Demagogue

With advertising space slowly putting the squeeze on actually news space, every inch of newspaper text is precious. This means that every paragraph, every sentence should be more than “insider” banter — it should convey interesting or useful information. (Radical notion, eh?)

So was there a reason why New York Times reporter Anne Kornblut — and her copy editor — felt the last 12 words of this paragraph were noteworthy?

In a showdown of minuscule proportions, six Lieberman campaign workers protested the final Lamont event in New Haven, drawing the ire of Mr. Lamont’s campaign spokeswoman, Liz Dupont-Diehl. “Do all candidates go to each other’s events?” a glowering Ms. Dupont-Diehl asked, after Mr. Lieberman’s New Haven regional director, Ken Dagliere, mistakenly called her Lisa.

Who gives a shit? Should it really matter to readers or voters that one of Lieberman’s staffers misspoke or does not remember the first names of Lamont’s staffers?

-Posted by Frederick Maryland (via zoe kentucky)