But enough about Mom. What happened was this: Some anonymous employee at The Dallas Morning News sent us an e-mail directing our attention to a Web site, http://poisonkitchen.com. It's one of several on the Internet where reporters gather to complain about their bosses, etc. There was nothing particularly sexy about the News on it; reporters would complain if you hanged them with a new rope, which, come to think of it, isn't a bad idea in some cases. (Technically speaking, Buzz is one of the bosses at the Dallas Observer. We use the word "boss" here the same way people who live with cats refer to themselves as "owners.")
Still, we appreciate the thought, so we sent a reply thanking Mr./Ms. Anonymous. Unfortunately, however, Anonymous was clever and somehow used some nonspecific, systemwide e-mail address, so our reply reached several--maybe all--the people at the News. This, we hear, caused some underdrawers to be wadded. Anonymous exchanges with the Observer are frowned upon at the News. God knows why.
Sorry, Anonymous, for the snafu. Thought we'd be polite for once, for Mom's sake. That won't happen again. If it's any consolation, know that Buzz will regret this for a long, long time. If only we'd known, we could have had a lot more fun. Instead of a simple "gracias," we could have sent this reply: "Good Lord, that's scandalous. We'll be at the loading dock to pick up the documents at midnight."
Damn. Damn. Damn.
Still, it occurs to us that we now have a single e-mail address that anyone can use to spam the News staff. We'd never, ever print that--at least not as long as someone there sends us a little "token" to keep us quiet. A Morning News coffee mug sent to Buzz care of this paper will do nicely. This cheap hooch we've been drinking has eaten the glazing off our old one.
Although he can't say too much about it at this point, Bob Mong, editor of the Morning News, confirms what Buzz has been hearing for weeks: that a team of folks at the paper is putting together a proposal to publish a Spanish-language daily. It won't be pitched to top brass for a few months, so no one is sure if the idea will be to produce a separate newspaper or a section within the Morning News itself. But Mong says the higher-ups are keen on the idea of the Mañana Noticias en Español.
"It's something we're looking at and studying intensely," he says. "We think given the demographic changes in the state, it would be a good business decision."
