Sylvester prediction comes to pass at the Chronicle
In an update posted on October 22, Sherry Sylvester suggested why the state's major newspapers would endorse President Bush's re-election:
The guys who are watching the bottom line at the big Texas papers know that media credibility is already at a record low. With declines in circulation and daily copy sales, Texas publishers will think long and hard before they invite the wave of subscription cancellations that would surely result if they took a stand against the President.
Just as the Boston Globe had little choice but to endorse Sen. John Kerry, in 2000 all of the states [sic] major newspapers endorsed Bush.
The Chronicle endorsed President Bush today, following the lead of the DFW and San Antonio newspapers.
When accused of bias, the Chronicle frequently resorts to tired claims that it gets angry letters from both liberals and conservatives, and therefore it's not biased. One can expect it to use its endorsement of President Bush for similar cover, another prediction offered by Sylvester:
Unfortunately, the Bush endorsements provide convenient cover for those reporters and editors who shamelessly slant the daily news. They will point to editorial page support for the president as proof their newspaper is balanced.
But the endorsements will not effect on the chronic bias that permeates the Texas news coverage in numerous ways from opinion driven news stories to misleading headlines. The endorsements will not counter the slanted political and public policy messages which are published in place of balanced news reports.
Texas journalists often insist that they are as hard on liberal Democrats as conservative Republicans and that may have been true at one time.
But those of us who monitor bias in the Texas press know those even-handed days are long gone – regardless of who gets the presidential endorsements.
Yes, we do.
One line in the Chronicle endorsement is especially worth highlighting:
The Chronicle believes Bush, if granted a second term and freed of the need to appeal to the extreme factions of his party, will regain his bipartisan effectiveness at solving problems. That is not an idle hope but rests on the experience of an earlier Texan who occupied the White House, Lyndon B. Johnson.
The Chronicle editorial board inadvertently reveals its political leanings with this "belief." They seem oblivious to the fact that President Bush is a radical theoconservative whose policies on tax cuts, foreign policy, stem cells, faith-based charity, school choice and accountability, and constitutional law are not merely designed to appeal to "extreme factions" in the Republican party, but are indeed reflective of the President's philosophy of government. It's easy for people who disagree with the President on the Left (in the case of the Chronicle editorial board) and on the Right (in the case of paleocons who criticize his foreign policy and small-government types who criticize his spending) to characterize him as an idiot who is manipulated by party factions (and/or Karl Rove) into decisions, and perhaps it gives them comfort to do so. It's still wrong.
In any case, we'll predict with confidence that if President Bush is re-elected, he'll continue to pursue the same sorts of policies he's pursued over the last four years, and the Chronicle will remain just as shrill in covering his conservative policies.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/04 04:34 PM | Print |
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