Here, There And Everywhere

Back in the day when I used to subscribe to the Star Tribune, my biggest irritation with the daily newspaper was not with the blatantly biased editorial pages. Rather, it was the way that the paper's leftward tilt crept into each and every section. There really wasn't any part of the paper that was free from this pernicious influence. Whether it was intentional or not didn't really matter. It was there and it was noticeable.

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous e-mails with a recent example from the business section of Strib:

In the Saturday Strib, business section, front page, bottom left; there was an article titled, "Health Care Tops List of Employer Concerns." Considering the title, and that this was the Business section, you would expect a story listing the concerns of employers. As I read the article, I noticed a distinct disconnect.
The 4th paragraph read as follows:

"About 55% of businesses said that "access to affordable healthcare" was their No.1 or No. 2 state issue: 41 % said that "controlling taxes and spending" was their first of second largest concern."

By my count, the entirety of the Strib story had:

7 paragraphs about healthcare

7 paragraphs on transportation including talk about increased gas tax

3 paragraphs on environmental/energy concerns

1 paragraph on education

0 paragraphs on high taxes

How can a reporter write a story about employers concerns then make no mention about the #2 concern; other than the half a sentence stating that it was the #2 concern. And then to give entire paragraphs supporting an INCREASE in taxes?

Imagine the front page of the Sports section talking about the best college football teams in the nation. There's several paragraphs about LSU, several about California, a few on Ohio State and one on Wisconsin. But nowhere in the article is there a mention of USC; one of two teams that essentially shares all the first place votes. The story goes into some detail about LSU's line, Ohio State's playcalling and California's schedule; but nothing about USC. Nada! Zip! How does that story get written? How does that story get past the editor? How does that story make it on the front page of the Sports section?!?!