Slow news days

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jul 17, 2003

Have you noticed?

Let's be honest: the CWN headlines haven't been scintillating for the last several days. But then again, neither have the headlines in the New York Times.

It's vacation time. The people who would ordinarily be making headlines are off work, and the reporters who would ordinarily be writing about them are off, too.

And that affects CWN, naturally. The Pope is at Castelgandolfo, with a reduced schedule and a reduced press corps in attendance. The Vatican press office-- you'll notice this soon, if you haven't already-- is recycling some old stories, and providing some year-end roundups instead of policy announcements. And to tell the truth, CWN staff members are making their own vacation plans...

Here's a word of advice: If you ever expect to be involved in a scandal, try to arrange things so that the story doesn't break in late July. At this time of year, reporters are scraping for interesting material, and you could find yourself with some unwanted headline coverage.