Honeydews and “invisible” news–not so long ago another green item made news too (but more visibly)!
Something about the color green and things we eat. Recently, I heard someone tell me that he was on a diet that involved only green vegetables—not yellow or brown, but green. Fruits not included (there goes the kiwi).
Now, browsing through The New York Times' The Upshot, I find myself reading a rather lengthy narrative about a subject I had never even heard a beep about, and which is totally irrelevant to me. Get ready for this: the next green thing we Americans hate is that sweetest of all members of the melon family: the honeydew.
It's good for the honeydew that there hasn't been (yet) a Presidential proclamation against it, as happened in 1990, when President George H. W. Bush launched his lethal attack against that other green edible thing: broccoli.
The older President Bush declared that he never, ever, wanted to see another sprig of broccoli on his plate, whether he was on Air Force One or at the White House or anywhere else in the land.
“I do not like broccoli… And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!”
That was that. Children across the nation rejoiced. Moms probably didn't.
'I'm President,' So No More Broccoli!
read the headline on Maureen O'Dowd's column.
Late night TV shows took the broccoli story and ran with it.
But, for now, back to invisible stories.
Those stories almost always engage and entertain. At The Wall Street Journal those stories find a home daily on Page One, as part of the A-Hed, the off the cuff story that has no link to the day's financial news, but that is likely to be the one item where our eyes gravitate, and where our eyeballs stay.
In today's environment, with printed newspapers no longer breaking news, invisible stories are even more important. They seduce us to stay glued to the page. They make us think about topics that are in the periphery, but uncovered. It is not easy to identify and to write these invisible stories, which is why I was happy to see the usually serious The Upshot devoting a segment to the pale green topic of honeydews and how the populace does not care much for them.
As for the benefit of eating these green things, obviously the older President Bush has done well, thank you, without eating broccoli. He continues to parachute out of planes in his 90s.
Wondering how he feels about honeydews, however. There is a potential invisible follow up story in the makings here.
Of related interest:
The Upshot: That Honeydew Melon Looks Good, but Does Anyone Eat It?
'I'm President,' So No More Broccoli!
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/23/us/i-m-president-so-no-more-broccoli.html
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1990s/fl/President-Bush-Announces-He-Doesnrsquot-Like-Broccoli.htm
Of special interest today
Contently Launches A Nonprofit Arm To Do Investigative Journalism
Highlight
Contently is launching a new nonprofit foundation dedicated to investigative journalism. The Contently Foundation — contently.org — is “our way of planting trees as a company,” says cofounder Shane Snow (a member of the FORBES 30 Under 30 in Media). “We’ve always considered ourselves a tech company that cares about the future of media.”