The anonymous blog reader who spotted it in the Newseum Friday and sent it to me quipped:
This must have been a fun news meeting discussion!
The page was A1 of Friday’s News Tribune of Duluth, Minn. The topic: The brief bit of nudity at the end of the first act of the musical Hair.
I’m not quite sure what makes this page-one news anywhere, unless there are protestors prepared to disrupt the production. Which doesn’t appear to have been the case. Because the newspaper ran not only that photo of the cast of Hair preparing to get nekkid, it also ran one of them actually nekkid.
Yes, the paper went there. Across three columns on page one. Complete with little edits and, um, titillating headlines.
So, why was this story front-page news Friday in Duluth? My own guess: Nudity hasn’t been invented yet in Minnesota.
Which begs the question: From where do little Minnesota residents come? The stork brings them, I’d guess further.
I’d love to tell you that the merriment ends here. But it doesn’t. Jim Hammerand of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal spotted a correction in the News Tribune today that caused him to shoot a picture of it and post via Twitter.
In case you’re having trouble reading that, the text says:
Most productions of the musical Hair include a nude scene of 10-30 seconds, with some lasting about a minute, but the News Tribune is not aware of any lasting much longer. Friday’s story “Does Hair cast go all the way?” stated without justification that some last as long as three minutes.
Which prompted MinnPost‘s David Brauer to proclaim this the…
Cx of the week.
My take: If you have a nude scene that lasts for more than 30 seconds, please consult a physician.
The original front-page story, of course, has been corrected online. Find it here.
The front page image is from the Newseum. Of course.
