Plenty of holes in Krispy Kreme hype
One of my greatest sources of pride is that not once during my tenure as editor of the /Peoria Times-Observer/, did that newspaper succumb to the idiotic Krispy Kreme* hype .
Reporters who long ago learned to tune out such ceremonial publicity as the passing of a giant check, the cutting of a ribbon or a brass-shoveled groundbreaking cannot deny Krispy Kreme. In Lafayette, Indiana, Max Showalter, a business reporter for the Journal and Courier, wrote no less than four stories about Double K’s debut there. He says Krispy Kreme invited representatives from nonprofits and area “top dogs” to the big show, and “I don’t see how
you can ignore that.” [Simple. You don't go. -- Bill]Retail reporter Susan Stock, who in August wrote one of the Lansing State Journal’s three Krispy Kreme pieces, says she isn’t sure why the paper devoted so much ink to the donuts. “That’s a really good question, in retrospect,” she says. “I don’t know if we would have if we had thought it out.”
No shi’ite.
Good lord. I knew of two locally owned bakeries that made donuts that tasted much better and I didn’t assign fluff pieces on them. Actually, I did assign one story, and that was because one of them did something newsworthy.
Every newspaper editors starts his or her day wading through the mail, about 90 percent of which cone from publicists. They are from companies that help inventors market their products — my favorite so-called invention was deodorant for male genitalia. Vacation sports want free publicity. And I swear, every chiropractor in Illinois has submitted a
column about how virtually every health problem on each can be solved by a spinal adjustment.
At the end of the day, my trash basket was filled to the brim, and my outbasket had a handful of pages with newsworthy information ready to be typed up. It was a major drain on my time.
So why do some newspapers gobble up this junk?
- Feeding the monster. Editors are given blank pages and told to fill them, preferably with original content, or stuff that looks like original content. The temptation to file the serial number or a press release and localize it with a few quotes can be intense. It’s not like your absentee publisher is going to give you the money you need to hire an adequate staff.
- Publishers want features. Hard news is such a downer. And besides, fluff pieces about some products can generate ad sales from certain advertisers. Hence, articles on the need to replace your antifreeze runs on the same page as a ads from the local auto repair shops.
* Sure, when groups held Krispy Kreme fundraisers, I printed the announcements. Sue me.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
