Adventures in bad food ... and bad reporting

As one who studied journalism way back when, I take it upon myself to be specially qualified to critique a publication's news judgement.

Case in point: a week ago, July 24, when I was still in Fort Worth, as I got on the elevator with some folks I knew, I noticed that one of them held the morning's USA Today. Of course I asked, " What are the latest headlines?" To which she replied, "Drew Carey is going to take over the Price is Right." "Really," I replied ... "Now tell me some news that matters ..."

Ok, that was a little harsh, but here's the thing: Buried on page 8 of the Life section ... the LIFE section! ... next to the article on low 'health literacy' raising people's chances of death, is this headline, "Botulism scare forces wider recall."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with 90 brands affected by the botulism recall, I'm guessing that the odds of a can of bad food in the pantry just might be greater than the odds that someone is going to tune in to the Price is Right. Or am I wrong? Meanwhile, when all of those cans are stripped from the grocery store shelves, where do they go? Does anyone know?

This kind of news makes the local stuff look a little more appetizing ... even if I can't readily identify it, at least I know who grew it.