Empty calories for the mind

Volume 17, Number 5 • May 2000

Empty calories for the mind — The news might be sensationalistic, but face it, we're all interested
by Mick O'Leary

DATABASE REVIEW column says that the media is saturated with crime news and reports, and that, information-wise, crime news is one of life's guilty pleasures. Advises yielding to the temptation and looking at APBnews.com, the Web's top crime-news site. States that for all the sensationalism of its content, APBnews.com is a solid, complete, and professional news service, and the principal product of APB Online, a Web news organization made up of veteran reporters and editors with strong journalistic credentials. Also describes The Smoking Gun, a Web site devoted entirely to police and legal documents covering celebrity misdeeds, past and present. Notes that while most of The Smoking Gun is empty calories for the mind, there are a few nutritious morsels, such as the police reports surrounding the assassination of Malcolm X, which have genuine historical interest. Includes a sidebar.