Oregon Media Insiders

And it's pretty much what I meant by "embarrassing" watching WW try to adjust. They've taken the tack of trying to out-Merc the Merc, and my point about snark by the barrel is, it's not possible. It's also not what WW is at the core. It's like Tony Bennett trying to rap. Why would he do that? He would probably suck at it, and he's so great just the way he is!

Before the Merc's increased news presence, however, WW had grown complacent, smug and lethargic. Not any more. Now they're at least visibly *trying*. You can see they've been woken up. They finally got serious about online, and though the new "so-hip" thing is jarring and rings false, I think--I hope--they'll outgrow it. They're being forced--and not by the Merc but by market forces much larger than either paper--to re-evaluate everything about themselves as a paper and a business, and having gone through that a few times as a person, I can sympathize.

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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother