Front page newspaper-ism in Chicago, yes. Chi Trib has major story, “The mud hits Chicago.” Read all about it.
The mud is an anti-Obama ad that the O. campaign has rebutted to its satisfaction. Trib Wash. bureau is on the job, making sure we know:
Obama’s campaign says the link between Obama’s votes and violent crime is specious, and that Obama has actually done more to effectively combat urban violence than his Republican opponent, John McCain, who it says has consistently resisted federal efforts to place more police officers on the streets and voted against banning vest-piercing, or so-called cop-killer, bullets.
Take that, McCain.
Next to it is big pic of half-naked swimmer, the guy we’ve been reading about all week. Read this story, fresh in your home-delivered Trib from the Baltimore Sun, and rehash what you know from watching NBC. Reading fun, to be sure. Front page newspaperism, remember.
Down below is a hot story about “seniors” — as in citizens, not high school or college — learning how to surf and, God knows, even blog. This is like the Obama campaign ad in that it’s an ad for this guy who gets $75 an hour to show seniors how to do it, complete with riveting shot of this guy and man who at age 76 — yes, 76! — is learning.
If this story is on the web site, it’s well hidden; so no link is offered. But for another about a senior who blogs (!), read this blog, day after day after day. It’s an ongoing saga of man against the odds, a thrilling tale, yes.
Finally on today’s front-page Trib, we have “Progress against toxins in toys takes small steps,” with this crisp lede:
When a nationwide ban on hormone-disrupting chemicals in soft plastic toys and cosmetics takes effect early next year, it will mark an important turning point in efforts to remove toxic compounds from consumer products.
You see it here in four lines. In the home-delivered Metro edition, bottom right FRONT PAGE, it’s in nine lines. Wow.
It’s all about phthalates, which
are suspected of causing reproductive and developmental problems, especially in boys. Then there are perfluorinated compounds in food packaging, stain-resistant carpets and non-stick pans that have been linked to cancer and birth defects. A chemical found in hard plastic baby bottles and water containers, bisphenol A, causes breast cancer and lowers sperm counts in animal tests.
Now what kind of reader wants to read all that over his morning coffee and whole wheat toast? And how many are there of this rare breed?
Sam Zell, do you see now what you’ve got yourself into?
Blithe Spirit 
My wife commented on the half nude swimmer man, too.
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