Arctic Mark in Stanley Park

An Open Letter To the Editors of Yahoo Online News:

I am writing to you because I find the Yahoo "news" page to be extremely annoying and offensive, and I can no longer keep silent about it. Every time I log onto the Yahoo homepage in order to check my Yahoo email account, I am  confronted by your tabloid-style excuse for a news page. Your so-called "news" coverage tends to focus on endless celebrity gossip, lurid crime stories, and inane survey results. And every time I read the word "SHOCKING" as a descriptor in one of your headlines (which happens at least once every day), it disturbs and aggravates me to an astonishing degree. I would even go so far as to say that it shocks me, but not in the way that you intend. It may seem like only a simple, harmless word to some, but to me it is a symbol of a much deeper malaise. Your intention is clearly to appeal to the most shamelessly voyeuristic lowest common denominator amongst the public, and to grab your readers' attention in the most cynical, heavy-handed way. I've switched my homepage to CBC news now, because reading the Yahoo news makes me feel angry for all the wrong reasons. The way that your "news" editors select, frame, and present your stories is an insult to thoughtful, intelligent readers across Canada.
 
The problem is, I still need to access my Yahoo email account, so I have to try to avoid looking at your sensationalizing headlines and photos while I log in.  I'm hoping there is some way that I can remove the Yahoo news feature from the Yahoo homepage. If not, I will have to close my Yahoo account and find another service that is less irritating and insulting to my intelligence. What is truly "SHOCKING" is that more people don't actively resist this ongoing trivialization of the news. Shame on all of you at Yahoo "News" for contributing to the degradation of our public discourse.

Thank you for your time. 

Sincerely,

Mark LeBourdais