Time capsule "journalism"

Today's Dagbladet (paper version) featured the cover story about how young girls use drugs to slim down ("Unge jenter doper seg slank"). Specifically, they were referring to the use of ephedrine as a thermogenic aid. Whichever journalism school flunkie was in charge of this "story" also detailed possible side effects, including dizzyness and nausea.

Somehow, the "journalists" in Dagbladet made the judgment call that this was recent news, despite - for example - ephedrine and ephedra-based supplements have been used as over-the-counter weight-loss aids Stateside until about five years ago. In other words; ephedrine-based supplements have been used for this exact purpose for a LONG time, and seeing as how young girls are among the population segments most likely to use such supplements, this has been going on for a long, long time. The reason ephedrine-based supplements like Xenadrine and the mother of them all - Hydroxycut - were banned was that a number of people dropped dead. So neither the use nor the possible detrimental effects are news.

Does it mean that said journalist just learned of this, or because nothing else of consequence happened in the world since yesterday? I hardly think the latter is true, and so we're stuck with what's behind door number one. Hey Jimmy Olsen; I've got some possible scoops for you:

• Teenagers often drink alcohol even though they're too young to legally do so. Sometimes they even go into alcoholic shock and need to get their stomachs pumped. Side effects include headache, nausea, memory loss and impaired motor and cognitive function.
• Kids down to junior high school level smoke cigarettes and use other nicotine products - even before the legal age. Nicotine has a number of detrimental side effects, including but not limited to reduced blood circulation and all manner of respiratory problems.
• In some cities and rural areas, kids as well as adults indulge in home-made alcohol known as moonshine, "heimert" or "hjæmmbrænnt". In addition to the possible side effects of alcohol mentioned above, moonshine carries the additional risk of potential toxic biproducts of the destillation, which can lead to a number of serious problems such as shutting down kidney function.
• A new drug called exctacy has caused a number of deaths at underground dance parties known as "rave parties" - a new phenomenon that just reached Norwegian shores.
• 18-25 year old males have more frequently occurring traffic accidents than other population segments.
• Kids down to early teens of both genders use anabolic steroids in order to build muscle and shed fat.
• Pro wrestling matches have predetermined winners.
• Martin Luther King just got shot in Memphis, Tennessee.
  

More and more I'm losing faith in news "journalism". Of course; Dagbladet is also the newspaper who came up with the brilliant idea of featuring large photos of political editor Marie Simonsen in various poses on the back cover. I don't really see that this strategy is going to sell more copies or improve Simonsen's credibility, but whatever floats their boat.