[Wheelingman04]

This is your opinion.

Here are some categories you may want to speak to:

Do you like your city's and other midwest newspapers?

Is the newspaper moderate, conservative or liberal in its news coverage, editorial and op-ed pages?

How good is the city and metropolitan coverage?

Do these newspapers cover the positive aspects of the city and metro area or does it always express the negatives about its own city?

Is the national and foreign news coverage comprehensive?

What would you like for the newspaper to improve on in the future?

Thanks for answering the questions and adding your opinion.:)


Now that I have time I will post my opinions. The midwest newspapers I usually read online or in print sometimes:

Columbus Dispatch: very well rounded newspaper, the best in Ohio IMO. Gives a nice amount of national and international news. It also prints a lot of good articles about city development. It is a very moderate newspaper that is very unbiased. Its editorial cartoons suck though.

Chicago Tribune: Not a very great newspaper for such a large city. It tends to cover the suburbs a lot more than city news. The Sun-Times covers the city better. It is very good in covering national and international news. It is blantantly conservative with its editorials and some news coverage. It op-ed page is a little less conservative and is generally moderate overall. I would improve this newspaper by making it cover the city of Chicago better and I would make this newspaper have a less conservative bias.

Chicago Sun-Times: This is a tabloid newspaper so it is not that good. It doesn't have indepth, intellectual type stories. Most stories in this tabloid are very short and to the point. It also doesn't cover the entire metro area very well, but it does cover the city well. This newspaper's editorials are moderate, while the op-ed page leans conservative to moderate. I would improve this newspaper by making it a broadsheet with more national, international and metropolitan news. I would also make the stories more indepth and intellectually oriented like what the New York Times or LA Times does. It also needs to make its op-ed page more moderate or liberal because Chicago is a liberal city overall. It also needs to print editorials on the weekends, which it doesn't do now.

Overall Chicago's newspapers are a disgrace for a city so big. St. Louis and Minneapolis have better newspapers than Chicago. The is terrible. Even Milwaukee's newspaper can stand up to Chicago's.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: It is a pretty good, well rounded newspaper. Its editorial page is center-left and almost always endorses Democrats for president as well as state and some local offices. It is not overally biased, though again it leans left. It represents the other side in its news coverage pretty well too. If I were to improve anything with this newspaper, I would make it cover more national and internatinal news and make the editorials adopt more of an international stance by covering more international events and not just Iraq or Darfur, while preserving its good hometown Milwaukee coverage.

I have also read the St. Louis Post- Dispatch a few times. It is one of the best newspapers in the Midwest IMO. It gives a good amount of national and international news, which preserving a lot of local coverage at the same time. It is liberal in its editorial stance, which is good for me since I am pretty liberal. There is not much that needs improving with this newspaper.

I have also read the Minneapolis Star-Tribune a few times as well. It is a liberal slanted newspaper also with good coverage of international and national news. It could probably do better with local coverage though.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I like Stahler.

The only thing the Cincinnati Enquirer has going for it are Jim Borgman and Paul Daugherty.

[left of center]

Chicago Sun-Times: This is a tabloid newspaper so it is not that good. It doesn't have indepth, intellectual type stories. Most stories in this tabloid are very short and to the point. It also doesn't cover the entire metro area very well, but it does cover the city well. This newspaper's editorials are moderate, while the op-ed page leans conservative to moderate. I would improve this newspaper by making it a broadsheet with more national, international and metropolitan news. I would also make the stories more indepth and intellectually oriented like what the New York Times or LA Times does. It also needs to make its op-ed page more moderate or liberal because Chicago is a liberal city overall. It also needs to print editorials on the weekends, which it doesn't do now.


You realize that the term tabliod refers only to how a newspaper is folded, right? A newspaper that is folded in such a way that it opens up as a book is a tabloid, it has nothing to do with the content within the paper itself (the term tabloid got a bad name from the many British publications that fold themselves in the aforementioned manner). That being said, the newspaper does indeed have national and international news. The only real thing that the Sun Times lacks compared to the Trib are correspondants outside the US (they usually rely on wire services for international news). Otherwise, the stories are quite intellectual and becoming of a newspaper of its stature, i have no idea what newspaper you thought you read when you wrote this.

