Instead of profiling the great Arnold Palmer or sizing up the competition on the first day of the Masters tournament, the Washington Post took the time to complain about a liberal standbye: gender discrimination.
"Augusta Chairman Averts Issue of Women" screamed the Post headline on April 5.
Writing about new Augusta National chairman Billy Payne, reporter Leonard Shapiro said, "he refused to be drawn into a discussion that marked the tenure of his predecessor."
Shapiro chose to bring up old news -- the 2003 controversy when women's groups opposed the private golf club because of its entirely male membership. One result was that the Masters was aired commercial-free that year.
His report called to mind the all-out campaign The New York Times waged against the private golf club in 2003.
Even Shapiro admitted in the tenth paragraph that "the biggest news of the day" was Payne's announcement of changes to the eligibility requirements for the Masters tournament. Then why didn't it make the headline or the lead paragraph?