Otterblog

The Journal, like most newspapers, has several sections besides the Front section, or A section: Local, Sports, Business and Features. Generally speaking, news in those categories stay in those sections, unless we think there is a wider audience or interest in the topic. We push a lot of business stories to the front. Winston is a business town, with companies that frequently make a lot of news. And two weeks back, we pushed our coverage of West Side Story out there as well. Sports is sometimes trickier. Other than ACC and Final Four coverage, sports is its own category. People are either interested in a sport—or they’re not. The same could be said about other topics, but it seems to me the lines are a little harder and firmer with sports.

But my guess is that the front-page sports story here the next few months is going to be the courtship of Dale Earnhardt Jr. It’s one of those sports stories that transcend the sport itself. It could be its own reality TV show. It has all the elements: A beloved, crusty father who dies tragically; a son trying to live in his daddy’s larger-than-life footprints; a stepmother who is seen as evil and conniving; and that all-American catalyst for conflict: money—lots of money. Think of it as Survivor/Daytona edition.

The Jr./DEI breakup was front-page news everywhere—and not just in the South. My guess is it speaks to several things. First, it’s a big story. Second, it has all the above elements. Third, editors are paying closer attention to what their readers are interested in rather than what they should be interested in and trying to balance scarce resources to reflect these two visions. This story isn’t global warming. Or Iraq. Or the 2008 presidential race. Or Darfur. It’s just an entertaining diversion, like Pro Wrestling. The old school might have been that those stories can never be on the front page. The new school is they can be, if they are handled and presented properly.

I was flipping through ESPN a few times this weekend, and they kept on running clips of Dale Jr.’s press conference. With the sound off, it could have been any young movie star on a podium talking about his new film and how he got the part.

Best headline of it all: D-E-I vorce… Several papers had it. A good one.