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Show By Brian Gray Truth in advertising is an ivory tower concept honored more by college professors than salesmen and advertising agents. One man's truth is another man's deception, and we all realize that an automobile advertised for $5,299 will actually cost $8,800 after including such "add on's" as tax, license fee, destination charge, a transmission, an engine and a glove compartment. com-partment. Consumers aren't stupid. We all know that a breaded veal "patty" is not necessarily veal, that fresh seafood is not necessarily neces-sarily fresh, that Utah's "top-rated radio station" has top ratings rat-ings only in Duchesne County, that Russian vodka is actually bottled in Pittsburgh and that 10 percent off may actually be a price increase from last week's sales price. Most commercial pronouncements don't actually contain a fib. ..They merely contain marketing buzz words ("prices start as low as", "while quantities last"), asterisks and small agate type. Still, we receive numerous reader complaints, leading to the creation of our new annual award: The Cyclops Untruthfulness Untruthful-ness in Advertising Award. This year's Worthy recipient: The "Salt Lake Tribune" "Davis County edition." The "Tribune" is richly deserving of this prestigious award. Its masthead promises readers that the edition contains a Davis County focus and yet its inside pages include vital news from such well-known Davis County landmarks as Midvale, Sandy and Montezuma Creek. As an example, our judges perused the latest edition dated Jan. 6. The Davis County Focus appears on the front page with a crisply-written feature on a Centerville boy. But, after that, Davis County disappears. Obviously you can't focus on something some-thing that is non-existent. Of the 15 major stories in the Davis County edition, only two make reference to Davis County, a measly 15 percent of the total content. Instead, the Davis County Focus contains stories on bomb-sniffing police dogs in Salt Lake County, a Hogle Zoo class concerning Australia, a crime prevention program in Murray, Mur-ray, a library in Sandy and a team doctor at West High School. The Davis County edition takes an expanded view of the word "community": Under the banner of "Community Sports" we read of the ice hockey team at Highland High. ..Under the banner "Community Calendar" we read of 12 events, only one of which occurs in Davis County... Under the banner "Student Viewpoint" we read a pertinent essay from a senior at Brighton High School... And, on the children's page, we find drawings of teepees and the collected poetry of students from nearby San Juan County. Davis County is a growing community but have our boundaries bound-aries stretched that far south? Only in the "Tribune" is Davis County adjacent to an Indian reservation. Only in the "Tribune" "Tri-bune" is Mount Pleasant, Utah included in our "hometown" news. Davis County Focus proves that Marshall McCluhan was correct: We have indeed become a global village. Under this theory, a story on a sign ordinance in Midvale should be the talk of the Bountiful coffee shops. In fairness, the Cyclops judging panel reviewed two other first of the month Davis County Focus editions (Nov. 4 and Dec. 2). Only 27 percent of the main stories came from Davis County Coun-ty and we're not sure how many Woods Cross readers were excited about the police report from South Jordan or the landscape land-scape law in Kearns. In an attempt to lure local suburban advertisers, the "Tribune" "Tri-bune" (and other dailies throughout the county) have created low-cost "zone" editions. Too often, these "zone" editions are created out of a pastepot, not a fully-funded editorial commitment. commit-ment. A great newspaper once proclaimed that it published "All the news that's fit to print"; unfortunately, the motto for the zones is "All the news that fits." And, if that includes a story about squirrels from Blanding, so be it! For advertising its Davis zone as a Davis County Focus, the "Tribune" wins the first annual Cyclops Untruthfulness in Advertising Award. The editors can pick up their award in Bountiful, Sandy or Monticello. With their sense of geography, it won't make much difference. |