The more I read this paper, the more blatant it is becoming that the paper is an arm of the local right wing politicians. Nearly every guest opinion is from a right wing columnist with nary a thought for any type of fair and balanced approach even with the news coverage. Last week, the Minneapolis Star Tribune had on the front page, the article about the Minnesota GOP being fined for election fund misuse. Brainerd Dispatch, page 8.
If this was the only instance of this type of news slanting, I might believe it was a space issue, but I have been paying attention to this type of placement for about six months now and there is definitely a trend and certainly no “fair and balanced” approach either on the editorial page or in the news coverage to my way of thinking. The tilt to the right shows up in headlines and I have to say there was a major shift when the new editorial writer Keith Hansen started with the paper.
We now have what appears to me to be a Tea Party blog from him that is just a restatement of the far right broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh. There are seldom any counterpoint editorials from any of the more liberal national commentators. If I want the right-wing opinion I can go to Fox News or one of the many talk radio shows where they create their own facts to back up their far right opinions. I subscribe to this paper for local news but I must say it is getting harder and harder for me to tolerate the outright smearing of the presiding by not only letter writers but by the paper itself. I am considering whether to keep my subscription at this time.
Jim Grimes
Crosby
A different perspective
Reference is made to the writer from Hackensack in the weekend edition who asks for more opinions. You and others, that have been complaining recently about Mr. Hansen’s writings, need to go back and read some of the Brainerd Dispatch from the last several years. We have had to read nothing but one-sided liberal news in the Dispatch for years, and now that the shoe is on the other foot and we are receiving equal coverage from both sides of the aisle, we hear the liberals crying foul.
Now you know what it’s like to read what the conservative side of the community has had to put up with for the last several years.
Also, the only reason you would want to have Vox Pop back is so that you can continue to attack people and hide behind a system that provides anonymity. If you can’t sign your name to it, it doesn’t need to be published. It has been a welcome relief to read about something other than John Ward in every edition of the Dispatch, seven days a week.
It’s been a shame that we cannot allow the citizens equal coverage rather than the biased coverage we have been subjected to in the past.
Mr. Hansen brings a new and welcome leadership to the Dispatch. Keep up the good work, Mr. Hansen.
To those who complain, all of the local grocery stores sell liberal tabloids and the Minneapolis Tribune is still available in our area.
The Brainerd Dispatch has made many changes in recent times and all of them have been for the better. They are even starting to receive awards and recognition for their new and great publication.
Again, kudos to Mr. Bogenschutz and Mr. Hansen and the rest of the leadership and staff at the Brainerd Dispatch for a publication readable for all.
Charlie Makidon
Backus
Comments (28)
Add commentMr. Grimes,
if you want " editorials from any of the more liberal national commentators ", turn on any tv news channel (other than FOX) or read most any newspaper/newsmagazine in the country. BDD is a good paper which primarily covers local events and news.; that the BDD sometimes departs from a one-sided liberal point of view is refreshing. In presenting both liberal and conservative viewpoints the BDD is simply representing its readers.
I second that len and charlie
Funny how when the shoe is on the other foot that they don't
see that is what we have been putting up with for years.
I thought the paper had Mr. Dana Milbank's writings in it.
That is more than than we had. I wonder if the first writer actually measures the length of the articles.
As for the Star Tribune, I think even they are trying to
'diversify" somewhat.
Why can't the State News section be commented upon?
The covers of the paper are outstanding. And the You Tube additions are fun.
However, both sides of the political spectrum should differentiate between opinion and fact.
How about editorials on local issues? Go to any city council meeting and you will find a plethora of material.
Foxpatch is appropriate , Jim Grimes is exactly correct
Its interesting the Associated Press has done recent articles nationally about Michael Brodkorbs 10 count lawsuit against the State of MN ,which has already cost taxpayers $ 100,000 ,and now he seeks about $ 500,000 + because the bankrupt ( $2.5 million in debt) MN GOP party will not settle with Michael . Like Dave S. ( Amy Kochs replacement) just said " we will try to limit additional costs" to the TAXPAYER. Nice Dave !
Considering Brodkorb was the Deputy Chairman of the MN Republican Party ,and the Communications Director of the MN GOP caucus , while he and Amy Koch redefined marriage in MN as " a women a man and a Senate Aide" Its nice MN tax payers can pay to clean up the GOPs mess.
