JKR's "Divide by three" comment - addendum

[davewitley]

> JKR wrote:
> 
> "Actually, it now occurs to me that 'divide-by-three' is a good 
rule 
> to apply to a lot of 'news' stories."

Amdorn asked:
 
> This comment struck me as funny today. What news would she be 
talking 
> about?  There have been a lot of superfluous news pieces but I 
don't 
> recall any that deal with something that is a multiple of three or 
> that could be divided by three.  Why is there special emphasis on 
the 
> word news?  Can anyone help me with this?

I won't repeat what others have said, but just add that that's not a 
special emphasis, it's irony.  She means that the stories aren't 
news because they aren't true, or at least don't convey important 
information to the reader.

David