Same Song, Different Verse

Got the following email from a friend, Amanda Palleschi. Perhaps it's worth a discussion:



Shortly after you posted the Las Vegas Sun weather story, I, too, was assigned a weather story. It's getting hot (90 degrees plus a lovely lake breeze is 'getting too hot' here in Erie, Pa), how are people dealing with the heat and lack of rain, how long will it last, etc.



Though I tried to use the Sun story as inspiration, I failed horribly at making anything creative or interesting out of a ho-hum assignment given to many interns and starting reporters. It's something I'm not proud to have my name on, and after it ran, I thought of about 5 things I could have done with it to actually make…