Been wondering about Gary Condit and Washington intern Chandra Levy, who seems to have disappeared for a second time?
How about O.J. Simpson, who took the witness stand in Miami last week and - ready for this? - did so without CNN providing non-stop coverage.
They've been shoved to the hind end of the media bus and are now, in their own way, editorial victims of the events triggered by Sept. 11. They're back there with the Social Security lockbox, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Jennifer Lopez's marriage and vigorous dissent.
This is no media conspiracy. After all, television, newspapers and magazines have for years reaped enormous profits from serving up a daily story diet that exceeds the USDA's recommended levels for fat and carbohydrate intake.
James Naughton, the former executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer and now president of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, said the redefinition of news in the past seven weeks is the biggest shift he has seen since the reporting of Watergate.
"What this has done is refresh our recollection of what matters to the point that real news is dominating, in the way that the Condit story and all that other fake news did," Naughton said.
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So what might have made the front page in most daily papers had it not been for the terrorist attacks? Here goes.
The Postal Service is pressing to push the price of a first-class stamp to 37 cents, up from 34 cents. Because the Postal Service usually gets what it wants, look for that to arrive in January.
The media-sponsored recount of Florida's presidential vote, the one that is supposed to resolve who won last year's disputed election, is on hold. Plans call for examination of the tally to begin in December.
Friedrich Leibacher, 57, opened fire and tossed a grenade in the legislature of the placid Swiss canton of Zug, killing 15 people, including three members of the canton's seven-member government. Officials said Leibacher, who killed himself during the attack, was angry at government authorities over a dispute that started with a bus driver two years ago.
Toyota and Sony announced they had combined forces to produce a car that smiles, cries and changes colors, depending on how you treat it. Called Pod, the car is normally orange, but it turns blue and produces water on its headlights if it has a flat tire or runs out of gas. No word on how it responds to potholes.
The number of layoffs announced since Sept. 11 topped 410,000, about the size of the city of Atlanta.
The murder rate in the United States reached a 35-year low last year, according to the FBI.
Proving once again that love is often blind, French attorney Isabelle Coutant-Peyre announced that she would divorce her husband to marry one of her clients, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, also known as international terrorist Carlos the Jackal.
Former President Bill Clinton was suspended from practicing law before the Supreme Court.
A global dust storm engulfed Mars, kicking up dust as fine as talcum powder up to 40 miles into the atmosphere.
Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura urged residents of the state to stop reading the two major daily newspapers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and to stop watching the local evening newscasts. That way, Ventura said, residents can protect themselves from the "half-truths, the National Enquirer journalism that's practiced today." Ventura recommended talk radio as the reliable source of information.
O.J. Simpson was acquitted in Miami on charges of road rage. Simpson smiled and said, "Thank you."
And U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., will face a primary challenge from California Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, who promised that he would not make character an issue. As the San Francisco Chronicle noted, that won't be necessary.
by Tim Jones and
Vincent Schodolski
Knight Ridder-Tribune
Tim Jones and Vincent Schodolski are Chicago Tribune staff reporters
