The unExamined life ... has higher ad rates.

Tomorrow, Washington, D.C. gets a brand spanking new newspaper. The Examiner is on its way. Earlier this month, The AP detailed some format and curculation information:

The Washington Examiner, a tabloid, will replace three suburban newspapers that Anschutz's Clarity Media Group, bought from Journal Newspapers Inc. last year for an undisclosed sum.

The Examiner will be published Sunday through Friday and will tailor some news and opinion pages for residents in the District, suburban Maryland, and northern Virginia.

The company said home delivery will also be available in parts of Washington, a rarity for a free newspaper in a big media market. It is planning an initial daily circulation of about 260,000.

While in theory a new newspaper is a positive thing - it's estimated that the Examiner will force The Washington Post to lower its outrageous ad rates - it will depend upon the coverage. A cursory glance at the new webpage for The Examiner lists local news, sports and opinion.. even a "gossip" section, but no section for the arts.

This is disappointing, but not unexpected. Arts coverage from The Washington Post and The Washington Times combined doesn't equal the coverage from The New York Times. I had hoped that The Examiner might feature the arts prominently, and therefore force other local papers to increase their coverage.

And then magic fairies flew out of my ass and cleaned the sticky shelves in my fridge.