author thinks the paper has intentionally strayed away from this local focus. Sounds like she has an informed vantage point from which she speaks, also. Good points.

Writing in-depth editorials on local issues is hard work, though, compared to pulling out a canned editorial (that's 2/3 quotes or borrowed material from other sources). Maybe the editorial/audience development dept. is understaffed? There's definitely a stream of discontent with editorial section being voiced by many people. (And for each one voiced, there are many who feel similarly but do not write in to make suggestions.)

bomb thrower, remember? You are retired and have the time so have at it.

As of March 2012 (most recent I could find) here are the Editorial Board members, Southie:

"We’ve made a few other changes as well. In addition to (Keith) Hansen and (Mike) O’Rourke, members of the editorial board are Tim Bogenschutz, publisher; Terry McCollough, former publisher; and Jackie Burkey, community representative."

Seems like a very small number of folks, and many are enmeshed in the chain-of-command. Do you always talk candidly with your boss, and challenge him/her in the manner an editorial board should challenge itself?

Also useful from this article:

"Brained Dispatch editorials are now signed by their authors. This promotes accountability and allows readers to understand whose perspective an issue is being addressed by in the editorial. The majority of editorials will be written by Keith Hansen, the Dispatch’s vice president of audience development, and Mike O’Rourke, associate editor. These editorials reflect the opinions of the authors. As usual, the publisher has veto power on any editorial."

The buck stops with the publisher, Tim Bogenschultz (who interfaces with Morris?).

At the end of the day, if it's an issue for which sides are drawn, someone will probably be unhappy. So be it. If the newspaper does it's reporting and editorial job, it researches all sides of issues, weighs the relative merits of each/all, and takes a principled stand. That's what editorialists traditionally do. Then, when readers invariably disagree, they are free to make their own case in response. This isn't a new concept to the folks who work on the editorial page at the Dispatch; just journalism 101 taught in Jr High.

Pat Miller, the letter-writer, seems to be wondering why they've strayed so far from this basic responsibility of an editorial page. She doesn't need to buy the Dispatch to read about Benghazi or the latest debt ceiling rant from Fox-via-Keith Hansen. She can get national news and op/ed elsewhere. It's the local stuff that's missing here.

Maybe they need to keep Keith as V.P. of Audience Development, and hire an actual Editor-in-Chief, again, who focuses on this.

I see the problem of what local issue to write about.
The sidewalk issue is covered in the city council meetings.
How many care and know about the Guy radio show?
You can and should check the unemployment numbers
when they come out, I think they are usually in this paper.
I don't know about Fleet Farm, they would be accused of
favoring a business if it is in the editorial section.

Gas is always going up and down.
Lakeshore property -- it's winter.

Some inquiring minds want to know. These suggestions should be taken up.
I think this paper rarely has taken up a position on local issues.
I know they have on some school issues.

If it was ever really the new managements' intention that Mike O'Rourke was to represent the flip-side arguments of Keith Hansen's, I've never seen evidence. Of course, I'm still waiting to see even one piece from O'Rourke that's remotely pushing the supposed "liberal" envelope. I've only read very "measured" pieces with his by-line, which is a compliment.

As long as the Publisher thinks everything's going swimmingly (financially-speaking), do you see any impetus for change, ProudRINO? Don't the owners/managers know they have a captive market here, for local news, ads ...? What other paper are folks going to buy if they no longer like the Dispatch? There really isn't one, and they know it. Even advertisers don't have much say, as the owners can say, "bye-bye -- been good to know you; feel free to advertise at the other paper."

The calling and "lobbying" of an advertiser (who essentially pays for the newspaper's content) is purely a economic transaction on the part of a reader. Nothing terribly personal -- just business in the fast lane, involving competing interests. The concept of a boycott is an old one, but it's also essentially a non-starter in this situation.

Advertisers are compelled to be more responsive in markets where consumers have multiple choices, and where they (with their consumer hat on) have multiple choices, also. That's not the case here. Both sets of BDD's customers -- their advertisers and their readers -- have limited alternative options.

So bullying, from another perspective, is the newspaper owners not caring what readers or advertisers think , because they don't have to -- they're the only gig in town. They don't have to have an editorial board made up of a dozen diverse folks, they can just boil it down to a manageable 4 or 5 (half of whom report to the other half). This is why local ownership seems preferable, because a local owner has a sense of civic responsibility and pride that can supercede purely bottom-line economic decisions. Why would we even expect Morris, an owner of 12 daily newspapers (mainly in the South), plus many other holdings, to necessarily have the same community concerns as a local owner? I'll be curious to know whether Pat Miller thinks her concerns have been addressed (if she follows up in a few months).

We were raised by a father who read them at the dinner table. Of course the great writers in those days would be appalled at what passes for journalism nowadays. We took the Christian Science Monitor and two other daily papers. And then got some big fat paper on Sunday.

And local news came over the radio. Where is it coming from today? Some from the Internet and some from TV. But Crow Wing County news should be in our local paper. And don't forget, their advertising revenue is taking a hit this year due to losing the Crow Wing County bid, so we should expect some greater coverage that appeals to all of us residents, part time or full time. That is what sells papers. National political news is easily accessed online.