Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

get local

Washington Post writer Peter Carlson writes today about the frequent use of “local man” and “local woman” in news headlines. (“Prints of a Guy” - 01/26/05)

Local Man is famous. He doesn’t have a publicist, but he gets more ink than Madonna or Michael Jackson. In some newspapers, Local Man appears in more headlines than the president of the United States.

Local man discovers unnamed asteroid.

Local man’s ministry a sign from God.

Judge finds local man incompetent.

Local Man is not, of course, just one man. Local Man is newspaper shorthand for somebody who lives nearby and has done something noteworthy but isn’t famous enough to identify by name in a headline. Local Man comes from all walks of life. He comes in all shapes and sizes. He is the common man, the man on the street, the salt of the earth. Local Man is everyman. He is us.

Satirical newspaper The Onion plays on this convention with a line of tee shirts, which label the wearer as “Area Baby,” “Area Child,” “Area Homosexual,” “Area Man” and “Area Woman.”