Long time Rhino Times columnist (and brief Yes Weekly columnist) Scott Yost likes to give out proverbial awards in his column at the end of the year. Dubbing them “Yosties,” the column is meant to have a sense of humor, as evident from its header this year: “Yosties 2014: Bigger, better and more objective than ever.”

Cheesy, sure, but that’s not what we’re here to discuss.

This year, Yost decided to name “the hottest Guilford County director.” Maybe that’s something he does every year — I wouldn’t know because I don’t really read the Rhino — but regardless the item is too absurd to ignore.

In it, Yost names Catherine Johnson, the new head of the Family Justice Center for the county, as his winner. And the Rhino Times ran a photo of her from her ankles up to make its case.

“She is smokin’ hot and made this an easy call this year,” Yost wrote.

Look, I’m all for having some fun in a year-in-review issue or a lighthearted column, but are you serious?

It gets worse.

Yost also handed out an award for the “smartest Guilford County director.” You already know where this is going, don’t you?

Yep. In a predictable move, Yost gave the honor to a man — Joe Raymond, the head of health & human services for the county.

I don’t doubt that Raymond is smart, or that, as Yost wrote, he is a “Harvard product who talks fast and uses a lot of 50-cent words.”

Oh, and Yost also named the three hottest local newscasters.

“Stephanie [Ando] has a really pretty smile and you just get the feeling when she’s doing the news that she is very at peace as well as very beautiful,” he wrote. “Runners up, Veronica White, WXII. Something about her really works for me. And ditto for Jackie Fernandez, who you can find on News 2. Usually blondes steal this category left and right, but this year brunettes swept for some reason.”

Later in the article, when discussing the Atlantic Coast Conference’s expansion, he manages to squeeze in a favorable mention of the growing Playboy “Girls of the ACC” photo section as well.

It’s times like this that I wish that unfortunate publication had remained a bar rag, or would at least be held to account by Greensboro residents to stop publishing such brazen, sexist trash. We deserve better.

Join the First Amendment Society, a membership that goes directly to funding TCB‘s newsroom.

We believe that reporting can save the world.

The TCB First Amendment Society recognizes the vital role of a free, unfettered press with a bundling of local experiences designed to build community, and unique engagements with our newsroom that will help you understand, and shape, local journalism’s critical role in uplifting the people in our cities.

All revenue goes directly into the newsroom as reporters’ salaries and freelance commissions.

⚡ Join The Society ⚡