As for the comment about the Trib covering the suburbs and the Sun Times covering the city, that is incorrect. Both infact have a suburban focus ;) Mostly due to the fact that most of the columnists and other reporters live in the suburbs, although that is slowly changing, as there is currently a changing of the guard at both newspapers, and the fresh blood replacing the old timers are primarily young city residents with a much more liberal outlook that is more representative of the city. Both newspapers do a good job of covering city, metropolitan, national, and global issues, however.

With that said, i do have a preference for the Trib ;)

[Stephenapolis]

I agree with the assessment of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. It has been sorely lacking in the local area for some time. it is my only real gripe with this paper. Is sports writers are right up the with the ones from Chicago. Even after a win, they say (insert team here) is collapsing into failure. The comics are some of the best I have seen in any major newspaper, and that matters alot to me. ;) On Wednesdays they put out a section for suburban areas that the paper is delivered too. These include police reports for certain communities too. Some are absolutely hilarious. My favorite from the past year, is someone that called police to report that their car had been broken into a A tomato was stolen. :D

[STLgasm]

Admittedly, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has gone downhill in recent years. Pulitzer sold to Lee Enterprises, a company that owns several papers in smaller cities (I think St. Louis is at least 6 times bigger than any other city paper it owns). There's a lot of fluff and crap to be found in the P-D.

I think the New York Times is the only paper worth reading!

[Cincinnatis]

I like Stahler.

The only thing the Cincinnati Enquirer has going for it are Jim Borgman and Paul Daugherty.


Agreed. They should just fire everyone that works for the Enquirer. Start fresh and hire people that actually live in the city.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Did you know that Peter Bronson lives in Clermont County?

Blasphemy.

Then again, Daugherty lives in Loveland.

[mobyhead]

The Indianapolis Star had it going on until Gannett (USA Today) purchased them. Now it's so-so.

[Suburban Lou]

The only thing the Post-Dispatch is good for is advertising arts and crafts fairs.

[Buckeye Native 001]

The Indianapolis Star had it going on until Gannett (USA Today) purchased them. Now it's so-so.

Do they pie-chart the hell out of everything?

[mobyhead]

Do they pie-chart the hell out of everything?
No but there is a lot of fluff in it now.

[rockyi]

"The Onion" (from Madison, right?)

[Steely Dan]

"The Onion" (from Madison, right?)

the onion started in madison, but they have since moved to the big apple.

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

The second tier cities in Ohio used to and to some degrees still do have the better journalism in Ohio: Toledo Blade, Dayton Daily News, and the old (pre sale) Akron Beacon-Journal.

The DDN and B-J where the founding papers of two media/newspaper empires...Cox Enterprises (DDN) and the old Knight-Ridder (B-J).

I generally find the Dayton paper to be pretty inane when it comes to their non-news stuff. Newswise they are not too bad, but not in-depth enough. They are generally pro-city, but also pro-regional thinking, too, having been advocating for regional approaches to planning and economic issues for at least 10 years now.

I think, for Ohio, the Toledo Blade is probably the best in state for solid investigative journalism.

None of these papers are equal to the papers I recall from other places I lived..the Sunday SF Chronicle/Examiner, which was a fun paper to read, with good colorfull layouts, or the very newsy Sacramento Bee, or the late lamented Lousiville Times and Courier Journal of the Bingham era (before the Times closed and Gannett bought the papers).

[C-Dawg Njaim]

Due to Coingate and the single-handed takedown of the Ohio Republican Party, I have to go with the Toledo Blade. They have been doing an outstanding job over the last couple years (a Pullitzer and multiple other awards), not to mention they have some of the best photographers of any paper in the country. Andy Morrison runs circles around most photojournalists and his work in Vietnam was stunning. The Blade is THE bully pulpit for Ohio/Toledo in national politics and media.

They've brought a lot of attention to the city and state in recent years (negative attention, but well-deserved attention nevertheless). No one in Ohio comes close to the Blade in national (Coingate, Noe, GOP corruption, teenage prostitution) and international (Tiger Force, Vietnam) journalism. They cover an equal amount of positive and negative news in Toledo, but generally have a pro-Toledo/pro-urban bias depsite all the bad things happening up there (Dana, OI, rampant prostitution rings, etc.). The Blade is a proudly liberal newspaper and is brutal on the Bush administration and "War on Terror". The only conservative editorials they print generally make the writers look like completely ignorant rednecks. They seem to print conservative editorials more for comedy than actual political debate. The intelligent, quality editorials are generally liberal.

