There are two key phrases in the world of journalism: "Who what when where why and how" cover the basic instructions to any brand new reporter off to cover a courthouse scandal, or deluxe scented candle, or an assault with an ax handle. The answers to those six questions will tell you all you need to know.
And the other shibboleth, or old custom, required a change in spelling. The concept is "Don't bury the lead," and they meant the "Lead me on" pronunciation, not the "led astray" pronunciation. But so that people wouldn't say "led" me on, they came up with a whole new word - lede - as in "Don't bury the lede."
An example of burying the lede would be "Laura Keene gave an outstanding performance as Florence Trenchard in 'Our American Cousin' at Ford's Theatre last night. A capacity crowd was moved to tears, laughter, and applause during the production, which continues to set box office records in the nation's capitol.
One disappointing aspect of the evening was that Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President, was shot and killed during the second act."
So no, don't bury the lede. Big news goes right up at the top of the story, which is why I found this amusing, during my daily perusal of the latest stories from the world or archeology.
It seems the people digging in Italy found the fossilized remains of nine Neanderthals at a prehistoric cave site south of Rome recently. They came up with skulls, skull fragments, two teeth and some other bone pieces.
One of the skeleton crew is from between 90,000 and 100,000 years ago, and the other eight probably danced their last rhumbas 50,000 to 68,000 years ago.
All of this turned up at the Guattari Cave in San Felice Circeo, where a Neanderthal skull was discovered in 1939. Local officials say this makes Guattari Cave "as one of the most significant places in the world for the history of Neanderthals."
AND THEN! Here, all the way down at the bottom of the doggone article, they dig a ditch, throw the lede in, and bury it for all time, hidden away from all but the most gimlet-y of eyes:
Neanderthals died out roughly 40,000 years ago, but small traces of their DNA still exist in modern humans.
So there it is, right from the Associated Press. Neanderthal blood and DNA still course through the veins of the guy who cut you off in traffic the other day, the person who didn't bother to bring their tv along when they moved here from Panama because it only got shows in Spanish, and certainly the person who thought that doubling a cookie recipe to make a double batch meant turning the oven up to 800°. The Neanderthals are still here, and every time we go on social media we see evidence that they are extant yet today.
I'll stop here, because there is a third rule: Don't overstate the obvious.
2 comments:
The coveted Quip of the Week goes to "skeleton crew."
And, the Journalistic Restraint of the Month goes to the blogger who resisted the doubtlessly overwhelming temptation to add that Marco Rubio, reacting to Joe Biden's recent use of "Neanderthal" as a pejorative, valiantly sprang to the defense of our extinct brethren. And his lot decries political correctness! Oy.
Marco never misses the chance to miss the chance.
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