The New News

It's now available------at a local paper near you. It's called the "new news." I call this information " new news" because I learned in this morning's Daily Bee (www.bonnercountydailybee.com) that a copy in mint condition of Sandpoint Magazine's 2005 winter edition sold for a whopping $26.50 on EBay.

The copy sold for that price because it includes my interview with Viggo Mortensen (www.mariannelove.com). Readers were encouraged to keep their copies because of this astounding increase over the normal $3 price.This information appeared in publisher David Keyes' weekly column.

It followed a litany of facts and figures about newspaper circulation and readership. David had just returned from a newspaper convention where he learned that readers have come to trust their local newspaper.

He was quick to point out that the Spokesman-Review (www.spokesmanreview.com) had lost more than 20 percent of its readership in Bonner County during the past year while the Bonner County Daily Bee's circulation continues to rise. He also learned from an unnamed source that the overall circulation for the Spokesman has decreased this past year.

I had just one problem with David's column---it's nearly two months late and a few dollars short. His "new news" in this morning's column about the Sandpoint Magazine EBay sale does pale a bit in comparison to some old news that went out to online readers more than a month ago. Now, I know that's not a big thing, but in this case I kinda take it personally.

If David had checked around town and read the Sandpoint Online Towncrier (www.sandpointonline.com) which reaches a wide circulation each week, he could have informed his trusting local readers that a copy of the Sandpoint Magazine with my Viggo interview sold for $202.50 on EBay. That occurred back in November. The seller lived in Hawaii and set an initial price of $6.99.

Now, I know from reading his past columns that David doesn't always get his Viggo facts correct anyway.
Last summer, he informed readers that Viggo would be showing up for the Long Bridge Swim in August.

A column or two later, he kinda reneged on that claim, stating that the earlier report of Viggo's supposed appearance came from someone's website. He also provided some additional observations about the actor and reasons he definitely wouldn't participate in the swim. These "facts" were gleaned from "a friend of one of Viggo's relatives."

I won't bore you with or honor the information imparted because it was hardly something Viggo or any of his family members would appreciate. Later, I did talk to a family member (Viggo's sibling, in fact) who was incensed with the insinuations printed in the Bee column. He also informed me that he had no idea of any family member who would have ever tell a friend who would have told David any such facts.

Anyway, I guess this reveals why an ever-growing number of readers here trust their local paper, which provides them with more titillating information with its "new news." Maybe the Spokesman, with its recent circulation decrease, ought to give this novel journalistic approach a try. David could help. So could Dan Rather.