Today's editorial page in the Press of Atlantic City has an interesting item on Tuesday's front page in Philadelphia's Daily News.
The Daily News characterized the fatal stabbings of two Canadian tourists by calling Atlantic City a "TOURIST DEATH TRAP" in really big letters that you could easily read from across the Delaware River. As an added bonus, the headline writer used short words with as few syllables as possible, to make the copy comprehensible to your average Daily News reader. The Press responded with a hearty, "Yo, Philly. Stick it," perhaps a delightful homage to the poor results Philadelphians have when holding sticks (if you watched the Flyers in the Stanley Cup playoffs, you know what I mean).
The offending cover, via the Press of AC. Also notice the headline giving readers false hope that there's some kind of reason to believe in the Sixers, of all things.
But in all the petty squabbling in ink, we've let the important facts slip away, and lost a chance to answer a truly burning question: Why would Canadian tourists visit Atlantic City in the first place?
Far be it from me to answer deep questions in this blog, but I will direct you to read our May 28 Spotlight section, which will discuss the appeal South Jersey has to Canadians. Since that's a ways off, let me just say that Daily News editors should be careful about throwing rocks when they live in a glass house that already has a few cracks in it. Here's some "bullet points" (sorry) from the City of Brotherly Love:
– The
murder rate is the worst for a city of its size.
– A
tourist was brutally beaten following a hockey game.
– Don't forget the
flash mob violence that caused serious injuries and plenty of property damage.
– It's the only city in America that you could put next to Camden and say, "Wow, look how much worse things could get!" (That's true of both cities)
Once the Daily News editors tackle the project in their backyard, I'm sure the folks in AC would welcome their input on how to clean up their city. Until then, there are
plenty of bad things we can all say about Atlantic City without making two murders, allegedly by a mentally ill woman, into a sign of the apocalypse.
I'm even more irreverent on Twitter @joe_arney.
