Unidentified?

December 21, 2007 1:39 PM

The Dec. 13th cover of the Lewiston Tribune [pdf] features an "unidentified thief" under a picture of a familiar looking window decorator [via waxy via vsl]

According to a followup article [registration required], "The two pictures, running one above the other, led to Millhouse's arrest Thursday".

posted by null terminated (22 comments total)

Kids, the lesson is to not to give your windows holiday spirit.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:47 PM on December 21, 2007

Same article, no registration required
posted by null terminated at 1:48 PM on December 21, 2007

Hi-larious.
posted by infinitewindow at 1:49 PM on December 21, 2007

“I didn’t do what the media has put out there,” Millhouse said. “I’m not just a fat guy that walks around Zip Trip eating beef sticks and drinking coffee.”

But he did admit taking the wallet.

posted by smackfu at 1:51 PM on December 21, 2007

If you ask me, that Dean Furgeson fellow in the bottom right ought to be at least brought in for questioning.
posted by cortex at 1:56 PM on December 21, 2007

Sure, but at Whole Foods they would have just given him the wallet.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:56 PM on December 21, 2007

smackfu -- that indeed is the "money quote" for the article.
posted by ericb at 2:03 PM on December 21, 2007

Wow, when did Iowa get hot tub technology? I'll be damned.
posted by Brocktoon at 2:11 PM on December 21, 2007

After consulting his lawyer, Millhouse said "I am not a crook".
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:15 PM on December 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

That's amazing.
I guess whoever did the page layout just figured Lewiston artists like to dress all "wood choppin' gangsta" or something.
posted by stagewhisper at 2:15 PM on December 21, 2007

That made my day.
posted by tristeza at 2:18 PM on December 21, 2007

Wow, when did Iowa get hot tub technology? I'll be damned.

That would have been funnier if you'd gotten the state right.
posted by TBoneMcCool at 2:30 PM on December 21, 2007

“Our editors (Wednesday) night noticed the similarities in the two photos,” said Paul Emerson, Tribune managing editor. “We are not crime-stoppers here. It is just a weird coincidence. If it did solve a crime, I’m glad it happened. I have seen nothing like this in my 26 years as Tribune managing editor.”

Ya' know, after 26 years, I'm thinking the Tribune needs a new managing editor.

Which is more newsworthy:

* "Area Newspaper Editor Notices Weird Coincidence and Does Nothing"
* "Eagle-Eyed Area Newspaper Editor Saves Christmas, Helps Nab Criminal."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:45 PM on December 21, 2007

Wow, when did Idaho get hot tub technology? I'll be damned.
posted by Brocktoon at 2:50 PM on December 21, 2007

That is the opposite of meh, pure awesome.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 3:06 PM on December 21, 2007

Wow, when did Idaho get hot tub technology? I'll be damned.

Much better.
posted by TBoneMcCool at 3:19 PM on December 21, 2007

Ya' know, after 26 years, I'm thinking the Tribune needs a new managing editor.


Are you kidding? They knew EXACTLY what they were doing, and did it in a way guaranteed to make the perp obvious, hype the paper, and leave them all giggling for at least a week.

Brilliant.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 5:08 PM on December 21, 2007

So that is how it ends up in Chapterhouse.
posted by adipocere at 7:20 PM on December 21, 2007

Which is more newsworthy:

* "Area Newspaper Editor Notices Weird Coincidence and Does Nothing"
* "Eagle-Eyed Area Newspaper Editor Saves Christmas, Helps Nab Criminal."

In keeping with my tradition of posting to threads about journalism, since it's my profession: some newspapers might not have contacted the police about the similarities.

My newspaper has a rule about reporting the news, not influencing it. So when they demolished the press tower at the local racetrack, all the other media got to take whacks with a sledgehammer except for me.

Moreover, my newspaper does not comply with law enforcement requests for unpublished images. The rationale is that by becoming an extension of law enforcement, we risk the safety and independence of our employees.

So, many journalists would think about these points over and over again, until it dawns on them that they have a good idea of how to identify a suspect in a crime. I think that's why they didn't call the police until after the paper went to bed at 3 a.m.
posted by bugmuncher at 11:57 PM on December 21, 2007

I'm Michael Millhouse, and I'm here to ask you a question:
is a man not entitled to the grasp of his own reach?

No, says the judge in the courthouse. It belongs to the victim.
No, says the woman with short memory. It belongs to my negligence.
No, says the media on television. It belongs to to the cameras.

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something
different. I chose the impossible. I chose - RESOLVE.
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:50 AM on December 22, 2007

Some newspapers might not have contacted the police about the similarities.

I was a journalist myself for several large newspapers. So I hear you about the ethics of not influencing the news in general.

But putting on the reality goggles for a second, it just doesn't wash. I'm calling plain-jane incompetence and ass-covering on this one, not adherence to some higher ethical standard.

The Spokesman-Review is an a.m. paper. That means front-page layout for color images is largely complete about 6 p.m. for a midnight deadline. Working backward, the photos are submitted for possible usage at about 4 p.m. In the case of the hanging-lights main photo, there should be several for the photographer, photo editor and layout editor to choose from. At the very least, the city desk editor and executive editor should be reviewing front-page layout every day at various points in this process.

So this is at least five people, not to mention various production folks and copy editors, reviewing this over approximately an eight-hour period. If they do notice it and decide to make changes, they have plenty of options to choose from. Choose another photo. Re-work the modular layout. Re-cast the story.

So they either just miss it, or they're choosing the layout that makes them look stupid.

This is why newspapers are dying. This is why I left 10 years ago.

Moreover, if this is a case where they had to run it, because they had painted themselves into a corner, layout-wise ("Wow, look at that. Fuck, now we don't have time to change it."), that's an entirely different kind of incompetence.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:16 PM on December 22, 2007

Cool Papa Bell is right.
posted by stagewhisper at 1:56 PM on December 22, 2007