By Mark Azzara
Dear Friend,
This will be a very brief note. I recently got an email from Yahoo offering readers 50 one-line jokes to brighten their day. I laughed at several of them and appreciated the effort.
Then I got an email from The New York Times alerting me to the stories that were to be included in its latest magazine. Among them: “How to have sex in a canoe.”
That elicited the biggest laugh of all from me – until I clicked on the article and discovered that it was just as billed, a guide on how to do it.
When a newspaper of The Times’ stature publishes stuff like this it’s small wonder that its value in the eyes of readers declines. Of all the things The New York Times should be writing about with all due seriousness, this should be the absolute last thing on its list.
Ah, lighten up, Azzara! How I wish I could.
If this was just a one-off mistake, lapse or example of bad news judgment I would be happy to laugh and turn the page. But it’s not. It’s part of a trend, there and elsewhere (whether intentional or not, I don’t know) that slowly, innocuously undermines our moral standards by treating them as if they no longer apply. And at some point you have to say, “Enough!”
So I’ll say it. ENOUGH!
All God’s blessings – Mark
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