The Printer’s Devil

Happy New Year.

And we know what that means. It’s time for all those lame Top 20 (or 10) stories of the last year.

Everyone does them. They’re a cliché. And they’re not news. I’m not thrilled with them.

But they are a good fit for an odd time of the year. They make editors’ lives simpler and they save time. So feel no shame in running them.

They’re easy to do. Assign your reporters to each go over a month or two months’ worth of back issues (or however many reporters you have — plus you — and divide into 12) and compile lists of likely Top 10 local stories. You should obviously do this a week or two early. You can even make a game or contest in which the reporters vote on their favorites and offer goofy prizes. Of course, you can also include Associated Press or other lists as well.

If you’re ambitious and you run Associated Press year-enders, you might be able to include extra chin-pulling stories to further explain some of their stories

Then assign reporters to knock out short items reviewing each story and why it’s in the Top 10.

They’re fast and easy to do and they don‘t require a lot of thinking — why do you think every newspaper and TV station does them? They also have the advantage of filling pages at a time when there’s little going on and on those when reporters tend to skip out or do some major league goofing off. (I‘m not against that, especially when they‘ll soon be hip-deep in Progress stories — that‘s another article.)

What’s more, readers seem to like the rehash, although I’m not sure why.

They’re cheesy. But they’re harmless. And they help you in your never-ending battle against the clock. And it’s a nice pause before Progress. Ah, Progress. More on that later.