation. I was not. In fact, I was using that display to underline just how serious the opioid problem in the county was. That's something that was echoed in the comments made by Chief Mike Chitwood.
This morning, I used our front page to herald the news that Mary Gay Scanlon was sworn into office as the newest member of Congress. She will sit in Pat Meehan's old 7th District seat for a few weeks, before being sworn in as the new 5th District member of the U.S. House in January.
Today's Page One Headline:
WOMAN'S WORK.
Yeah, I'm betting that one will probably rub a few folks the wrong way as well.
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