When I was a young man, my father helped Congressman Don Young get elected in his early campaigns. He also was campaign manager for State Representative Wilson in Alaska. I recall so clearly one of my father’s frustrations. The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer would often call him for a telephone interview, and almost invariably the newspaper would completely distort what he said. I’ve never forgotten that, and as an adult I have watched the media practice unbalanced “reporting” for all these years.
We have all been watching the media write about the real estate market, using all kinds of hyperbole. Where was the press when the players in the mortgage market were creating sub-prime loans and compromising loan standards and income verification standards?
Blogs on the Internet have become quite popular as an alternative to newspapers. Blogs give consumers a choice. They can read what interests them. They don’t have to pay to be abused by biased reporting. They can find good writing, interesting opinions, and they can do it anytime that is convenient right in the comfort of their own homes.
Those who like to keep up on news can find literally hundreds of wonderful news sites on the Internet. Many people are asking, “Why pay for a newspaper that has to be delivered to my door every day and that I have to pay for, especially when I don’t like the stories or the reporting?”
I feel bad for the Peninsula Daily News. They are fighting an uphill battle in my opinion, one they are losing on both readership and ad revenue. Of course, I could be wrong. Time will tell. It always does.
[The original rebuttal posted here was replaced by this post for two reasons: 1.) no sense republishing original content from the PDN, and 2.) being defensive isn’t good posture.]
Last Updated on September 23, 2008 by Chuck Marunde
Mr. Marunde…
I ask why the PDN REFUSES to print news with actual substance. When faced with news that does not fit the agenda of the socialists that run the PDN, it simply fails to make the news. When I filmed the road department spraying toxic defoliant INSIDE the Elwha “Wellhead Protection Area” (clearly marked with signs) and even got a couple pics of them spraying the Elwha bridge itself, I delivered copies of the CD to the PDN. Did they consider it news? No. They buried it. This kind of one-sided journalism is rampant here.
I would like to respond by saying that Chuck is one of the nicest and most honest human beings I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. This man’s integrity is intact. I can best define how I feel by saying he is one of very few people in my life that I aspire to be more like. Nothing negative that the PDN ever says about Chuck really matters. If you are fortunate enough to know him you already know this to be true. If you don’t know Chuck you would do yourself well to meet such an unusually great person. Then judge for yourself.