INDReporter

Rayne paper's miscue going viral

by Walter Pierce

The waiting is the hardest part.

[Update: The Rayne Independent has confirmed via email that the "error" did appear in print.]
[Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that the Rayne Acadian-Tribune is a daily newspaper; it, too, is a weekly. We regret the error.]

The waiting is the hardest part. In what appears to be a case of using snarky filler copy - words inserted as a place holder until the real copy comes in - and then forgetting to replace or delete them before going to press, The Rayne Independent, a weekly newspaper in the small Acadia Parish town, is one of the most famous weeklies in Louisiana today. (See image below. If you're easily offended, ignore image below.)

We first saw a photo of the blurb on Facebook yesterday. It has now been picked up by Gambit and the website Deadspin, and will no doubt be floating through the blogosphere in short order. As best we can ascertain the photo was posted to Instagram by the online editor of the Crowley Post-Signal, which is owned by Louisiana State Newspapers, parent company of the Rayne Acadian-Tribune, another weekly newspaper. We've yet to confirm the words actually appeared in print in The Rayne Independent, although the evidence says yes.

But we also must emphasize our empathy with The Independent, not because we share a name but because we know what it's like being a scrappy little weekly trying to compete for readers and ad revenue. And we've flirted with a similar snafu ourselves on Mondays when we go to press although - knock on wood - it hasn't bitten us in the arse yet. And that ain't no bulls**t.