A second e-mailer agrees with this complaint about holiday shopping coverage:

"Ditto to 'the official start of the holiday shopping season.'

Dig up some footage from a few years ago and just dub in that consumers are planning to spend [more | less] this year.

Shoppers have generally been calm, although at one [Wal-Mart | mall] in [Connecticut | Texas], security had to break up a dispute over a [Tickle-Me Elmo | TMX Elmo].

In other news, [24 | 124] Iraqis were killed in sectarian violence. When we come back, more on the day known as Black Friday..."