The Strib's problems covering politics
The Minneapolis Star Tribune once again showed why they are unable to cover politics in Minnesota today. First of all, if you were a regular reader of the Strib, you wouldn't have known there is actually a race in MN-02 until you read that Steve Sarvi got the DFL endorsement yesterday and will face Republican John Kline. There are only eight articles about Steve at the Strib and really only five of them are about him. This isn't coverage -- it's neglect.
Newspapers are a failing industry and the new owners of the Strib hope that slashing staff allow them to make money. Unfortunately, we're all now reaping the rewards in that the Strib barely covers politics in MN and often gets things wrong. It is a death spiral. The more the Strib neglects MN politics and the more they get wrong, the fewer people will read the Strib.
[emphasis mine]
(Strib)
Because the Strib no longer has many political reporters, they pull over writers who don't have usually cover it. These reporters haven't been following the race closely. The reporter who penned the Sarvi article seems to normally cover educational issues with some occasional crime beat. Consequently, they don't have the background knowledge.
Tim Walz is not an Iraq vet! He's never claimed to be and if there were a political editor at the Strib who knew MN politics, they wouldn't allow such a mistake, either. Sadly, they've probably been laid off, too. So we get the south metro education beat reporter dabbling in politics and edited poorly.
Any wonder why more and more people are turning to the blogs for their political news?
»
- The Big E's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Stumble It!
Right on!
Exactly Big E! Look at the fluff piece on Bachmann, Brian Davis, and Dick Day's border trip. The ONLY coverage the 6th got before the convention was the Tinklenberg taconite stuff a couple of days out. That's it!
It's sheer laziness that a reporter still reports Walz is an Iraq War Vet. You're correct, he's NEVER made that claim. By being incompetent, they will give the NRCC, MN GOP, and Davis / Day an opportunity to hit Walz on his military record.
My favorite comment in that section was where they called Sarvi a REMF. Do these same conservatives call Joe Repya a REMF because he served 10 months less in Iraq than Sarvi and other Minnesota National Guard members?
Whoever called Sarvi a REMF is an idiot
There is no rear in Iraq. If he was stationed in Kuwait, that is the only "rear". We had two people killed by a rocket while they were going to the PX for Christ's sake. Now, I won't deny that there are many jobs more dangerous than others, but in this conflict there is no rear, and soldiers don't even use the REMF terminology anymore. They might call someone a Fobbit, (a Forward Operating Base hobbit), but you will never hear the term REMF. What a bunch of idiots who obviously have never been anywhere.
Alec Timmerman
strib going bankrupt?
Didja see the MinnPost bit by David Brauer, about the NY POst article saying that the STrib is nearly bankrupt???http://www.minnpost.com/davidbrauer/2008/05/04/1732/strib_on_verge_of_bankruptcy_ny_post_reports
The strib has formally denied the story but their "liquidity" may only be temporary.
We have to support the media we use. Donate to MinnPOst! DOnate to The Uptake! Donate to
link...
http://www.minnpost.com/davidbrauer/2008/05/04/1732/strib_on_verge_of_bankruptcy_ny_post_reports
First they lost the conservatives, now the liberals
The strib has been in a downward spriral for quite some time.
More problems for strib circulation...
Conservatives have been leaving in droves for years. It looks like the liberals and sports fans are all that is left.
And now the liberals are leaving.
Put the strib in your dead pool!
.
.
.
"My Carma just ran over your Dogma."
The Star Tribune has corrected the story
The Strib has said it will correct the story, and according to those who contacted BSP, it emailed back those who wrote to note the mistake.
See more here.