Fish and Chips Paper

A staple Eden Prairie News report is the story profiling residents dealing with serious illnesses.  The articles never probe deeply into the people's experiences, relationships or emotions; the inch-deep formula is quite dependable:  Bob got cancer.  Cancer was tough.  When I had cancer, I prayed a lot.  Ours is an awesome God.  Everyone was very helpful.  When I had chemotherapy, my hair fell out. I'm sure happy I didn't die.  I'm going to march in the anti-cancer parade this year.

The subjects are often surprisingly cooperative, unquestioningly agreeing that their pre-illness lives were of no legitimate interest to newspaper readers--that their chemotherapy or mastectomy 'obviously' justify reportorial investigation.

Residing in Eden Prairie, we've already achieved paradise--goes the editorial psychology.  The only complaint one may reasonably harbor would be against death-hastening illness.

In Eden Prairie, all is known and right living is self-evident.  The beliefs and struggles of opinionated people aren't newsworthy:  Good citizens like Eden Prairie--and don't raise a ruckus.

Having no interest in distinguishing good writing from bad--that would be pretentious--the Eden Prairie News is ever happy to profile our self-published authors, especially when they don't appear to hold any interesting viewpoints.