LOL
I've been reading the PP for over 40 years and I've been pleasantly surprised at their new model. But it's not a change brought about by the publisher's change in ideology. It's been a business decision. Newspapers have been hit hard since the advent of the internet, and most are struggling to keep their heads above water. Tony Ridder is a businessman. When he took over as CEO he looked around and saw two newspapers serving this area, both with the same lefty point of view. The Red Star (as those of us in the VRWC call it) has a huge advantage in circulation, with many St. Paul homes receiving their paper. The Pioneer Press doesn't deliver in Mpls. The only way for the Pioneer Press to survive is to differentiate itself from the competition. They've tried format changes and other cosmetics, but nothing seemed to help. By hiring Yost and other conservative writers, they've started to appeal to conservatives who felt that neither newspaper was sympathetic to their views.
It's the Fox News model. Fox News grew as rapidly as it did, not because it's conservative, but because it's NOT LIBERAL. All of their popular evening news and commentary shows always have people from both sides of an issue to present a "fair and balanced" debate or report. This seems strange to liberals because they've been conditioned to having Dan Rather or Peter Jennings present one side of the story and expect you to simply accept it. You rarely hear the conservative side of an issue on any of the major networks "news" and commentary shows, so when you do so on Fox, it only seems by comparison to be "conservative." ("What's this? I actually have to think now?")
So, this has nothing to do with Mayor Kelly per se. He happened to be in office when this format change came about. He's not supported because he's Randy Kelly or even a conservative. His point of view is simply not automatically criticized because he's at odds with the liberals. That role of knee-jerk support of liberal ideas and politicians is now solely in the hands of the enemy paper.
Ah, isn't competition wonderful?
Dennis Tester Mac-Groveland
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