The newspaper of record

Two quotes from page E1 of today's New York Times:

"Sports Illustrated has designated the book "Friday Night Lights," an account of a year the author spent in 1988 following a high school football team in Odessa, Tex., one of the top five sports titles ever, and called it the best book ever written about football--a verdict that's hard to quarrel with unless you're partial to Roy Blount Jr.'s "About Three Bricks Shy of a Load."

"...the 1990 work is titled in part "Three Little Boys" in parentheses, preceded by a description of a sexual act."

Is it just me, or is the (unedited/unprofessional) writing of blogs significantly clearer and more straightforward?