The only gripe I can come up with for the Blade is that they sometimes are too brutal on the Republican party and can be overly politcal in general. They sometimes sacrifices local news coverage for national/international news coverage, but I'm fine with that as long as the stories are good. Personally, I prefer the highly-charged political nature of the paper given the sad state of our nation right now, but some find it to be a bit much. I'd wager 75%-90% of Blade readers fall left of center.

If you are a fairly liberal Democrat, you'll love the Blade. If you are a Republican, you'll probably hate it.

Also, you'd be hard pressed to find another newspaper that uses the term "sexy" as much as the Toledo Blade does. Lines like "unsexy enviromental cleanup" and "sexy zoo levy passed" are common.

[The-New-Tony-Detroit]

I agree C-Dawg. Toledo Blade is the best in Ohio hands down. The Columbus Dispatch is excellent too as is the Dayton Daily News. I find that Cincinnati's is an embarrassing newspaper town to say the least the Plain Dealer is still an average paper that could be exceptional.

In Michigan the Free Press is generally the better newspaper and the Detroit News has become more sensationalistic in it's journalism. J. Kyle Keener at the Free Press does a fantastic job as chief photographer (though still there is a big shadow cast from the legendary late chief photographer Tony Spina) and Mike Thompson's Editorial Cartoons are unique and award-winning. While the Free Press and News both need to find new talent that harkens back to the days of Joe Stoud and Pete Waldmeir there is still immense talent in Mitch Albom, Tom Walsh, Daniel Howes, Desiree Cooper and Laura Berman.

Outside the city I give the nod to the Lansing State Journal. Concise, accurate and home to Tim Skubik, the dean of Michigan journalists covering state politics.

[Buckeye Native 001]

The Blade and Beacon-Journal are both regarded by many in the journalism business as not only outstanding newspapers, but also great places to start a budding journalism career.

Now if only I could live in Ohio...

[Evergrey]

The Toledo Blade is my favorite Midwestern newspaper. It's owned by Block... who also owns the excellent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

[Cirrus]

I think the New York Times is the only paper worth reading!Bah. I'd take my Post over that rag 9 times out of 10.

That 1 left over is for the magazine. Washingtonian should be called Crap From Outside The Beltway.

[Marcu]

Chicago Tribune: Not a very great newspaper for such a large city. It tends to cover the suburbs a lot more than city news. The Sun-Times covers the city better. It is very good in covering national and international news. It is blantantly conservative with its editorials and some news coverage. It op-ed page is a little less conservative and is generally moderate overall. I would improve this newspaper by making it cover the city of Chicago better and I would make this newspaper have a less conservative bias.

Chicago Sun-Times: This is a tabloid newspaper so it is not that good. It doesn't have indepth, intellectual type stories. Most stories in this tabloid are very short and to the point. It also doesn't cover the entire metro area very well, but it does cover the city well. This newspaper's editorials are moderate, while the op-ed page leans conservative to moderate. I would improve this newspaper by making it a broadsheet with more national, international and metropolitan news. I would also make the stories more indepth and intellectually oriented like what the New York Times or LA Times does. It also needs to make its op-ed page more moderate or liberal because Chicago is a liberal city overall. It also needs to print editorials on the weekends, which it doesn't do now.




The Tribune hasn't been conservative since Nixon. In fact, the Tribune Co. owns the LA Times which is percieved as a very liberal paper. The Trib is fairly balanced (except when it comes to the Cubs). Also, it seems like Daley's got it in his pocket because it refuses to cover any anti-Daley story in-depth.

The Sun Times has some great investigative reporting. They uncovered a lot of what's been going on in city hall and have single handidly started a lot of federal investigations. I don't see how you consider it a conservative paper when it has endorsed democrats in almost all the 06 electoral races. Just because a paper has conservative commentary pieces, does not mean it is conservative. It just means it's balanced. And the conservative columnists are all well respected and nationally renoun and not just hitmen: George Will, Bob Novak, and David Steyn.

Also, the Sun Times has a great sports section with Mariotti (who I personally hate) and Telender.

[Wheelingman04]

^Well, if you don't think the Tribune is conservative then you must not be reading its editorials. It endorsed Bush not once but twice and it has branded itself the newspaper of Midwestern conservatism in an editorial.

