As I do every morning, I drove to work and saw a man selling newspapers at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge to passing motorists. As he walked past my car, I noticed what looked like a heart on the front page of the Daily News with words inside of it that I couldn’t quite make out. So when I finished breakfast, I went to a newsstand and looked at the front page to find a heart on the front page all right – and inside of it were the words, “Rudy and Judi 4 Ever”. If that is not stomach turning enough – The New York Post, and even Newsday had the exact same thing on their front page – except the Post had the heart and words on a cartoon of a tree and Newsday had the heart and words on a cartoon of a brick wall.

Can I throw up now?

With each passing day, the papers in this City make me sicker and sicker. We all know that the Mayor is divorcing his wife and has a “very good friend” in Judi Nathan – but does it really warrant the front page of three out of the four papers in this City – and with that type of front page no less?

I have to take a moment and credit The New York Times for actually putting real news on the front page of their newspaper and only mentioning the story on the inside of their Metro section. But while I credit the Times – I have to say I am extremely disappointed in Newsday. Newsday usually does reporting that is closer to the Times then the News and the Post – who’s reporting is usually closer to Weekly World News or the Star. So the fact that Newsday sunk low enough to put the “Rudy and Judi 4 Ever” on their front page has made me now lose respect for the third out of the four papers this City has to offer.

Besides the fact that these headlines are in bad taste – did anyone at these three “distinguished” papers take the time to think of the feelings of the Mayor? Of Ms. Nathan? Of First Lady Donna Hanover? – Or of their children Andrew and Caroline? Of course not – which is why if I didn’t have to look through the papers as part of my job each day – I would only read The New York Times and use the other three papers to wash my windows.

And by the way – does anyone at the News, Post, or Newsday happen to know that a 24-year-old female intern has been missing since April 30th? Or that a 23-year-old student at Hofstra University killed a classmate for rejecting his sexual advances? Or that a 15-year-old girl was arrested for kidnapping her neighbor’s 3-month-old son? Sure they do – because they buried the not-even-half-page stories on those incidents deep in the paper in order to make room for the “real stories” – like the “Rudy and Judi” saga, the slain “pot dealer” who sang on a CD called Ganga Woman – and that two stars from The Sopranos might be dating off-screen? Again – can I throw up now?

Since there is nothing we can do in this City but stomach this daily garbage and hope that one day – those that run the News, Post and Newsday will leave and be replaced by people who will turn these three newspapers back into just that – “news”papers – I guess we will have to stick to the New York Times for “All The News That’s Fit To Print” – instead of “All The Gossip That’s More Important”.

And you wonder why I hate the media so much.