Today's edition of Patricia Calhoun's Wake-Up Call notes the sudden newsworthiness in these parts of the previously humble coyote -- a development magnified by a recent attack on a local women while she was walking her dog. But the coverage of this last incident by daily newspapers and TV stations could hardly have been more different. This morning's Denver Post merely blurbed the incident in its print edition, and the Rocky Mountain News took the same approach -- although, at this writing, both papers are giving the coyote tale better play on their respective home pages. In contrast, Channel 31 led its 9 p.m. newscast last night with the story, and outlets like Channel 4 are giving it huge play.
The latter takes may well represent the future of journalism, especially if the newspaper industry completely collapses. Imagine: Precious little coverage of government hearings and other events with little visual appeal -- but if a coyote bites a dog, it'll be covered like the O.J. Simpson trial.
