Girl Named After KFC: Newsworthy? (Media Critique)

"KFC offered parents college tuition money to name their kid after Colonel Sanders and someone actually did it," reads the first line of one of today's headlines on the Courier-Journal website. Ha-ha. Okay, now let's move on to some real news. Clearly, this wasn't what the Courier-Journal writers were thinking when they published this article, and had it show up as the fifth breaking story on their website.

Yes, it's a funny headline that attracts people to click on it. But does it really matter?

Most of what's been in the news in the past few days have been stories about the recent hate crimes committed in Kentucky and Pittsburg. Some would argue that an article about a baby girl named Harland would be a good reprieve from all of the negativity going around. However, this article is straight up non-newsworthy.

Although it isn't pleasant, we need to hear about the recent shootings, even days after they've occurred. We need to be informed about the important things happening in our country, and someone naming their baby after the founder of KFC is not one of them.

The newsworthiness element of journalism isn't the only thing this article violated. One of the yardsticks of journalism says, 'Make the important interesting, but do not make the interesting important.' That's exactly what the Courier-Journal has done in this case.

This isn't to say that this story has absolutely no place in the news, because it does. Perhaps in the Entertainment section or well below all of the notable, newsworthy stories. It has no place as the fifth breaking story.

There are several things that could replace this story to make the news for informative, such as news about the upcoming elections or updates on the recent shootings that have taken place. Even an article like 'Best Places to Trick-or-Treat in Louisville', for example, would be acceptable.

In conclusion, the Courier-Journal has come up short in their news reporting by violating the element of newsworthiness and the yardstick of importance vs. interesting.


By Lily Wobbe

Read the full article here: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/2018/10/30/cute-baby-named-harland-col-sanders-kfc-contest/1822294002/


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