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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

The Slice

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Monday's Slice column looks at some possible reasons we eventually turned our backs on certain popular toys when we were children.

But I realized too late that I left something out.

Kids putting out their own neighborhood newspaper isn't exactly a toy. But it is a form of play. So it seems fair to ask. What caused you to tire of this activity?

I have a few guesses. See if any of them ring a bell.

A) Declining circulation.

B) Neighborhood news sources all wanted to be off the record.

C) Some families prominent in front pages stories could not handle the truth.

D) Advertising sales failed to meet projections.

E) Carriers wanted to be paid up front.

F) Editor acted like J. Jonah Jameson.

G) Deadlines were a bummer.

H) Libel/Ethics scandal of 1965.

I) It turned out your dog was the best writer on the staff.

J) Social media.

K) Judy Ellsworth, the girl across the street, critiqued your first edition with one word: "Boring."

L) Photographer got all huffy because technological limitations kept you from using any of his pictures.

M) Editor just wanted to say "Run that baby" like Jason Robards in "All the President's Men."

N) Failure to arrive at a consensus about the paper's name and its slogan.

O) Sports editor kept having to go home and do chores.

P) Staff revolt that led to a competing attempt to do a TV news show.

Q) Dispatches from Vietnam were not credible.

R) One of the reporters insisted he was Superman.

S) Potentially inspirational "Lou Grant" would not air for several more years.

T) Spelling issues.

U) Demands for corrections inevitably turned into wrestling matches.

V) Key reporter was a serial fabulist.

W) Staff cartoonist lacked subtlety.

X) Newsroom kept going on strike.

Y) Subscribers balked at repeated price increases.

Z) Other.



The Slice

The online home for Paul Turner's musings and interactions with disciples of The Slice.