I used to really get a laugh of Saturday Night Live years ago, when Chevy Chase played a news anchor on a segment called Weekend Update. A running gag was when he would read, in an earnest tone, “Our top story tonight! Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.” Other times, he’d read something to the effect of: “This breaking news just in! Generalissimo Franco is still dead.”
In the news business, there are plenty of General Franco stories. They’re clearly significant, but just not news anymore. Nothing has changed since the last report.
One such story that comes to mind at this time of year is the unsolved murder of Quan Cham Lu outside the Guvernment nightclub, walking distance from my office at The Toronto Star. The mystery about this case isn’t who did the killing. Everyone who cares knows that. The mystery is why authorities haven’t done anything about that.
And it’s clearly not funny for anyone who cared about the victim or who cares about justice.