Slow News, Unlike Slow Food, Not Necessarily Better

Was it a slow news week for Mountain Xpress?

The paper's big story, with the tabloid-style headline "TAKEDOWN" on the cover, turned out to be about the Xpress itself.

Something about an old-news squabble back during the presidential campaign, a defaced billboard, a video of the squabblers that Mountain Xpress posted on YouTube, an objection to the video by one of the squabblers that caused YouTube to "take down" the video.  Then MountainX objected to the objection, the objectioner said it was all a misunderstanding and apologized . . .

As one commenter said, "I mean, really, who cares? It almost comes off like the Xpress created a straw man (or at least a flimsy example) for a story or trend it was looking to write about in a greater context for its own grandstanding take on censorship. The story ended for me when the lady apologized."

In more slow news, Jason Sandford, MX's lovable mashup of Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen and Ben Urich, tells us - again - about the not-yet-but-soon opening of Urban Outfitters.  He told us back in October, "Construction on the new Urban Outfitters store in downtown Asheville is moving ahead on schedule, with the retailer planning on being open for the holiday shopping season."  And he told us about the January 28 opening back on January 4 on his Ashevegas Web site.

Watching progress on Urban Outfitters across from the MountainX offices must keep this one on Sandford's mind.  Other soon-to-open retailers take note.

Does Sandford ever get confused about what he's posting on Ashvegas and what he's posting on MountainX?  I remember a post on MountainX in which he said no date could be confirmed for the Urban Outfitters opening, when he had already confirmed the date on Ashvegas.

Sandford shared a byline with managing editor Jon Elliston on the "TAKEDOWN" story.  Did that really take two reporters to cover?

And his other story of the week was another not-yet-but-soon story, this one on HATCH Asheville.  That doesn't happen until mid-April.  There was so little to say about the event that even its spokesman wanted to wait on this story: "We're moving ahead. We're pretty far along in programming, and we're looking to make announcements at the first of February," organizer Sean O'Connell reports."

To round out his story, Sandford repeated information from a story he reported after last year's HATCHfest: " 'This is a different model,' Sam Neill, the head of AdvantageWest's Creative Commerce Commission, told Xpress last May."