Then AP reported on the insolvency and illegal fund use by by the MN GOP which resulted in fines. I dont recall reading about these things in the Dispatch either. Pretty selective reporting of " news" you can use. Maybe Rupert M. is on the board.
And if thats not kind of interesting, our local Neo Con Gazelka and his "friends " have launched yet ANOTHER lawsuit against our Sec of State Mark Ritchie for doing his job ,didnt read that either in the Dispatch .OR lets sue the tax payers yet again ?.
Therefore Mr Grimes you are correct , The Dispatch does NOT seem to report that the morally ,ethically and financially bankrupt MN GOP party hides behind religious righteousness while claiming to champion fiscal responsibility ,while doing exactly the opposite. Thats news in an election year....
redux....
redux....
Wow, captron
Brodkorb is costing Minnesotans a small fortune. It would have been cheaper to cut the losses and settle with him. Now we will be inundated with his litany of capital city scandals.
Maybe hell hath no fury like a man scorned, too.
tolerance is apparently one sided
My, my are we having a problem with our "tolerance" of other
views? Some people have endless "tolerance" for everything and everybody except when an opinion is different from theirs.
As for Brodkorb, it was right that he be fired and he needs
to take it like a man. I don't care if it is on page one or page 9 or even in this paper at all.
I try to understand the obsession with everything not good
about the GOP party be put on page one, but to me, it's just
politics and if the Democrats haven't already had similar
problem, they will. Then, should we be obsessive about
it being on page one? You seem to know all the ins and outs
of this stupid affair so, where did you get your information?
Can't bury our heads in the sand.
Brodkorb is relevant news because the situation is now becoming a drain on state funds. It may lead to criminal charges.
There's the other side and then there is Keith and new Dispatch
I knew exactly what the Brainerd area was getting when Keith arrived--it's his MO wherever he has been involved with a newspaper.
The problem isn't so much a different perspective--it's how that different perspective is offered. A simple repeat of whatever is hot on the right wing blogs and political strategy web links at the moment. It matters not that a grade school journalist could cast doubt on the "opinion's" with a few minutes of fact checking.
Initially the dispatch was telling people that the intent was to have a Hanson/O' Rourke debate going on ad nauseum. The problem with that is that the reality is that Keith dives all over the latest right wing agenda item and O' Rourke writes about--well today it's all about firewood.
Then there's the "point system" that rewards the consistently mean and angry, name calling, disrespectful. The biggest joke ever was when the dispatch tried to hoodwink people into thinking the point system was intended to lead to improved more respectful banter on their web boards!
And gone are the days when our local paper had editorials--like them or not--that appeared to come after some thought and consideration of how they were viewed in the community.
The publisher has spoken, they aren't listening to complaints, the only way a community can fight back is to talk to the paper's advertisers it appears!
Sad Lady , Up here at Barkers Island Marina ,Rush L. is King
We listen to Rush everyday ( our legitimate news source) because since we found out his mom & his college both rejected him because of his " beliefs" we figured out he is the only fair & balanced legitimate news source available ,who by the way has an interview set up with Amy Koch ,before she goes to testify on behalf of her latest love. Who would have ever thunk it ,the disgraced GOP first female MN State Senate Leader ever who helped spearhead the elimination of our homestaed property tax credit and state government shutdown , is now helping to sue the State of MN because her squeeze was wrongly terminated ?? Get out and VOTE IN NOV before the GOP party takes control of the ballot box.
Long Live Rush !
Long Live Rush !
Rush - serial marriages and drug use?
The new right wing standard. How Sad.
Speaking of Make Believe...
Link:
http://www.dglobe.com/event/article/id/58725/publisher_ID/24/
Yes, we need some high level fact-checking...
...like the type we recently witnessed on Good Morning America re: the Colorado shooter. Good job lefties! Please show us poor benighted souls the way!
Really dutch?
I heard she presented quotes and notes from Obama's government agencies that proved her claims. I suppose Obummer wil hide them behind Executive Privilege anyway.
The good part is that now McCain has now proven that he always was a Democrat shill and he can be dumped now.
In the theme of Fair...n...Balanced...
A snippet into another Congressman disputing Michele...
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/07/23/562831/jim-sensenbrenner-hu...
Take a view and comment...
In the theme of Fair n Balanced...
There you go , fnb,
making stuff up again.
Oh no southie
You and the rest of your ilk spread lies daily and over and over. That is the DNC 1st command. Propaganda and charecter assination was a hallmark of other dictatorships around the world.