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

The Tribune probably followed the same trajectory the Columbus Dispatch did...once great voices of Midwestern conservatism, they moved to a more moderate position over the years, and became proffessonal and even-handed in the journalism.

The Sun-Times was really set up by Marshall Field III (who was somewhat of a liberal) as a opposing voice in Chicago to the conservative, elitist Tribune. Field also owned the late great Chicago Daily News, which was a real old-time city paper. The funny thing about the Daily News is it had its Sunday Paper (with the color comics and Sunday supplement) on Saturday ...this was during the 1960s...but it finally ended in the 1970s. The famous Mike Royko wrote for the Daily News before moving on to the Sun-Times.

The Sun-Times was the first Chicago paper to move to the tabloid format, doing this in the 1960s...they had a great commercial from back then where you see a commuter railroad car of executive type commuters trying to read the broadsheet Trib, with the car filled with loose papers as they try to fold or thumb thru the paper. Then there was that one smiling commuter reading his smaller (but thicker) Sun Times.

[Wheelingman04]

^ You summed it up pretty well. The Chicago Tribune editorials are still pretty conservative fiscally and foreign policy wise, while the Op-Ed page is more liberal, which balances it out making the newspaper more moderate. The Columbus Dispatch is now starting to border on being liberal nowadays. Its editorials are moderate and endorse Democrats for office a lot now, while the Op-Ed page is now becoming almost liberal. I would say the Dispatch is moderate but becoming center-left. Don't be suprised if it endorses a Democrat for president in 2008.

[JivecitySTL]

What is the editorial slant of the Cleveland Plain Dealer? That is one paper I would like to know more about.

For those in the know, what would be the heirarchy of major Midwestern papers, from liberal to conservative?

[Buckeye Native 001]

The Enquirer would probably be way in the far-right. Hell, I think they even endorsed goofball Jean Schmidt in her re-election campaign (for those unfamiliar, Schmidt lobbied to have a toxic waste dump built in her district in suburban Cincinnati)

[LMich]

The Enquirer would probably be way in the far-right. Hell, I think they even endorsed goofball Jean Schmidt in her re-election campaign (for those unfamiliar, Schmidt lobbied to have a toxic waste dump built in her district in suburban Cincinnati)

Well, let's not forget she's also the crackpot that called John Murtha a coward in more words than that.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Right, with all the other bullshit, I forgot about that one. :)

[Marcu]

The Enquirer would probably be way in the far-right. Hell, I think they even endorsed goofball Jean Schmidt in her re-election campaign (for those unfamiliar, Schmidt lobbied to have a toxic waste dump built in her district in suburban Cincinnati)

That explanation of Schmidt's position doesn't seem overly simplistic at all. It never siezes to surprise me how many people on this forum are so anti-NIMBY when it comes to development but not when it comes to environmental and often fear-driven issues. Toxic waste has to go somewhere doesn't it.

Anyway if you guys are looking for a paper that covers the high school football team on the front page due to lack of actual crime/events consider the Illinois News Gazette which covers central Illinois.

[Evergrey]

What is the editorial slant of the Cleveland Plain Dealer? That is one paper I would like to know more about.


Neutral. The PeeDee never takes a strong stand on anything... except when it comes to bashing its own city. In 2004, the PeeDee made a hilarious and intellectually-vacant non-endorsement in the presidential election.

[JivecitySTL]

You know wikipedia's profiles on newspapers are pretty insightful, and they usually discuss the editorial slants of each paper.

[Wheelingman04]

^ It definately does provide some insight of the editorial slant of newspapers both large and small. I used to read the Plain Dealer years ago and while I think it is okay overall, it is the most negative newspaper I have ever read. It is not only negative about Cleveland, but also everything else. It leaves you feeling really depressed if you read it for several days at a time.

[Wheelingman04]

I think the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune is the most liberal of all of the newspapers in the midwest with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch being the second most liberal. Unfortunately I don't know much about the Detroit newspapers?

[SuburbanNation]

of the papers i have read in the lower midwest, the kc star is probably the best, even though it's well below its high water mark. i don't read the slightly annoying stl post-dispatch much anymore, though i will probably start picking it up from time to time again...i talkspeak badly of the post dispatch based on random banal front page articles concerning o'fallon missouri ive noticed in passing and other things.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I like Jason Whitlock. The Star ain't all that bad.

