Hiding in plain sight - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

Allow me to let you in on a little secret; some people have noticed this - others haven’t. It also depends on your level of familiarity with the week’s task, but, very often - not always, but very often - I try to find a theme with the headlines on the editorials over there on page four. 

 

The vast majority of the time, it’s connected to music. So, there have been weeks when all three columns have been topped with headlines that invoke favourites of mine like David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, Tom Petty, Neil Young, etc. There was a week when I made Destiny’s Child and Beyonce work, as a nod to a friend of mine, and then, randomly, there was a week in which it worked to invoke different anti-drunk driving slogans. And, of course, for my Twin Peaks heads out there, you have surely noticed that whenever I can bring “It Is Happening Again” to the editorials, I do.

 

One week, I had been listening to a lot of David Bowie, so that’s where I went with the headlines. This did not go unnoticed by our resident Bowie-ologist, Stephen Thompson, who sent a lovely e-mail to me that week discussing his love for The Thin White Duke. 

 

“It’s been said that the role of a community newspaper is to inform, educate and (sometimes) amuse. Last week’s paper added the element of surprise because, in addition to being well informed by the three editorials, I was surprised to see all three linked to songs and/or albums David Bowie released during his heyday, now some 50 years ago,” he wrote in a 2023 e-mail entitled “The Thin White Duke”, a Bowie nickname. “Bowie, now deceased, was not overly well-known and didn’t get much airplay except on FM stations, but must have made a huge impact on at least one person at The Citizen. I eagerly await more musical surprises.”
Earlier this year, Thompson passed away and that week we topped our editorials with Bowie references as a quiet tribute to one of our most dedicated readers and one of the county’s most recognizable faces. 

 

Being able to do things like that is a true joy in this job. Slipping references into the newspaper (in a professional manner, of course, not in a way that would ever detract from the integrity of the final product or manipulate the delivery of the news in any way whatsoever) is a bit of fun for the hard-working crew that brings you The Citizen week after week. We hope you join in the fun with us when you catch these Easter eggs.

 

Former newspaper man and politician and current playwright David Scott sent me a message on a week in which Dylan was invoked. I have seen Dylan a few times before, but Scott here at the office was in the midst of a tremendous Dylan deep dive ahead of seeing him for the first time, so Dylan was on the minds of those in the office. Scott appreciated the tip of the hat to ol’ Bob Zimmerman. 

 

So, the moral of the story here, kids, is to keep your eyes peeled on page four. You never know what you’re going to learn or who you might think of as a result of reading those editorials. You’re welcome.

 

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Allow me to let you in on another little secret. This week, I’m not here at the office. I wrote this column about a month ahead of time for Scott and the gang, so, having said all of what I’ve said, it will be Scott at the helm this week. What references and Easter eggs will he, with all of his Chaff-like sensibilities, have slipped into the newspaper for his (and your) enjoyment? Take a look around, I’m sure there are lots of them just waiting to be found.