I’ve heard over the past couple weeks, a lot of complaining — from neighbors, readers, etc. — about the Dallas Morning News supplement, The Briefing. Yeah, they are littering my street, too. At least one of my neighbors has opted not to pick them up at all — he now has a damp yellow-y black and white mound growing on his home’s otherwise pristine façade. Others have simply tossed the papers curbside, incorporating them into a pre bulk-trash pick up pile.
I can’t complain. I’ve worked for a couple publications that either launch unsolicited papers into people’s yards, or hang ‘em on their doors ... and I believe those to be, all-in-all, good products that the community enjoys.
That said, I of course I checked out The Briefing, and I think it is actually a pretty good idea. But hey, I once declared Cliff’s Notes “the greatest creation of all time”. And that’s basically what The Briefing is — quick hits and highlights from Dallas’ daily newspaper. It's small, tight and neat with no story jumps — very user friendly. (Hold conversations with friends, colleagues and teachers as if you actually read the real newspaper before work this morning!)
If you see something that piques your interest, you can go online and get more … or, feasibly, pick up a DMN paper and get more.
I have plenty of bones to pick with the DMN, but this isn’t one of them. The DMN is like the current Dallas Cowboys team, in a way — flailing about, trying not do die and taking a beating from the public in the process. They are looking for something, ANYTHING, to breathe life back into their organization, and hoping that something sticks. Only I don’t think they anticipated that so many would be sticking in towering piles to neighborhood driveways.
By the way, if you hate The Briefing, call 214-977-8333 to cancel delivery to your home.
It immediately gets put in the recycle bin. I wish there was a way to opt out of getting this paper, they're just wasting paper on me. I hit up news.yahoo.com in the morning - browse the headlines and read what I want...
Posted by: lh_newbie | October 21, 2008 at 07:55 AM
There IS a way to opt out and I'm doing it today!
"By the way, if you hate The Briefing, call 214-977-8333 to cancel delivery to your home."
Posted by: JP | October 21, 2008 at 08:09 AM
Good luck "opting out". We did that very thing about a month ago, and still receive it. Don't kill any more trees for me please. I read all the news i want on the internet. DMN is going in the wrong direction.
Posted by: K | October 21, 2008 at 09:27 AM
Good luck "opting out". We did that very thing about a month ago, and still receive it. Don't kill any more trees for me please. I read all the news i want on the internet. DMN is going in the wrong direction.
Posted by: K | October 21, 2008 at 09:28 AM