counteracting declining circulation, with drivel

the mainstream media isn't so much liberal in content, as conservatives might claim. rather, the greater threat is the continual pandering to general interest, casual readers with content that focuses on the quirky and irrelevant "human interest" aspects of stories rather than relevant and important facts.

take this piece in the washington post. it discusses the phenomenon of "seat hogs" and how people are becoming irritated by it (bogus trend alert: were they not irritated before?).

the real story it would seem is that "the transit agency would need 320 more rail cars to keep congestion manageable, but the current capital spending plan does not include funds for those." This is buried in paragraphs 19-22, close to the end of the article. isn't this the real story? that Metro ridership is projected to result in "highly congested" or "unmanageable" commutes by 2020?

for the writer and the WaPo, this is all ancillary to the human drama of Metro "seat hogs." instead of writing a series of articles focusing on the lack of foresight, funding, etc. on the part of Metro in planning for the future, and how that will likely negatively impact future ridership, road congestion, etc., the Post decides that it will sell more papers, at the cost of the greater good, but writing about this type of ephemera.