Drivers define “busy” in one way: how many deliveries am I taking? I took three at the Indy this afternoon working a four-hour shift. I took those deliveries in the space of one hour, and I spent the remaining three wishing I’d brought a book, and then tearing through the Sunday paper when Rob brought one down (Gary paid for it*).

Having read the paper front to back, I finally started on the Parade section, which is, honestly, like the last section that should be read in a paper. I was a little stunned by their cover article, based around an interview with the recently assassinated Benazair Bhutto. Nowhere in the article was there any evidence that the writers knew that she’d been, y’know, assassinated well over a week ago. I don’t know about offensive, but how about mind boggling? How did no one at Parade get the memo that she’d been murdered?

Working at the Franchise tonight, I was listening to NPR (because, in my car, it’s either 102.7, the Ed Norris show, NPR, or a classical-music or orchestral score CD), and All Things Considered had a story on the Parade gaff (you can listen to it through the link on the NPR site), wherein I learned that the January 6th edition of Parade had already been printed when she was murdered. I’ve gotta admit, I was a little surprised by that — you’d think a magazine that puports to
“provide [its] readers with quality stories”, you might think they’d bother with “accurate”, too.

This is the addendum that Parade posted to their website:

Editor’s note: The assassination of Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto on Dec. 27 occurred after PARADE’s Jan. 6 issue went to press.

Bhutto’s murder adds more danger and confusion to the already chaotic situation in this region. Pakistan is vital to U.S. security interests and the global fight against terrorism. In late November, PARADE sent Contributing Editor and best-selling author Gail Sheehy to Pakistan to interview former Prime Minister Bhutto as she campaigned through the country. Bhutto told Sheehy that she had long been a target of terrorists as well as the Musharraf government. She knew she could be murdered at any time.

PARADE’s Jan. 6 interview with Bhutto is one of the last interviews of her complex life.

After her assassination, PARADE immediately posted the entire interview online, and Sheehy appeared on network and cable TV news shows to discuss her face-to-face conversations with Bhutto.

Maybe you should’ve taken the time to print up a quick little cheap insert to have included with the magazine. Just a thought!

*Which is code for “We took the $1.76 out of the register.”