How About Using Pink Ink, Or Have An "Empowering" Quote As A Banner Headline Everyday?

The Ombudsman (or maybe I should say Ombudswoman) for The Washington Post has a very serious problem to deal with, as she described in her column Sunday. The problem she and the Post editors are concerned about? Young women (ages 18 to 34) with children read the Post at half the rate as men with children. Of course, this critical problem needs a solution, so a Post task force will look at it and make recommendations.

I would think the people at the Post would have more pressing concerns, like, maybe, determining how good a job they are doing covering the hard news in the city? Concerns with improving the overall quality of their stories? Ensuring that they put out the best paper that they can on a daily basis?

But not in Washington P.C., where the emphasis is on being all-inclusive, rather than putting their energy into creating the best product possible.

The company that owns the Washington Post makes several products targeted to specific demographics, including El Tiempo Latino (a Spanish Language newspaper) and Sprig (which seems to be targeted to those going green). They even publish the Express, which, given the brevity of the articles and the numerous photos, seems to be targeted to people that have no interest in reading newspapers. If the Post really feels that women with children are such a separate market, make a paper especially for them. But don't shove any more junk touchy-feely non-news items in the already retaining water Washington Post.