A screenshot of the Ungrammared Facebook page. Are we friends??
BY NORM D. GUERRE and CRAIG MILLAR
THE INTERNET– As of sometime on March 31st, 2015, www.ungrammared.com reached over 100,000 views. Despite many of those views being contributable to staff writers Norm, Craig, or Roger clicking on their story over and over, it is still a significant achievement for what is often billed as “Raleigh’s Fakest News Source.”
There’s no evidence that these chicks don’t read Ungrammared.
In recognition of this MAJOR achievement, The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer requested a sitdown with our staff for a little Q&A. Between shifts at Goodberry’s and Nice Price Books, we found the time to give these real journalists. Here is an excerpt from that interview:
CO: So where did the inspiration for this news outlet come from?
UNGR: When we began back in September of 2014 we realized that the greater North Carolina had need of more news. We also realized we’d have a lot of competition with the CO and N&O for readership.
N&O: You’ve been labeled by other media outlets as “hard-hitting.” How would you describe your reporting style?
UNGR: To quote the late Stephen Colbert, our reporting is “truthy-ish.” Where the truth lies, or doesn’t lie, is for our better-than-average intelligence readership to decide.
N&O: What’s been the toughest part about building a local news empire?
UNGR: Learning to twitter.
CO: We’ve been in total awe as we’ve watched your readership grow. What can we learn from your publication?
UNGR: Honestly, it’s mostly about begging our friends and family to read our articles and share with their co-workers. That and using pictures of smokin’ hot girls in as many articles as possible doesn’t hurt either. Maybe you could try that? Someone might read a Barry Saunders article if his photo was him and some hot chick instead of him in a bow tie.
A example of the kinds of pictures the N&O should have. Maybe this girl will pose with Barry?
CO and N&O: Well, thank you for sitting down with us. We know there’s a lot of breaking stories out there you’d be covering if you weren’t speaking with us. What can we expect next?
UNGR: You’re certainly welcome. We also enjoy reading your version of the news when we’re bored at work. Also – and this is one advantage you have over our massive online-only presence – your paper makes a great liner for the iguana cage at our apartment. But to answer your question, in the future you might see more articles focused on local, national, and international news, as well as news in the form of haikus and sonnets with illustrations and photoshopping that looks like it was done by either a toddler or an 87-year old.
This girl is also quite attractive. Maybe she’ll co-author one of our articles and have her picture at the top?
The entire interview should be available in both The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer sometime in the future. We would like to thank the CO and the N&O for their time, publicity, access to their Facebook page, and tolerance. In the near future, Ungrammared might have the means to buy both of these outlets. It could be cheaper than you think.
Thank you all for enjoying Raleigh’s Fakest News Source, and here’s to another 100,000 views!!
Finally, a Google image search revealed this picture as one we should use to maintain reader interest. Was she born during the Clinton years?