Misprint
Misprint is a title bestowed upon the winner of the International Newspaper Beauty Pageant. The nature of the award is the systematic sloppyness of sub-editors (Or subs) to help polish the work of their betters, the writers.
The Competition[edit | edit source]
From humble beginnings the event rose to be a mediocre affair to be held every year that there are willing contestants. Owing to an initial lack of suitable willing contestants this honour was then often bestowed upon any person that might possibly induce an increase in the newspapers circulation with the use of a picture of said individual together with a racy (that is alluring, and not prejudiced against that persons ethnic character... well, not often) caption. For this reason, the Misprint title is bestowed upon a lucky recipient almost every week - which in turn leads to a dearth of willing contestants as the award is so obviously debased by the flagrant misapplication by the competing Newspapers, resulting in an ever desperate search for candidates.
History[edit | edit source]
Originally conceived in 1987 as an award for the fastest 100 yards dash by a messenger boy working for the Humble Recorder, the Messenger Invitation Sprint was an immediate failure as the first winner and only contestant was both irredeemably ugly and slow. However the photographer, covering the event between funerals, had in amongst the many different exposures fortuitously avoided photographing the participant and instead captured an image of a comely young lady, obviously moved to tears by the competition, and for somewhat unexplained reasons dressed in rather severe and black costume. So striking was the picture that the race winner was quickly fired, and the Misprint award was bestowed upon the crying lady (who was never identified).
A mere few years later, and with a deadline to fill together with a distinct lack of news, a editor remembered the competition and sought applications from the unmarried female staff for the honour of being ogled by the more easily pleased of the readership. After reviewing the contestants it was decided to throw the competition open to anyone who wanted to be ogled. Upon further review it was decided to find a picture of someone attractive, and bestow the award upon that person and print the picture together with as witty a caption that a group of Drunk journalists could think up after lunch.
International recognition and celebrity[edit | edit source]
Realising the benefit of using participants from outside of the locality (they were unlikely to either want paying, or suing for damages, if they were outside the circulation area) and to avoid copyright issues the winners in the late 1990's were often found from the worldwide community - and especially those from warmer climates with less need for clothing. However, this requirement was quickly made redundant when it was realised that minor celebrities would be so keen to have their image placed in a newspaper that they would not only supply the photographs at no cost, but would even subsequently appear a little while later to accept the award while plugging their appearance on a daytime quiz show.
Recognition by the industry[edit | edit source]
Intrigued by the circulation figures and pleasantly surprised with the ease by which attractive young people could be persuaded to pose provocatively, at no cost, the idea was quickly stolen by all the competitor newspapers, both local and nationwide. In an ironic decision, given the past, the competition became known as the International Newspaper Beauty Pageant since the abundant exposed flesh was generally of a darker hue than might be expected of the general readership, and pageant sounded old fashioned which not only made it seem established but would also confuse foreigners. With this, the newspaper industry felt they had a winner.
Past Winners[edit | edit source]
Given that many of the minor celebrities who made up the bulk of the previous winners did not progress any further in their careers, and those few who have now achieved a greater celebrity than then are often reluctant to the point of consulting legal experts to acknowledge receipt of this accolade, there is no record of past winners.
Interesting facts[edit | edit source]
The title Misprint is not a typographical error, since the copy editor ran it through the Windows spellchecker and it didn't flag it up as an error. And you can't argew with that!
One of the few duties of the holder of the Misprint title is to explain to anyone who asks why the damn thing is "bestowed" rather than awarded, given, presented or other common word.
Although the word starts with Mis, the title is open to married women also. And men. In fact anyone whose picture coupled with a racy byline is thought capable of increasing the newspapers circulation.