Eventually newspapers will learn that internal jokes don't often stay internal. The Seattle Times apologized last week for running a "Deaths and Funerals" headline over
an advertisement for Alaska Airlines, which has been in the news for its recent fatal crash and government investigations into the airlines' repair practices. The paper, which
stopped the presses after printing about 50,000 copies of its Sunday run of 500,000, said the headline probably fell on the ad accidentally - and presumably landed perfectly in
place. More likely, it was a morbid joke that wasn't meant for public consumption. Regardless, it was a PR headache for both the Times and Alaska Airlines.
-30-
