Riddles are always a lot of fun, so let’s begin with one.  What do Theo Epstein, Howard Stern, David Lee Roth (Stern’s replacement on radio), Judge Alito’s wife, used cooking oil, Bode Miller, Oprah Winfrey, Yale University bathrooms, Botox, a local dominatrix, potential 2008 presidential candidates, Heelie-Wheelies, James Frey, John Henry’s financial reverses, Neil Entwhistle, Worksop, and modern household decision makers have in common?

     Are you stumped?  Well, the answer is actually simple:  all of these people, places, and things have been featured prominently in the news recently.  By “prominently”, we mean they were up front, page one, lead-off news items.  By “prominently”, we also mean that many of these news items were discussed, pictured, analyzed, and brought up incessantly – day after day after day.

     As you can imagine, we talk about the news a lot here at South Boston Online.  We are struck by how repetitive the overall news coverage has become.  In addition, much of the news we are given borders on the trivial.  Let’s use the departure and return of Theo Epstein as an example.

     Epstein was clearly a key figure in bringing Boston its first World Series Championship in 86 years.  His youth made his contribution to the Sox even more newsworthy.  But “no one is indispensable”, as the saying goes, and quitting a job is not that surprising.

     In our opinion, Epstein and Larry Lucchino simply had a major disagreement, followed by a heated argument.  Young, talented people disagree with their bosses all the time.  Many choose to leave and strike out on their own when that happens.  It’s no big deal.

     The big surprise to us was Epstein’s return.  That was newsworthy.  Even so, it only deserved space as a sports story, plus a column or two about how Lucchino and Epstein each was person enough to bury the hatchet, and then go back to working together in a key organization on the Boston scene.

The news about Mitt Romney’s not running again for governor got less space than the Epstein/Lucchino/Red Sox episode.  The job losses in Massachusetts announced by Fidelity got even less than that.  Here at South Boston Online, we think those are more important stories than Red Sox management changes.

     On a nationwide basis, Ford Motor Co. announced it will make steep cuts in its workforce.  The first number given out was 55,000; later, that became 30,000 job cuts.  The lower number – 30,000 – is just a bit more than the entire population of South Boston.  Can you imagine if Boston took a hit of 30,000 jobs from its workforce?  And have you heard the news about GM?  They are flirting with bankruptcy because of pension and health costs.  That’s serious news.

     Compare the coverage of those two items with the media coverage of the kerfuffle between Oprah Winfrey and James Frey, the author of best-selling “A Million Little Pieces”.  Now, Winfrey is a major public figure, who has earned her fame and good fortune.  Frey has admitted to “stretching the truth” in his book.  Even so, we think the incessant coverage of Winfrey and Frey is quite a bit too much.

Another couple of so-called “news items”:  Do you really care if Howard Stern is better than David Lee Roth?  And how about the media circus over Neil Entwhistle, both here and in England?  At this time, no one, especially the media, has the slightest idea what is going on concerning the Hopkinton murders, but the circus will continue.

     Do you share our concern with sensational but shallow news coverage?  All of us should be more careful about the news we read, watch, and listen to.  Who knows?  If we don’t become more cautious about the news, we might even start believing some of that stuff.