Media Release
Contact Dave Scott
770/354-7228
[email protected]
April 26, 2016 7:56 p.m.
A massive iceberg threatening Amelia Island, a demolition derby at the Concours d’Elegance and the International Hide & Go Seek Finals being held here are just a few of the “news” stories in the second edition of the Amelia Island News Wrecker, a satirical tabloid newspaper that made its debut on Amelia Island during last year’s Shrimp Festival.
The popularity of the paper, which publisher and editor Dave Scott, initially expected would be a one-off publication generated a demand for a second edition from both readers and advertisers says Scott.
The free 24-plus-page tabloid News-Wrecker is available in island pubs, restaurants, businesses and selected shops and other establishments says Scott, a Fernandina Beach resident who also writes the weekly www.davescottblog.com. An online version of the News Wrecker will be available mid May.
The tag line for the paper is “Amelia Island’s sacred cows make the best burgers” and according to Scott: “Its purpose is to generate laughs without resorting to obscenities and vulgarity. “The only thing I can be possibly be accused of is bad taste, ” says Scott.
The newspaper idea was motivated by Scott’s devotion to Mad Magazine when he was a kid, and the National Lampoon along with inspiration from the Onion, a national print and online satirical publication. Last year’s inaugural issue included a front page story on how the Fernandina Beach City Commission decreed that the daily sunset would alternate between the east and west sides of Amelia Island and the town’s shabby South 8th Street being declared a “scenic highway for the vision impaired.”
“From the feedback I received the self-deprecating ads generate as many chuckles as the absurd stories,” claims Scott. “The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive. However, if you’re sitting next to someone in a pub who thinks any of the stories in the News Wrecker are authentic, then you’ll probably want to move down a couple of seats.”
This year’s publication also includes news reports about a local Caucasian family criticized for its lack of diversity, a local man discovered without tattoos, a nuclear bomb testing ban declared by Fernandina’s environmentalist mayor, local restaurants being ordered to install scales to avoid serving overweight customers, and many, many more “timely and accurate articles” says Scott.
Free copies of the paper are available at the advertiser’s locations and most restaurants and bars on the island and Yulee.
“The News Wrecker pokes harmless fun at our small but vocal liberal and far right wing populations, local governing bodies, the Shrimp Festival, local news gathering organizations, and other area sacred cows,” says Scott.
Scott said that if this issue proves as popular as last year’s he’ll continue the annual publication prior to each year’s Shrimp Festival.
Last year’s edition can be read online at amelianewswrecker.com.Scott can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]
Can’t wait to read it.