To reaclimate myself to the scene, I thought I’d return to my roots and offer a media critique. Over time I’ve lost the stomach to criticize or to otherwise engage in heated debates, but I come here not in snarkiness, but rather with a desire to help.

This morning the SJ-R ran a letter signed by Mayor Davlin that intended to deflect criticism of his administration’s truncated leaf pick-up policy. I won’t address the decision to collect leaves during a time period when most remain attached to trees. I will address the structure and content of the letter, and its effectiveness as a tool of persuasion.

In anthing you write, the lede is everything. If you don’t interest readers immediately – preferable with the headline, but at least in the first paragraph – they’ll likely be off like a flash to scan other content. Readers are flighty like that.

The Davlin letter chooses to begin by informing us that the economy is in the dumps. The problem with this approach is that we already know that the economy is in the dumps. Three-quarters of the articles you read these days mentions that the economy is in the dumps. Therefore, there’s no new nugget of information to grab the our fancy. We’ve heard this story before so why stick around to hear it again?

The second problem with leading with bad tidings is that it comes across as weak and even a little whiney when it comes from a leader with whom the buck supposedly stops. "Don’t blame me" is not a mantra that inspires odes. And there’s no need to lead with negative excuse making when you already have a positive message later in your missive that could resound with the masses: To hell with leaf raking, mulch those suckers!

Since most people don’t like raking and pulverized leaves are good for the lawn, why not make that the lede. "Put down that back-breaking rake and fire up the Lawnboy! You’ll be finished before Juice Williams has time to throw a second interception." (that was a bit snarky, but I’m fairly certain Isaiah doesn’t read BFS.)

Me, I don’t mind the raking. Tending to fallen leaves provides an opportunity to bond with the kids in the cool autumn air. And let’s be honest, there are times when a man just needs have a sturdy yard implement in his hands to really feel llike a man.

It’s the bagging that’s a drag, which is why I often wish I could just bulldoze the leaf piles out to the curb and strike a match, area asthmatics be damned.  A call for renegade leaf burning, however, has no place in an address from our dear leader as it probably doen’t poll well.