I admit I had a few, fleeting concerns that my new partner, Ms. Rybak, might need a while to find her swing here in blogland. The daily newspaper grind is a pretty confining habit to break on a moment’s notice. In Capital “J” journalism one is expected to treat all subjects with equal respect, as in … “Ms. Rigoberta Menchu Tum and Mr. Charles Manson today released differing statements on the value of human life”. To vilify … “psycho scum Charlie Manson said today … ” is to betray a lack of self-discipline and gravitas.
To my great relief Ms. Rybak has proven herself fully-equipped and well-prepared to vilify as need be. Nicely done, my dear.
We are hearing from regular readers that we are close to obsessing over all things Star Tribune. To some extent this is a valid criticism. We will be paying more attention to other local and national media as news warrants and as we work out a few technical nits here at Slaughter Central. But come on you carpers, since January 1 has any local media story topped the gutting of the Star Tribune and the Par Ridder follies? I don’t think so. Has the paper ever actually been covered consistently? No. Does it matter? For the time being, yes.
We could follow old school, mainstream thinking and obsess about the ratings and skin rashes of our favorite news anchors, but we’re both kinda bored with that shtick, as is everyone whose opinion we respect.
Anyway, I take the always pleasant red eye in from Vegas and grab the first Strib I’ve seen in eight days — having already spoken with a few of the usual suspects about the latest editorial page purge, the push for still more “local, local” and the, uh, reassigning of “Readers’ Representative”, Kate Parry — and my eyes fall to a fresh editorial titled, “For Vikings, patience is a necessary virtue.”
Oh … my … God.
In my mind, the explanation for most of the on-going de-contenting of Minnesota’s largest news source can be reduced to this: It is a straight business deal being staged for sale, much like, as one
suspect said, painting every wall bland, neutral white so as not to provoke any negative thoughts or opinions in prospective buyers.
Others see an ideological game afoot, with interim publisher, Chris Harte, following private equity boilerplate and reducing the “liberal bias” of the Strib editorial page. I’m not ruling that out, but I suspect any reduction of liberal bite — anti-Bush, anti-Iraq, anti-government-on-the-cheap, anti-Pawlenty slipperiness– is more a consequence of the general blanding-down of the editorial page than an overt push to muzzle screaming “liberals”. (And again, if the Strib’s Powerline-style critics think the editorial writers, even the departed Jim Boyd, are screamers, they really need to get out more.)
But isn’t that usually the way it goes? Any time any media outlet or organization pushes toward a more cautious, status quo perspective, the first voices muzzled are those demanding change and progress and pointing out the flaws in status quo thinking.
So this pro-Vikings stadium editorial is precisely the kind of clubby, oily boosterism that I think of when I hear some corporate functionary selling, “local, local” or its mongrel cousin, “hyper-local.” When a paper like the Strib touts “hyper-local” and assigns one reporter to three large suburbs AND another “concept” beat you have every right to mutter, “bullshit.” And when a reliable functionary like Scott Gillespie is moved from the newsroom to the editorial pages with accompanying fanfare about “localism,” we have every reason to jack the antennae up to hi-gain for the kind of empty-to-predictably-fawning corporate comaraderie demonstrated in this “local local” testimonial.
You gotta love some of the phrasing of the Zygi Wilf editorial — which couldn’t have played better toward Wilf’s interests if HIS internal communications people had polished it for the Strib.
Referring to Wilf’s sales job at the U of M McNamara Center, the “hyper-local” Strib gushes, ” … he couldn’t have spoken words better attuned to Minnesota sensibilities than the ones he uttered … ” .
“Wilf avowed [“avowed”? What is this, a Jane Austen novel?] that his family thinks of itself not as the owners, but as the ‘stewards of this great franchise,’ the Minnesota Vikings.” (Note the assertion of Wilf’s “family” interests. I’m sure he’s thinking about the wife and kids — in New Jersey — every time he lobbies for that $700 million hand-out from Minnesota taxpayers.)
“He described the world-class stadium he wants Minnesota to build for that team as just deserts [sic] and a point of pride for worthy fans.” (Again with the “world class”! And I’m happy for the “worthy” fans. But isn’t the real question whether Wilf is “worthy” of BOTH the fans’ tax money AND $100 a ticket? And let’s not get into how far from “world class” the Vikings are.)
“Give Wilf credit for striking just the right tone … .”
Plainly agreeing with Wilf, the piece adds, “A people can be defined by the quality of things they hold in common … [like schools and bridges … oh, sorry] — and in modern America, and NFL stadium is one such thing.”
And just in case you missed the gooey respect the Strib has for the Wilf “family” position, the very next paragraph begins, “His message is valid.” It concludes with a linkage of the words “popular” and “Gov. Tim Pawlenty” in case you missed the “balance” the piece was trying to demonstrate.
I suppose an editorial praising the harvest of Zestar apples in Washington County would be lamer, but not by much.
The great sad irony in the Avista Capital Partners, Par Ridder and now Chris Harte “right-sizing”/blanding of the Strib editorial page, (a process begun by McClatchy), is that the Strib’s very vocal positions against the invasion of Iraq and various other highly controversial events with deep and profound relevancy to all Minnesotans should have been a source of pride.
If Powerline, etc. and the usual 29%ers want to scream about rampant “liberalism,” let them bray. That’s their game, braying. On Bush and Iraq the now mostly departed Strib edit page was right. Make that flat-out, dead right, and right earlier than just about every other paper in the country. In a world of brave journalism a publisher would give you a hearty pat on the back for that kind of intellectual clarity and courage. But in a world of risk-averse, neutral bland newspapering for quick sale … not so much.
On the matter of the Strib no longer having a Readers’ Rep … give me a minute, here.
Damn, it’s good to be back.
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