The Buzz helps give the front page some character

Newspapers have a duty to inform and entertain. That’s one of the first things that journalism students are told — usually right after they’re taken aside, advised of the typical starting pay at newspapers, and asked if they’d like to change their major to business administration.

Typically, readers looking to be entertained have had to dig into the back pages for the comics and the horoscope. Or the humor columnist on the opinion page. Or the photo on Page B3 of the mayor wearing a funny hat.

But The Herald puts the silly stuff on the front page, with a twisted take on the news we call The Buzz.

For the past six years, The Buzz has been one of the most popular — and, for some folks, the least popular — features in the newspaper. The Buzz appears weekdays on Page A1 and on Saturday on Page A2. It takes Sundays off.

“The Buzz has become a signature element of The Herald’s front page,” said Neal Pattison, the newspaper’s executive editor. “It sets us apart from other newspapers. It gives readers something to look forward to each day.”

The Buzz was inspired in part by a decidedly unfunny newspaper mainstay: those stodgy “Today’s News” summaries parked in a bottom corner of Page One.

“As someone who has worked both as an editor and a design consultant, it struck me that these were pretty generic — and probably not very enticing,” Pattison said. “We wanted to accomplish the same goal: point out stories readers might enjoy inside the paper. But we wanted to do it in a way that was stimulating instead of boring.”

Inspiration came from Pattison’s students when he taught at a college before joining The Herald.

“I would start each semester by asking my students where they got their news,” Pattison recalled. “Time after time, the overwhelming answer was ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.’

” ‘That’s not news!’ I would protest. Inevitably, they’d tell me, ‘No. He talks about REAL news stories. But he makes you laugh — and think.’ Understanding how Jon Stewart could get students interested in current events was a breakthrough for me.”

The Buzz consists of short blurbs about at least three stories inside the newspaper that might interest readers. “It was inspired in part by blogs, with the idea that The Buzz is a blog about that day’s paper,” said Doug Parry, who helped conceive the column when he was the newspaper’s lead Page One design editor. “We wanted it to have a snarky tone, without getting into anything political or mean-spirited — which sometimes means we’re toeing a fine line.”

That fine line is managed by The Buzz’ authors, assistant news editor Jon Bauer and news editor Mark Carlson.

Carlson says the column generally steers clear of anything that smacks of overt partisan politics. For reasons of taste and sensitivity, mayhem, tragedy and death are off-limits — with a few notable exceptions.

“Dictators who treat their subjects savagely are fair game when they finally get around to croaking,” Carlson said. “We were goofing on Kim Jong-il the day after the Dear Leader’s demise. You can call it the Generalissimo Francisco Franco is Still Dead rule.”

When there are no despots’ deaths to celebrate, Carlson and Bauer look for articles about surveys and polls, science and technology, and, of course, gaffes and misadventures by celebrities and politicians. All provide reliable fodder for The Buzz.

Newsroom banter, at least the part that’s printable in a family newspaper, also can find its way into The Buzz, Bauer said.

“The morning news meeting actually is a good place to try out material,” he said. “As we discuss stories for the next day’s paper, I’ll make a crack and see if anyone else responds.”

Carlson noted that if Bauer laughs the loudest at his wisecracks, it’s a pretty good bet that whatever he said will wind up in the next day’s Buzz.

Bauer concurred.

“My test for The Buzz is to write something that amuses myself,” he said. “Humor is a matter of personal taste and not everyone is going to find what I write amusing, so I try to write something that works for me and hope others like it too. But sometimes I just have to stare at the screen until my inner smart aleck comes up with a Donald Trump joke.”

Jokes about Trump and the woodland creature that lives on his head may be easy pickings, but Bauer and Carlson have a daunting job, Pattison said.

“Humor can’t “sorta” work,” he said. “Either it is funny or it bombs.”

Pattison says he gets more reader feedback on The Buzz than anything else in the newspaper.

“People either love it or hate it — and the pro comments outnumber the anti comments by a wide margin.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Southbound lanes on Highway 99 reopen after crash

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, blocked traffic for over an hour. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.