ATTACKING WARMED-OVER NEWS ... WITH HAIKU

By: Jamie Santo Tacoma Paper's Verse Case Scenarios



Give them 17 syllables, they'll give you the world.



Taking brevity as the soul of wit, as well as a necessity in these
fast-paced times, the alternative weekly Tacoma (Wash.)
Reporter began in January presenting 'Haiku News.' Haiku,
traditional three-line Japanese poems with five, seven, then five
syllables per line, penned by the editorial staff, appear on Page 6
every issue, attacking the ancient art of warmed-over news.



The dish on Tacoma's official slogan, 'America's No. 1 Wired City' (a
self-bestowed title), can now be served simply, yet with measured
aplomb:



Most wired city? Us.

Basis for such a claim? None.

Competition? Vast.



Upon a visit to Tacoma by a bubble-gum boy band, the editors queried:



'N Sync: if I throw

you in the ocean, do you

promise not to float?



And where else are health briefs combined with reminders of one's own
mortality:



Flu hits T-town hard

Should have got your shots sooner

Soon you will be dead.



And that's nothing to sneeze - haiku kerchoo - at.



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Jamie Santo (jsanto@editorandpublisher.com) is a reporter for E&P.

















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