BY CONNIE COYNE
SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
COLUMNIST
One sharp-eyed Salt Lake Tribune reader sent an e-mail on Monday pointing out a
problem with an advertisement inserted in the paper:
“Did the Salt Lake Tribune pay for the bright yellow flier from Karen Derrick, Salt Lake
School Board candidate, Precinct Three, which was inserted in my Tribune, home-delivered
newspaper this morning, the day before the election?
“Nowhere on the single-page, double-sided flier does it say who paid for the insert. Is this
a common practice for the Tribune to insert fliers without such acknowledgements? How does
the Trib decide for whom they will do this?”
I might have noticed this myself on Monday morning, but I dealt with that pesky goldenrod
piece of paper — after it floated out of my Trib onto my lap — by crumpling it up and
throwing it away before my Scottie got a chance to rip it apart and spread it all over the living
room.
Now, this flier is more than a venial sin in political advertising. The Utah Legislature clearly
spelled out the legality in 20A-11-901 of the Utah Code: “Whenever any person makes an
expenditure for the purpose of financing an advertisement expressly advocating the election or
defeat of a clearly identified candidate . . . the advertisement . . . shall clearly state that the
advertisement has been paid for by the candidate or the campaign committee . . . ”
The fact that the candidate was apparently unfamiliar with Utah law concerning elections is
one matter, but the fact that folks at the Newspaper Agency Corp. — which sells the ads, prints
and delivers both The Tribune and the Deseret News — simply stuffed the pre-printed ad into
the paper is quite another. The NAC folks are paid professionals.
Word came from an NAC employee (who shall remain nameless) on Friday morning, “The
reason this got into the paper without the ‘paid for’ bug was that it was stored at the
warehouse. We will read all the inserts from now on before we stuff them in the papers.”
Wow, what a relief.
It’s not The Trib’s problem.
I know I will sleep better tonight.
Just Junk? I no sooner got over this, when I got an e-mail from another reader, who
expresses the doubts contained in many calls and letters I have received about covering
popular culture in The Salt Lake Tribune:
“It is unbelievable to me that scum like Eminem [a foul-mouthed rap singer for those of us
who are not hip to his jive] gets promoted in your paper. It is one thing that Hollywood sees
fit to use scum like him in a movie, but does that mean you have to promote and condone
people like him? . . .
” I don’t understand why you would validate slime like Eminem.
“And as for the movie ["8 Mile"]. Wow, he plays himself. What a great performance that
must be. Why don’t you just let the gang-bangers go see their movie and let it leave? Why do
you have to imply that decent people should see this crap? All that does is encourage his type
and put more money in their pockets to spread their sick messages.”
There is no accounting for taste.
When I was a teen, my parents were sure my generation would wind up in the eternal
flames because we were dancing to Little Richard, Elvis Presley and — gasp — Jerry Lee
Lewis (who, as I recall, was married at one point to his 13-year-old cousin). While I have no
idea what my prospects are for eternity, I can tell you I straightened up considerably after
passing through the crucible of puberty.
Newspapers have covered popular culture for decades; such coverage provides a snapshot
of where a nation stands at a certain point in time. Certainly Eminem’s music is no enduring
symphony and his movie probably is no “Casablanca,” but he sells CDs and concert tickets
and movie tickets.
Why people would sit still for his acting or his singing is beyond me, but I suspect it has
much to do with the rebellion that roils inside teenagers.
The importance of running critics’ reviews in newspapers has been and will continue to be
debated in newsrooms across the country. Some newspaper people believe such coverage
draws younger readers. I doubt that, but my doubt is my opinion. Young people seem to
prefer to read reviews of their culture in publications that are far hipper than The Trib.
In the meantime, if you don’t like the subject of a review, don’t read it.
On the other hand, if the news media did not cover Eminem, how would the reader know
what a “slime” he is?
Sunday TV: A note to the readers who wonder why The Trib runs TV listings for each
night Monday through Saturday in the Comics section, but fails to run a nightly listing on
Sunday: When the weekly TV book came out on Sunday, the nightly listings were in there,
but the TV book now comes out on Saturday and the Sunday evening listings do not run in
the Sunday paper. Tribune Managing Editor Tim Fitzpatrick says the staff is exploring
options on how to solve this problem. Stay tuned.
_________
The Reader Advocate’s phone number is (801) 257-8782. Write to the Reader Advocate,
The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. E-mail:
reader.advocate@sltrib.com.
