What the ...?

Today's Missourian was, sadly enough, not very good. The worst thing that jumped out at me, though, was on 8A, the very back of the first section. Most of it was okay. Not spectacular, but okay. I didn't really like the layout of the car chase article, but since I've done a bit of design myself now, I understand why they did what they did. However, the photos above that story were inexcusable. The event, Family Fun Day, at the MU Rec Center, occurred on October 17. Um, I'm sorry, but what justification could they possibly have for running pictures two weeks after the event occurred? Newspapers don't do that. I will say that the pictures were adorable. I think they were supposed to be a photo "essay" of Family Fun Day, since it had a title ("Fun for the whole family"). The larger photo shows a grad student in the Tiger Grotto with her daughter. You might be thinking that a photo in a pool is inappropriate, anyway, since she's in a bathing suit and some people could have objections to that. I'd be inclined to agree with you, but the emphasis is clearly on her face; the body is of little importance. The other photo is even cuter. It's a 3-year-old boy underneath the waterfall with his head tilted up, mouth open to catch the drops, and arms raised. Absolutely adorable. However, cuteness is not a news factor. Timeliness is. These photos definitely were not timely. There wasn't even an article in the paper about the Rec Center. They should not have been run.