Yesterday's Grapevine in the Daily Crime... Some bonehead calls up to complain about an editorial that he thought was biased against the governor. Yup.
Did I miss a memo that went out to the rest of the world, or does this guy just not understand the concept of the op/ed pages? ... Okay, on the outside chance that I'm still right, I'll impart a little understanding.
Dear Dimbulb;
Thank you for your concerns regarding the editorial in question.
As you may know, the newspaper industry many years ago bowed to the the public's demand for journalistic standards that are free of values and opinions. This change came about partially as recognition on the part of the industry to clean its own house, and partially in response to pressure from politicians who were finding it increasingly difficult to be elected while being called names in the press. Please understand that our ending that policy didn't mean that politicians and society-at-large were suddenly cleaner, only that we stopped characterizing them as dirty. Concurrently, we also stopped labeling any behavior in an unfavorable fashion. Of course, this means that modern newspapers have abrogated their role as a moral compass for the communities they serve, and so now the population is left to make it's own moral choices, for good or ill..... Except for the Op/Ed pages. As you should know, the opinions and editorial pages are self-explanatory in that they contain the thoughts of the editorial staff and the opinions of other syndicated writers and the public at large. They are opinions and as such are not constrained by the demands to be free of bias. We thank you for your observations. Please write us again when you better understand this concept.
The Editors
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