lol! u call this journalism?

It did not escape me that the image accompanying this fawning article was a death's head

On the very same day I noted the NFL is antagonizing established media outlets by restricting the amount of video they can publish on their websites, this obsequious piece on Dan Snyder's Six Flags operations appeared in the same paper in a different section. This piece reads like a Six Flags press release that has been tweaked a bit so as not to sound like it came straight from Mark Shapiro's executive assistant's admin's intern's word processor.

I don't know if this is a payback from some Post slight to Dan Snyder, if the Post is banking some goodwill with Dan for the upcoming season, or if the Post has become so desperate for validation that they are basically printing anything Dan wants. Either way, I see we have bigger issues with objectivity than I originally thought. I think I may fax the Post a press release from Abe Pollin's office about Abe's new line of fragrances including Hint of Juwan, Blunt de Webber and Puresan Muresan The Smell of 7-7 and see if they mark it up and print it.

After a saccharine opening and some background on Dan's acquisition of Six Flags, the article goes straight into press release copy:

At Six Flags America in Largo, the company is pushing several lighter attractions designed for families, chief among them the Thursday night concert series. The park is also hosting "Brunch with Bugs," where parents and children can dine with Bugs Bunny. Parades that include DC Comics and Looney Tunes characters tromp through the park daily to the tune of "God Bless America." A free arcade featuring Nintendo's Wii video-game console has been installed. And this Saturday, the park will host a wedding ceremony, "Thrilled Ever After," where couples will declare or renew their vows whiles strapped into roller coasters, just before plunging at speeds of up to 70 mph.

Beyond the theatrics, park managers are promoting cleanliness and customer satisfaction. Menus have expanded. Food lines have been reduced. And pieces of trash are picked up by hand, if need be, by park managers themselves.

Family strategy, check; new concert schedule, check; marketing tie-ins, check; video game tie-in, check; off-beat vow renewals gimmick, check; shorter food lines, check. Bias-free reporting ... oopsie!

Number of mentions of (apparently new) smoking ban in the park: three. Premium admission tier pitch, check. Check out this two-for-one:

"It's better, for one thing, without having the smoking everywhere," Valerie Morra, 45, said while cooling herself underneath a mist machine. "The food deals are good with the premium pass."

Imagine that, a virtual advertisement for the park, appearing in the area's newspaper of record right before a big holiday week. As the man once said, we both agree what you are, we are just haggling over price.

Image from a show at Six Flags: Kevin Clark / Washington Post from here.