Orlando Sentinel Tries Un-News

In the grip of dwindling readership, lagging sales, bankruptcy, and round after round of layoffs, the Orlando Sentinel this past week tried its hand at blog style un-news articles. The front page article that they ran basically stated the topics that students who would be taking the writing part of the FCAT the next day would be seeing. This caused a flurry of upset parents and school officials to react in a negative manner towards the paper. For those of us who are rightfully in the un-news business, we call on the Orlando Sentinel to apologize not only for the stupidity of leading people to believe it was printing possible FCAT cheat sheets in its periodical, but also for the many un-news articles it has printed over the past year in preparation for its debut un-news article. The world of un-news journalism is serious business and should be left to the un-news professionals. The WayneWho staff cannot even imagine a scenario where a list of even 'possible' test answers would be published to give students an unfair advantage. We think this directly relates to a culture of lost ethics and honor at the Sentinel and draws into question most of the other 'journalism' they attempt on a daily basis. Hiding behind the idea that it was just a 'layout malfunction' on the 'Front Page' of a newspaper seems like a thin explanation.

We think: Un-news articles should be cut from the Orlando Sentinel. While the importance of the Orlando Sentinel ranks on the same level as the position of lieutenant governor in the State of Florida, delving into the realm of un-news is not a for the ultra-liberal at heart. Mass spending agendas and cradle to grave social programs at the taxpayers expense do not make for good reading by average hardworking Floridians. This might explain the Sentinel's readership problem, but that is for their CEO and management to figure out.

True un-news articles follow a more established pattern that today's journalist don't seem to understand. An un-news article on a topic like; Kissimmee resists 'Buy Local' policy not because it will hurt local businesses in their bids for jobs outside of our county, but because the City's Mayor does not want his company, 'Waste Management', that operates outside of Osceola County, to lose it lucrative contract with the city of Kissimmee. Another un-news article topic; City Commissioner Jerry Gemskie disagrees with 'Buy Local' policy because it would separate him from his long-time Simi Valley, California political consultant. We know to the journalistic guru's at the Sentinel, these articles do not seem like news and we would have to agree. That is why they are called un-news articles that nobody reads anyway. Our simple advice to the Sentinel is that after they apologize for their 'layout malfunction', they need to figure out how to, once again, write honest and real news articles to inform a public that wants to know.

Until next un-news article, the answer is 'D'.