The one interesting piece of the "New" Pioneer Press is its drift toward a more conservative point of view. I say "New" because I have always felt it was conservative on its editorial page. However, as Erin points out, this paper seems to have become the water boy for Mayor Kelly in complete opposition to the City Council majority. Adding editorial writers like Mark Yost only serves to suggest the owners of this paper have an conservative agenda, rather than the presenter of unbiased news. Mike Fratto Payne Phalen
>>> "erin stojan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 01/21/2005 9:39:20 AM >>> Hello all, I'm so glad that Bob wrote this. While I disagree regularly with the Pioneer Press, I, like Bob, certainly respect anyone's right to a well-reasoned difference in opinion. However, as of late, I, too, have been greatly disturbed by the level what seems like outright personally-directed hostility in recent editorials, almost exclusively aimed at the City Council majority. I grew up in a very small town, so small that we had to share a paper with the neighboring town. Even there, where people know each other very well (with plenty of disagreements), and newspapers were often informal in their reporting, I never saw such pointedly personal attacks by a paper on particular public officials as those I have seen in the pages of the Pioneer Press. It is truly appalling to see this sort of conduct become the norm in the "newspaper of record" for St. Paul. Ironically, these rancorous editorials seem meant to highlight (what the Pioneer Press evidently finds as) the less-than-couth nature of communication between the Council majority and the Mayor. It's unclear when the Pioneer Press will see fit to live up to its own standards of civility in public discourse, but I eagerly anticipate that day. The Pioneer Press, its readers and St. Paul are poorly served by editorials that seem to have all but beat Mayor Kelly to the punch in beginning Kelly's re-election bid, and in a particularly mean-spirited and unconstructive manner at that. Good public policy, sound journalism and ultimately our city's democracy suffers the consequences of an overly partisan and personalized debate, such as we see unfolding on the Pioneer Press Op/Ed section. I hope we can look forward to better. Erin Stojan Dayton's Bluff Bob Spaulding <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Thanks to all for sharing their informed perspectives, including the Pioneer Press. The Pioneer Press' editorial is one of a developing set that seeks to create opposition to the City Council's work (see below for link). I'd like to dissect not the topic of the editorial, but the way the editorial was constructed. I am concerned that the editorial focuses on politics and personal issues and not on the policy issues. The language and approach sparks a strong emotional reaction, whether in agreement or disagreement. Likewise, an editorial late last year published a sidebar with photos and phone numbers for a majority on the Council who voted against the wishes of the Pioneer Press, an approach I don't recall seeing really used elsewhere. While the Pioneer Press is certainly entitled to any opinion they like, I think a different approach would serve St. Paul better. This current editorial draws no specific policy connections between the City Council's economic development policies and the departure of Dr. Verfaille. Were there direct tradeoffs between public works projects and biotech? How might additional city revenue change any tradeoffs? I don't know, and therefore I very honestly don't know whether to agree or disagree with the Pioneer Press. But I am sure the Council majority hasn't made painting streetlights and putting in tetter-totters their core priorities, as the editorial provocatively suggests. The lack of hard facts and topics in the editorial leaves us arguing based on only perceptions and emotions. As stand-ins representing larger concerns, streetlights and teeter-totters aren't strong choices linguistically, and unfortunately enflame the debate. These dynamics go beyond just the Pioneer Press: St. Paul as a whole is a pretty divided city. I believe we native Minnesotans need to brush up on how to disagree: we can learn to make it factual, not personal. If we listen to other perspectives with an open mind, we all may learn something. And we can recognize that on some issues, we simply may not agree - that's what a healthy debate and political processes are for. Even when disagreements is routine and opinions strongly diverge, we can learn to work together. The Pioneer Press could play a key role in fostering that spirit of cooperation - they have the ability as much as anyone else to set the tone for debates like this. Perhaps next time. But without an attempt at a civil debate, I think we miss opportunities, and our shared city suffers as a result. At least that's the conclusion I come to. Bob Spaulding Downtown Pioneer Press Editorial - What's at stake as city confronts future: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/2005/01/18/news/editorial/ 10667442.htm _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------ Erin Stojan Dayton's Bluff, Ward 7 --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term' _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
