Why newspapers are failing

I might take a closer look at this next week, or I might play videogames. Either way it's worth noting that The Washington Post, one of the papers of record for these USofA for the past two centuries, is 1) in serious financial trouble, and 2) regularly hires reporters who don't understand what they're covering.

These two things might be related.

The new Washington Post reporter covering the Nationals baseball team would rather be writing about something else. Food, preferably.

“I don’t like sports—I am embarrassed that I cover them,” Chico Harlan says. “I can’t wait to stop. It is a means to an end and a paycheck.”

...

“My approach might drive hard-core fans crazy because I might not get inside for that nitty-gritty play-by-play,” he says. “The passion I can drum up is wanting to capture what is unique about each game. I am interested in the characters more than anything.”

Harlan on Adam Dunn, the Nats’ new slugger: “He’s very Will Ferrell-ish in his humor. He has that half-amused smile on that big body and that curly hair. It’s hard not to look at that guy and laugh.”

Hard-hitting! In-depth!

To be fair, this is about as much as the Nationals deserve. They suck out loud. But it's also obvious that Chico is part of the old breed of reporters who think the story is all about them and what they find interesting, not about what's actually happening.

That's the same breed of reporters that drove the newspaper industry down the toilet in the first place, in case anyone was wondering. And it also clears up a bit about how a paper as respected as the WaPo once was can fall so far, because having this guy on the staff reeks of only one thing: contempt for your readers.

Of which there is now one fewer. Adios, WaPo. Enjoy your place at the table with the Rocky Mountain News and the NY Sun. You've earned it.