about why it cancelled the once-annual Easter Egg Hunt. The comment about parental aggressiveness last year was exaggerated from the get-go, starting with its first appearance in the Gazette, then by TV, the Associated Press and eventually foxnews.com, when the "story" was that "hundreds of parents" had
essentially gone berserk. Note that we're theoretically dealing with professional journalists here, yet none of the typists who wrote this stuff was even at the 2011 OCCA Easter Egg Hunt, and only the AP bothered to talk to somebody who had actually been involved in it. And I wonder sometimes why people I've
never met before cringe when I tell them I'm a news guy.
Sometimes, though, it's not just incompetence that causes the problem. There's another Westside news story this issue that was blown out of proportion by the Gazette. You'd never guess which one from the basic facts. OK, it's the Little London Cake Shoppe story. As it happens, I have been acquainted for many years with the owners and their main opponent. The Gazette writer chose to sensationalize the matter, which I believe has deepened the gulf between them. Oh yes, Bill, I know you have the First Amendment on your side, but couldn't you for once have put sensitivity ahead of your zeal for Page 1?
In the Egg Hunt aftermath, OCCA spokesman Dave Van Ness said he longed to get such coverage instead for Territory Days. I know what he means, but seriously, dude, are you sure?
- K.J.