I usually like newspapers and I usually like to read newspapers. I usually like to read USA Today, even though it's really "newspaper lite", because it often has interesting articles. And I like to keep up with matters back home when I'm traveling.
But, give me a break! "Energy independence isn't just a pipe dream"?
Yes, USAT, it's a pipe dream. Or, maybe you're smoking.
So, here's my demand letter to their customer service deparment:
16 May 2012
me
Mike Chisari
Director, National Customer Service
PO Box 10444
McLean VA 22102-8444
Dear Mr. Chisari:
I need you to refund the purchase price for your 16 May 2012 issue of USA Today, which I bought in good faith on the premise that you publish a newspaper. Yet, when I read the lead article, “Energy independence isn’t just a pipe dream”, it turns out you aren’t printing news at all. At no point does it mention that this “oil and natural gas boom” is impossible to realize, since we cannot possibly dump that much carbon into the atmosphere and survive.
Given the planet’s warming up rather alarmingly and every reputable scientist says this is caused by pumping too much carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases) into the atmosphere, the very least a newspaper must do is to report how much carbon this would release. How do we increase the amount of carbon burned and keep earth livable for humans? Maybe that would make a good article.
It took me $1.20 to buy your paper because of a malfunctioning dispenser box. However, in the spirit of generosity, I’d only like you to return the $1.00 list price of this issue. Twenty cents isn’t anything in today’s economy, but failing to even mention the obvious limits on fossil fuel? Well, that’s journalistic malpractice.
This scheme is a pipe dream. And the amount of carbon they’re talking about actually is front page news. Anyone doing actual reporting on the issue would have noticed that, and I want my money back!
Sincerely,
(Liberal Thinking)
I really bought this issue because of a better, but very abbreviated article, "Clinton welcomes France's new path", which really (if you read between the lines) concedes that austerity failed in Europe. But that doesn't make up for a front page article that misses one of the most important points about all this fracking oil.