Behind the Headlines

A couple of times a year we’ll get a letter like this one, which complained that there was no mention of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday in the newspaper and then ascribed a political motive to it.  While that may have just been somebody looking for a chance to smack us – always a popular sport – Herald-Leader editors realize that holidays and anniversaries
are an important part of our cultural fabric, and we try to make note of them in some way on kentucky.com and in the newspaper. 

Actually, we did mark the President’s Day holiday online and in the next day’s paper with photos of activities at the Mary Todd Lincoln house in downtown Lexington. There was a photo from an Ash Wednesday service online and on the next day’s front page.  And on Valentine’s Day, we turned our normally blue Herald-Leader nameplate red, and transformed the galloping horse into a flying cupid.  (No telling how many marriages were saved by that  reminder….) 

For major holidays or important anniversaries, such as Dec. 7 and Sept. 11, we try to look for a news or feature story about some new related development.  But for some holidays, that isn’t possible, because there is no “news.” (In those cases, I sometimes think of the classic Saturday Night Live skit in which Chevy Chase, playing a serious anchorman, intones, “This breaking news just in: Generalisimo Francisco Franco is still dead.”)

However, I understand where readers are coming from on this issue. And I’m thankful for it, because it shows how important people consider newspapers to be.

Tom Eblen
Managing Editor