No News Is Good News
When I first moved to Portland - decades ago - the Oregonian was a reactionary abomination masquerading as a newspaper.
I spent eleven years in exile in NYC and returned in 1989 to an Oregonian that had moved well to the left (except for the occasional pre-emptive attack by publisher Fred Stickel, such as his endorsement of W in the face of an editorial policy opposed to everything George stands for; and its unremitting boosterism for local businesses and institutions regardless of common and economic sense). And, it had actually achieved a level of journalism above mediocrity.
Then came Sandy Rowe and the USA Today-ization of a decent journalistic enterprise. Today (March 1, 2007)'s edition is an excellent example of an editororial hierarchy that wouldn't know news if it fell on them.
The so-called Sunrise Edition has five articles on the front page. Based on its placement across the top of the page, the most important story of the day is PSU's sidelines just got interesting, about new football coach Jerry Glanville. Second in significance is Legislators, in stunner, reach deal on savings.
Despite the snarkiness of "stunner," this is real news: our representatives in Salem worked out an agreement that creates a rainy-day fund that might prevent the gutting of the budget during recessions, or from the continuing depredations of the bozos who think that society runs for free.
Moving to the left side of the page we find Pilot takes the Alaska way down. This is not a free ad for Alaska Airways, but an oh-so-clever comment on what fliers from the great white north do when faced with an emergency, in this case bad weather: They put down on the handiest back road.
The final two stories to lead the "news" - at least as defined by the Oregonian - are John McCain officially announcing his run for the presidency (on David Letterman) and a Web-based sit-com about Portland bicyclists. Stop the Presses!
OK, you say, a slow news day. But, reading through the A section, the one featuring national and international news, we find - on page A2 - Church and state before the court, Anti-John Kerry group will pay elections fine, Episcopal bishop asks for time on gay issues, and the death of historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, any of which would seem to have more import than a plane landing on I-84 twenty miles south of Baker City.
The next page informs the reader:
I could go on and on - and often do - but you get the idea - although the Oregonian clearly doesn't.
I spent eleven years in exile in NYC and returned in 1989 to an Oregonian that had moved well to the left (except for the occasional pre-emptive attack by publisher Fred Stickel, such as his endorsement of W in the face of an editorial policy opposed to everything George stands for; and its unremitting boosterism for local businesses and institutions regardless of common and economic sense). And, it had actually achieved a level of journalism above mediocrity.
Then came Sandy Rowe and the USA Today-ization of a decent journalistic enterprise. Today (March 1, 2007)'s edition is an excellent example of an editororial hierarchy that wouldn't know news if it fell on them.
The so-called Sunrise Edition has five articles on the front page. Based on its placement across the top of the page, the most important story of the day is PSU's sidelines just got interesting, about new football coach Jerry Glanville. Second in significance is Legislators, in stunner, reach deal on savings.
Despite the snarkiness of "stunner," this is real news: our representatives in Salem worked out an agreement that creates a rainy-day fund that might prevent the gutting of the budget during recessions, or from the continuing depredations of the bozos who think that society runs for free.
Moving to the left side of the page we find Pilot takes the Alaska way down. This is not a free ad for Alaska Airways, but an oh-so-clever comment on what fliers from the great white north do when faced with an emergency, in this case bad weather: They put down on the handiest back road.
The final two stories to lead the "news" - at least as defined by the Oregonian - are John McCain officially announcing his run for the presidency (on David Letterman) and a Web-based sit-com about Portland bicyclists. Stop the Presses!
OK, you say, a slow news day. But, reading through the A section, the one featuring national and international news, we find - on page A2 - Church and state before the court, Anti-John Kerry group will pay elections fine, Episcopal bishop asks for time on gay issues, and the death of historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, any of which would seem to have more import than a plane landing on I-84 twenty miles south of Baker City.
The next page informs the reader:
- "Abuse of prescription drugs is about to exceed the use of illicit street narcotics worldwide" including counterfeit medications that can be lethal.
- Multiple committees in Congress are likely to subpoena former U.S. attorneys who have been removed from office by the Bush administration for what look like political reasons, including one who stated that he "was forced out after refusing a request by two congressman to rush an indictment that might have helped Republicans in the 2006 elections."
I could go on and on - and often do - but you get the idea - although the Oregonian clearly doesn't.
Labels: journalism, newspapers, Oregonian
posted by Bill Michtom at 9:08 AM
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