Teeing Off

Hello. Possible aptonym of the year:

Donald Trump’s press secretary, who wishes to close off all conversation about whether her boss is accepting a half-billion dollar bribe of an airplane from the petropolis of Qatar: Karoline “Leavitt.”

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Meanwhile: A recent press release from The Washington Post announcing the appointment of Jason Anders as managing editor, reports that this is part of a general overhaul “designed to centralize the highest content and experience standards on all Post digital platforms”. Furthermore, it reports, “His keen understanding of how product and news intersect, paired with his pulse on changing technology in user experience, will be of tremendous value in our next chapter. He will report to Executive Editor Matt Murray and lead a team responsible for the daily news agenda, including editing, curating, publishing and presenting content for The Post’s website and app. Jason is deeply familiar with the opportunities and challenges we face as we reorient our workflows and publishing schedule, sharpen our digital interface and build out the news desk,’ shared Murray.”

Please note the appalling use of jargon throughout that entire release, culminating in the vomitaceous use of the verb “shared,” as though Mr. Murray was revealing a deep-held personal fact in the service of a difficult but necessary truth essential to the perpetuation of a free press.

No actual writer wrote this. No one who ever was employed as a journalist— including a semi-competent high-school journalist — wrote this. No one skilled in communication had anything to do with this. I suspect this was written by a corporate toady of some sort with a degree in marketing, who is earning $200,000 a year.

In a related development, the proprietor of …

.. must also report today that Ms. Alexandra Petri, a humor writer whose work he admires, is leaving The Post to join The Atlantic, a fine magazine that appears to have pirated 4,592 talented Wapo writers and editors in the last nine to twelve minutes or so. Ms. Petri writes in understandable English, not soulless corporate babble, so I am guessing she was considered expendable.

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So I am depressed, in general. I am going to leave you with this news story of importance, about a hilarious error of design in the logo of a baseball team. That’s their logo, at the top of this column.

Today’s Gene Pool Gene Poll:

Not asking for money today. See you here soon.

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