Give up?

ALL of the listed stories were covered in the Miami-Dade print media.  All but #8 occurred in Miami-Dade (the teen who skipped town for a vacation in Iraq hails slightly north up in Fort Lauderdale). All but #1 appeared in the Miami Herald, with the tale of the father-daughter marriage covered in the local alt weekly Miami New Times. 

Stories that made it to Drudge: #s 6,7,8, and 9.

Some of the freakiest and most poignant news stories occur right in Matt Drudge’s backyard.  While it’s true that the Drudge Report sports links to South Florida personalities like Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry, some of the most — well — Drudgiest news seems to escape Matt’s radar.  Maybe it’s the low profile he keeps on his home base, maybe it’s the fact that Miami-Dade is viewed as a secondary media market. While he has admitted to watching Miami TV for “tabloid trash” he loves, product out of the Miami Herald, Miami New Times, and Drudge Report don’t necessarily overlap.

Maybe he’d do well to check out the news outside his window.  I mean, besides when there’s a really cool storm outside (which he has photographed and posted on the site).

Which brings us to this week’s quiz:  Which of the following news stories appeared in a Miami-based mainstream news outlet…but not picked up by the Drudge Report?  Which were on Drudge and have nothing to do with South Florida?  Which were covered by both?  Test your Miami mettle below!

1.  A young woman tracks down her wealthy biological father and they bond. Then they marry. There is a symbolic ceremony in Westminster Abbey. Then a nasty divorce and legal brouhaha ensues.

2. Over 125 Islamic religious leaders, community members and students rally to show their solidarity with Palestinians.  Their assembly venue of choice: the vicinity of an area Holocaust memorial.

3. A prominent publicist flees on foot after police stop him from parking his Jaguar in a handicapped space.  He tries to claim that his mother’s disabled permit is his own and that he has a bad knee.  He takes off running, however, when a computer check finds his license suspended.  Months later, the same officer spots the publicist and arrests him as he leaves his VIP-studded birthday party…and finds two bags of cocaine in the process.

4.  In a follow-up to item #3, the man’s fiancee/PR business partner defends him in the press: “Nick keeps saying he’s the new Kate Moss.  It’s not like he’s some big dealer.  It’s really a very minor thing in the scheme of life…I truly don’t think Nick has a problem.” (Aside from being a public relations specialist, the fiancee is a syndicated advice columnist pursuing a master’s in mental health and marriage/family counseling.)

5. A new homeowner discovers a 15-foot Burmese python living in the apartment closet.  The snake’s previous owner had left it with a supply of water and a blanket to keep it warm, but never informed anyone. (This type of python can grow up to 20 feet and live up to 35 years.)

6. A less fortunate python explodes trying to ingest an alligator. The snake’s head remains unaccounted for.

7. Grounded by his dad, a teen runs away to his mother in Cuba.  No one notices that a minor is leaving the country alone.

8. As part of an “immersion journalism” project, another teen scurries away to Iraq and travels elsewhere in the Middle East.  No one notices that minor leaving the U.S. alone, either.

9. Three suspicious individuals — two Iraqis and one Lebanese national — are detained at a U.S. seaport after authorities become suspicious of their documentation and the contents of their cargo truck.

10.  One day after Item #9, the same seaport authorities detect explosives in a package of sprinkler parts being loaded onto a cruise ship.

Answers will be posted next week!

Gotten your beauty sleep?  It’s time for another year of high times and hijinks, merrymaking and madcap media mayhem.  But first, a look back at the year we’ve left behind:

Worldwide news consumers in general began the year hung over from the high drama of the previous year’s scandals and natural disasters…and ended the year feeling a little antsy.

Saddam in particular began the year feeling a little antsy from the high drama of the previous year…and ended 2006 feeling a little hung.

In general, celebrities whose private lives don’t concern us occupied our minds more than the issues that do affect us.  In particular, I’m avoiding naming names for fear of giving them further attention.

In particular, figure heads like Katie Couric and Rupert Murdoch continued to be more famous than the news they played a role in disseminating.  In general, this is nothing new.

In general, the people who showed the most dignity in the media spotlight were those who eschewed it completely: In particular, the bereaved Amish community who banded together after the tragic Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting comes to mind.

Internet journalists in particular learned they can be jailed just like their mainstream counterparts for refusing to turn over unpublished videotape and other legal evidence. 

Bloggers in particular learned they can get sued for millions just like Drudge (Washingtonienne’s Jessica Cutler by a man claiming exposure and humiliation on her blog; Perez Hilton by paparazzi for copywright issues).  They learned they can snag a book deal (ICM agent Kate Lee scours blogs for talent), win an award for a “blook” (the Lulu Blooker Prize for blog books)….or they can get plagiarized by the mainstream media.  They also learned they can upgrade to the mainstream media: Gawker’s Jessica Coen took a post at Vanity Fair, the original Wonkette Ana Marie Cox is now at Time.

Drudge in particular garnered a little more credit than credit is perhaps due as the so-called “Walter Cronkite of his era) (Mark Halperin and John F. Harris, Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008) and lots more blame than blame is due (supposedly “blaming the victims” for stating that the generation of Mark Foley’s teen IM buddies are less than innocent).  He broke traffic record (topping over 25.1 million page views) and hit yet another high number (the big 4-0). Just when things were developing a veneer of normalcy, he discovered a Little Green Man and invited him onto his radio show (the Little Green Footballs blogger who broke the story on Reuter’s doctored photo).

Drudge Blog in particular:  RegoPark finally produced a ton of media research after 2 1/2 years gestation (the novel’s still in progress), and Lance reproduced after only 9 months of gestation. 

And everyone in general managed to snag Time’s Person of the Year, including YOU, fulfilling the prediction of Andy Warhol in particular… that everyone will become world famous for 15 minutes…for 15 hours or so.