My website has an RSS reader installed which I use to rifle through the news. You know how you can tell reporters have the day off? This morning, 67% of the "top headlines" are from overseas (it's very important for Americans to know about Thailand's elections or a building collapse in Egypt), and the rest are of equally questionable value (unless you're really worried about Michelle Rodriguez spending the holidays behind bars -- shoulda been born with a silver spoon in your mouth, Michelle -- or couldn't live without the annual "someone dropped a rare coin in a Salvation Army bucket" story).
It's a worse version of a typical news weekend. Have you ever noticed there hardly seems to be any news on weekends? Is everyone suddenly on their best behavior? No, the people who scour the streets looking for interesting happenings are just off till Monday. (Not that reporters scour the streets anymore. They'd get yelled at by know-nothing editors for not sitting at their computers looking busy. But that's another story.)
What we get on weekends and major holidays is the best a second-string skeleton staff could rummage up. I get the feeling there's a bit of the same mentality going on as with television programmers on Christmas Day -- "No-one's watching anyway, why waste it?" -- or they'd take steps to mitigate the problem. Really, the thinking goes, unless you are known for having the focus on you on weekends (for example, The New York Times Sunday Edition -- or the Sunday paper in most major metropolitan areas, for that matter) why bother?
Now, about that Salvation Army rare coin story. Am I the only one who is suspicious this happens every year? It sure gets them a lot of publicity. One might even think it's designed to.... Hmmm....