Clickbait

 

It all started with a barn. A photo of one, actually. I don’t know why, I just love barns. 

(Photo credit: Baltimore Sun Media Group)

The photo drew my attention to a story in the Howard County Times:

Solar energy burns bright on Western Howard County farms, Tracy Trobridge for the Baltimore Sun

Guess what? The barn appears nowhere in the article. Darn, no barn.

It’s a brief and informative article about how several privately-owned farms in Western Howard County will be participating in the recently announced solar power purchase agreement with Howard County Government. The piece refers to a ground-breaking in July and I am guessing that this is it. That’s all great. As far as I know, everyone supports solar. It won’t put an undue burden on septic systems, won’t create extra traffic of trucks going to and fro, produces no noxious odors nor additional children in the schools. 

The article ends with a curious statement:

We can be proud that it’s all beginning in our neighborhood.

This is a statement of opinion, which means this is not a straight news article. I looked up the author and discovered that her title is “Neighborhood Columnist at Howard County Times.” We have neighborhood columnists? How did I not know this? Is this a throwback to the Patuxent Publishing Days? I’d love to know how many neighborhood columnists there are in Howard County. Do they get paid? Is it an honor simply to be chosen?

I’m clearly a bundle of questions over here this morning. And, while we’re at it: where is that barn? I feel a bit let down here. Perhaps I’ll reach out to Ms. Trobridge for the answer to that and all my other questions.