For you dutch,
I don't agree about Abedin yet, but there is no doubt about the rest of the Muslim Brotherhood stuff being true.. I personally don't think Obama is a true Muslim believer though. I do believe he would use them or work with them to furthar his communist beliefs.
Pssst, southie,
that baseless lie about making things up is making you immaterial. Double-speak is Obama's way and you don't do it as good as he does.
Well, I guess if it's in the Daily Globe...
...it must be true.
Robert Spencer seems to think there's something to Keith having some rather close connections to CAIR, which is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood.
lhttp://frontpagemag.com/2012/robert-spencer/why-michele-bachmann-is-right-about-keith-ellison/
Tea.Publican...
Definition...
Introduce a movement into a major United States of America Political Party...
At present, the GOP, the Party of Abraham Lincoln is the current platform of introduction...
How this definition is defined in the future, is any American Citizens guess...
November 2012 is the beginning of the answers...
Elections 2010 was the introductory period...
I think Sensenbrenner's error...
...is in characterizing Bachmann's call for an investigation as an attack on religious liberty rather than a call to check out possible ties to a terrorist groups. This isn't about Abedin being a Muslim, per se, or her personally being in favor of terrorism, it's about her close family ties to members of a group known to support terrorism. As far as I'm concerned, if it turns out that she doesn't have any meaningful contact with her brother and mother, then she's good to go. If she does, that mere contact puts our security at risk because it gives people who are antagonistic towards our interests access to someone who is privy to a lot of state secrets.
Ruffled Feathers
"WOW" I turned on my computer this morning and a bunch of feathers came flying out. They had DFL printed on them. It seems I ruffled some feathers when I complemented the BDD for taking on a new open minded format. Now you liberals don't know how to act when the media turns to fair/equal/unbiased reporting. I look forward to your crying and whining but please hurry up and get it over with as these feathers and tears are hard on my electronics. It's funny that the readership has increased 6plus percent since Mr. Hansen came on board. Keep up the good work Keith and crew. By the way, Mikey O, your articles still have some merit to them (if your'e a liberal). Hey! How bout that, libs. You heard it from a conservative-someone that reads both sides of the story. Try it-you'll like it. You might even change your mind if you open up and decide to read both sides of a story. Tunnel vision is a bad thing. PS: Call me a Conservative but don't call me a Republican. There is a difference.
Demoncraps always have the same thing to say,
Limbaugh, Fox News, Tea Party. You people need new material. I suppose you could look to the OWS crowd but they seem to have become as irrelevant as the liberal posters on this site!
Hansen is Common Sense Centrist, not Left or Right
I get free entertainment from libs like Grimes. Lol! Lefties are so predictable and are some of the most unhappy people I know. A free press should have many different opinions. Panning the political spectrum. Grimes seems intolerant to people with just common sense like Hansen which is the seventy percent center of America, not right or left.
I wonder how many years of left leaning editorials it took for Grimes to write his BDD subscription cancellation in his quest for fair and balanced editorials? Finally there is someone who seems reasonable not agenda driven. I can assure you many people in the Brainerd area have been waiting for the BDD to come to their senses on this. For every malcontent like Grimes there are 100 common sense centrists waiting to finally have an unbiased fair newspaper.
Keep up the good work Keith. I applaud you.
The BDD has been stuck in the liberal left position ...
and any movement to the center seems like a move to the right.
"... there is definitely a trend and certainly no “fair and balanced” approach either on the editorial page or in the news coverage to my way of thinking." J. Grimes
All I can say is W O W! Jim, did you ever consider that it may be impossible to go that far left? Dr. Jing says, I would cancel your subscription and get on with your life not fettered by any centrist or leaning right opinions. Life is short, lighten up!
Bucky's Back In New Format
Hey Johnny Jing, This is Bucky in a new format. Once again I see we are still on the same page. There must be something to this conservative thing. Sure glad to see the BDD coming around to equal coverage. They had to move 2 miles to the right just to get to the center. I see Mikey O is still having trouble shaking his John Ward syndrom in every edition. I wonder if he gets paid on the side for that. Watch for the Ward trash to pick up soon. Some day in the near future, I'm going to light a match under him. Flipper fans will really have something to write about then. Give me a call some day and we can chat. Good to hear from ya. Bucky
The truth hurts
Hey Johnnie, it sure is different when the shoe is on the other foot. Test.