Why Is The Price Is Right? (Why Is It That A Steam Engine Gets Lots Of National And International News)
News. adjective: relating to or describing the underground: shadowy, tempestuous. Also: relating to or describing something said or written (as news) or something done (as an action).
A couple of decades ago, when I was in junior high, there was a popular TV show that I watched that had a huge national following. It was called “The Price is Right,” and it was funny, interesting, it was smart, and it made great fun of our national obsession with (I am sure most people can name it) theanesque (but actually very intelligent) presidential race. Anyway, it was a show about (I am leaving out what was on television for those who are truly interested in that stuff) an auction where items like cars, boats, planes, and other objects of desire were being offered. One item in particular that became famous was a very old, very large steam engine. The way the show marketed the item, and the way in which it was sold, made quite a bit of national news.
What’s interesting about this, too, is that while a lot of people might say that the item in question was a piece of history that had great significance for today’s society, (and thus made great news), it also created quite a stir in a very different kind of way: it created a lot of local and even national, news. That’s because it was (and still is, I should say) a very big deal. What kind of story made news and why?