What's the dumbest story you ever had to cover?

[MTM]

Not a stupid story, but since others mentioned being the only reporter at a press conference.
One of our local city council members was a cop in Palm Springs and was working security an event where former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres was giving a talk at a temple. Knowing I am Jewish, he asked me if I wanted to attend the press conference before the event.
I planned to just hang in the back for the opportunity to hear from a world leader. I didn't see it as a story for my paper, so I didn't want to get in the way of the other reporters and didn't do any research since I wasn't going to ask any questions.
The only other attendee was a radio reporter. I let her ask all the questions and I came up with a dumb question so it seemed like I had a reason to be there.

 

[sgreenwell]

... I was just glad to have a story.

Works for every time I was ever in the field, ha. "Please just give me some angle or bull**** to write about here!"

 

[dixiehack]

His boat flipped and sank and I was thankful that I now had something to write about.

Another user name explained.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

When I was a young reporter, a local restaurant held a press conference to announce...I dunno...something or other. It sounded interesting. I was the only media person to show up. It was awkward.

That's exactly what happened with me, and the cops! And I'd been in town about six weeks. In the mid-80s. And I was like, 'Whoa, WTF?'

 

[Pilot]

Here's a general category for this thread: the dreaded Photo Poll.

I'm sure lots of you remember those: go somewhere like the shopping mall or the library with a camera, find four or five people willing to answer a stupid question AND have their picture taken. Any type of news-related question ("who do you think won last night's presidential debate") took forever, because either no one wanted to answer or when they did, they'd flee when you started to take their picture.

A space filler for local newspapers that no journalist misses.

I worked (albeit briefly) with a guy who faked one of these at a small suburban weekly.

He used the mug shots that always run in The Onion, like the guy with the big mustache. This was 20+ years ago where you’d maaaaybe think you could get away with it? And indeed I didn’t read the Onion at that point, and my boss didn’t, but we were alerted by some readers.

The guy claimed he’d done the interviews, but couldn’t figure out the camera, so just used the mug shots.

Obviously he was fired immediately.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

I worked (albeit briefly) with a guy who faked one of these at a small suburban weekly.

He used the mug shots that always run in The Onion, like the guy with the big mustache. This was 20+ years ago where you’d maaaaybe think you could get away with it? And indeed I didn’t read the Onion at that point, and my boss didn’t, but we were alerted by some readers.

The guy claimed he’d done the interviews, but couldn’t figure out the camera, so just used the mug shots.

Obviously he was fired immediately.

This was who I thought of immediately.

 

[mpcincal]

Here's a general category for this thread: the dreaded Photo Poll.

I'm sure lots of you remember those: go somewhere like the shopping mall or the library with a camera, find four or five people willing to answer a stupid question AND have their picture taken. Any type of news-related question ("who do you think won last night's presidential debate") took forever, because either no one wanted to answer or when they did, they'd flee when you started to take their picture.

A space filler for local newspapers that no journalist misses.

When I was at the SDSU Daily Aztec, we used to have that, I think once a week. The El Cajon paper nearby also did it, and one year our editor-in-chief, who was a photographer by trade, also worked the the EC paper and sometimes was responsible for the photo thing. One day near home, I picked up a copy of the EC paper and caught the photo poll, and they were all DA staff members. I guess our editor must have got the assignment late and couldn't get away from campus.

 

[BartonK]

I was working at a small-town daily, and the publisher was always pressing for rah-rah stories about any new business in town. So I get assigned to write a feature about a new place downtown, all I'm told is it's some sort of gift shop. I get there and the shop is selling high-end, exotic seashells, in a town of 12,000 people that's at least 800 miles from the ocean. The owner was a firefighter from the next town over and planning to only be open on the days he wasn't working. The place closed after the first month; I'm not sure he sold a single seashell.

 

[Flip Wilson]

That may be the dumbest business idea I've ever heard.

 

[WolvEagle]

Here's one that even dumber: It was in a good spot - in a strip mall on a major road: Mink Blankets R Us. Thankfully, I didn't have to write a story about that one. It was gone almost as fast as it arrived.

 

[justgladtobehere]

Here's one that even dumber: It was in a good spot - in a strip mall on a major road: Mink Blankets R Us. Thankfully, I didn't have to write a story about that one. It was gone almost as fast as it arrived.

Nothing conveys quality and luxury better than using 'R Us' in the name.

[Edit] did I miss a Simpsons joke?

 

[WolvEagle]

Nothing conveys quality and luxury better than using 'R Us' in the name.

[Edit] did I miss a Simpsons joke?

Not that I'm aware of.

 

[justgladtobehere]

Not that I'm aware of.

I probably lifted the idea from a sight gag from the episode Flanders opened the Leftorium.