Having read the original article that the Daily Caller references, I simultaneously understand why Courier-Journal editorial director Pam Platt refused to publish it, and why she should have. Basic background: John David Dyche wrote for the Courier-Journal for a decade, up until he wrote a column last week that apparently put Platt’s nose out of joint:
On Friday, Dyche said he was motivated to write the column because of the struggles in the newspaper industry—drops in print circulation and revenue, layoffs, buyouts and more.
His ideas included editorial pages that were split evenly with conservative and liberal perspectives, disclosure of editors’ and reporters’ political affiliation, live-stream meetings and make publicly available newsroom correspondences on stories and policies.
Dyche also had a couple of recommendations about the comic strips the paper ran, which he probably figured (for good reason) were going to be the most controversial suggestions at all. Anyway: Platt refused to run the column, because apparently liberal media bias is not one of those things that conservatives consider to be a topical issue*; Dyche formally offered to quit, and Platt formally took him up on that offer.
Now, come: I will conceal nothing from you. As Ben Shapiro notes, The Courier-Journal absolutely has it in for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; and I can’t imagine (as the Daily Caller, again, mentions) that Platt was happy to have Dyche note that her editorial section ALSO hates Senator Rand Paul with the burning hatred of a million exploding suns. But, at the same time? …The newspaper in question has been hemorrhaging readers and jobs for several years; it apparently ain’t easy to be a liberal Democratic paper in Kentucky. Pam Platt probably didn’t like having her dirty laundry washed in public; but that doesn’t mean that the laundry was actually clean.
But, hey, maybe a newspaper refusing to respect its potential readership’s view will work financially this time.
Moe Lane
*…Yeah, she was reaching at that point.
The news media was never unbiased.
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The news media lies about this.
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This may have worked in the Age of Coolidge, it does not work in the Age of Obama. (or the Age of Gore, if the point needs a little more .. *point* on it)
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Mew
I have always thought newspapers should bring back fiction in their papers. Then someone pointed out to me that most of the stuff in there is fiction already. Tell me, how can I counter that logic?
I’m reminded of how Thomas Jefferson expressed the opinion that newspapers should be by law divided into four sections, named Truth, Probability, Possibility, and Lies.
Huh.
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I wasn’t aware that the Courier-Journal employed a conservative columnist at all (the name rings a bell, though). OTOH, I really haven’t read the paper much … well, I was going to say ‘since I stopped living with my parents’, but ‘ever’ is probably closer to true, once you cut out the comics and the TV schedule.
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As far as their readership goes, my father’s been threatening to get a subscription to another paper (I think the Chicago Tribune was the usual choice) for years: he figures the local news would be about as meaningful, the national news would not be less timely, and the comics section would probably be better. I’m pretty sure my parents actually cancelled their subscription or allowed it to lapse a year or more ago, though. Not that the CJ has figured this out, because they’re still getting delivered.
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For my part, I haven’t been subscribed to a newspaper since 2001, when I got a free month’s subscription to the local paper in Fort Wayne, when I was living there.
According to the CJ’s own website, Dyche’s column ran on alternate Tuesdays. I know they used to run some syndicated columns, too (e. g. George Will), but, wow. That’s like the punchline to a joke.
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“So balanced we run the opposing side’s editorial once every other week!”
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Same website says Platt wrote a column that appeared every Tuesday, and another columnist had one every Sunday. Good grief.
Looks like a conservative with cash should buy said paper…
As part of a plan to turn a large pile of cash into a small pile of cash?
As part of a plan to shut down a flailing organ of the Left cleanly and quietly. (As we have seen in the past election, even dying news institutions can wreak havok) And who knows, maybe even make it into a good news source.
If a conservative with a bankroll *really* wants to make a media difference …
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The answer isn’t in buying a dinosaur.
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It’s in re-inventing this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_News_Bureau_of_Chicago
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Local Local Local, with either no bias, or with a pragmatic/realist (i.e. conservative, but with emphasis on facts, not ideology)
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The trouble would be monetizing it, but even that *can* be done – subscription e-mail, or first-paragraph-free and a micro-payment (via PayPal?) for whole articles .. plus ad sales.
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Build a *better* news correlation and delivery system, don’t just buy a dying one!
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Mew