Ex-Topekan spoofs all the news that's fit to print

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Apr 1, 1999 by BILL BLANKENSHIP

Making fun of a gray lady might not be the best April Fools' Day joke, but a former Topekan will get international attention today spoofing "The Gray Lady" of journalism.

The 32-page "I Can't Believe It's Not The New York Times" hits newsstands today, bringing to its readers "All the news we could afford to print."

Matthew Polly, 27, served as editor-in-chief and publisher of the publication, the headlines of which include:n "Congress votes to cancel personal income taxes" with the subheads: "Government to subsist on gifts bribes; China salutes policy changes" and "GOP: 'Who's your daddy?' "n "Jewel named poet laureate" with a story telling how the rock singer and poet was "psyched about the job" and would "do lots of stuff" to promote poetry "just like Ginger Spice does with sex education at the UN." - "Vice president unleashes Gore-A-Mania" with a report of how the Democratic presidential candidate had clad himself in black Spandex tights and taken a wrestling moniker -- Al "The Death Machine" Gore - - to shed his wooden image. Polly, speaking Wednesday by telephone from his office in the Empire State Building, said the parody was the result of a Radcliffe College publishing program in which he participated last summer after the Rhodes scholar returned from England after three years at Oxford University. Polly also is a graduate of Topeka West High School and Princeton University. Polly created a humor magazine for the Radcliffe program. Among the publishing professionals asked to review the students' work was Don Welsh, who has launched more than 40 periodicals. Welsh hired Polly to lead the team that created "Not the NYT" for Welsh's Hard Eight Publishing. Virgin Atlantic Airways bankrolled the project as its sole advertiser because Virgin founder and CEO Richard Branson is a notorious April Fooler. The New York Times was the obvious choice for a spoof, Polly said. "It's a tremendous newspaper, but it is a bit pompous," he said. Polly said he had sent copies of the parody to the New York media Wednesday afternoon, "including the New York Times. Hopefully, they will have a sense of humor, especially their lawyers." Polly's parents, Dr. Richard and Linda Polly, have arranged for "Not the NYT" to be sold in Topeka at Barnes & Noble, Hastings and the downtown Town Crier. Readers locally might see some familiar faces. Linda Polly contributed wedding photographs of herself and Topekans Bill and Diane Sneed, Mark Schwartz, and Dr. West and Shirley Waugh for the spoof's wedding page. Topekan Tom Haney wrote a brief on the Kansas GOP. The spoof was to get its official kickoff with a party Wednesday night at Elaine's. Polly said he would be back at his desk this morning. "I will come in -- hungover -- and think up cute sound bites for the media," he said.