[Buckeye Native 001]

That explanation of Schmidt's position doesn't seem overly simplistic at all. It never siezes to surprise me how many people on this forum are so anti-NIMBY when it comes to development but not when it comes to environmental and often fear-driven issues. Toxic waste has to go somewhere doesn't it.

I realize that, but it has nothing to do with being anti-NIMBY versus anti-environment. Usually when politicians successfully lobby for something like a toxic waste dump, they at least try to keep secret from the general public. From what I recall, Schmidt openly lobbied to have the dump placed in her district, rather than try to keep it hidden from her district.

And that's not the only crazy thing she's done, as LMich has pointed out.

[Wheelingman04]

Here is Sunday's editorial in the Columbus Dispatch showing that the newspaper is not conservative anymore. This editorial is moderate to slightly left leaning.

Take a new path
Bush should follow advice offered by Iraq Study Group
Sunday, December 10, 2006
http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/10/20061210-B4-00.html
http://www.dispatch.com/2006/12/10/20061210-Pc-B4-0900.jpg


Iraq is so destabilized by sectarian violence that any new strategy is fraught with problems. But at least President Bush now might be open to a realistic course of action instead of clinging to the misbegotten notion that Iraq, if given enough time, will turn out just fine.

His firing of the hardheaded Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary was a good first step. The Senate was right to quickly confirm Rumsfeld’s replacement, ex-CIA Director Robert Gates.

Gates’ blunt assessment of the Iraq quagmire was a breath of fresh air after Rumsfeld’s tortured reasoning on why the Iraq war was going well when the facts indicated otherwise. Gates told senators that all 79 recommendations of the Iraq Study Group should be discussed by the administration.

The 10-member bipartisan commission, set up by Congress in March, provided the unvarnished truth: that the situation is "grave and deteriorating." The panel’s co-chairman, Lee Hamilton, said the group offered no guarantees of success but that refusing to change course guarantees failure.

Bush, who accepted the report on Wednesday but made no promises on policy changes, should follow most of the panel’s advice, for the good of the country and his presidency.

The 142-page report is a rescue plan for a disastrous policy. Like a 12-step recovery program, it starts with recognition of the problem, that religious and ethnic factions in Iraq are rejecting reconciliation. Americans are fighting and dying to secure a right of self-government that Iraqis are refusing to accept.

Bush opposes the panel’s suggestion that the United States should engage Iraq’s neighbors, including Syria and Iran, in regional talks on peace and stability. Such a diplomatic initiative is worth a try, even though a successful outcome is a long shot. Bush should deal with the world as it is, not from the perspective of some abstract geopolitical theory. Like them or not, Syria and Iran are powerfully positioned to influence events in Iraq for better or worse.

More compelling than the regionaltalks proposal are the panel’s ideas on getting Iraqis to take more responsibility for their security and for achieving the political accords that are necessary to govern.

The report details a series of actions that are intended to bring a substantial reduction in the U.S. troop levels, now at 140,000, by early 2008. The reductions include moving U.S. forces out of combat zones and increasing the number of U.S. military trainers assigned to Iraqi forces.

The panel urges Bush to set benchmarks on Iraq’s progress toward reconciliation and to tell Iraq’s political and religious power brokers to move decisively on compromises that mollify rival factions or face a complete pullout of U.S. forces.

The U.S. should state unequivocally that it has no plans to control Iraqi oil or have permanent bases there, the panel said.

Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 ranks as one of the biggest foreign-policy blunders in U.S. history. As his presidency enters its final two years, no one can know yet how history will judge his eight years in office. But his presidency is certain to be considered a failure of historic proportions if he fails to take this opportunity to change course.

[spyguy]

The Chicago Tribune's website needs a major overhaul and a lot more interactive features, like good sized photo(s) for each story, graphics and charts, video, etc.

What's especially sad about Chicago area newspapers is that the New York Times often does a better job reporting about Chicago.

[The-New-Tony-Detroit]

I like this editorial cartoon posting idea...

Here is one from the Detroit Free Press (liberal) from last week:

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20061121&Category=COL25&ArtNo=61120029&Ref=AR&Profile=1106&MaxW=600

And the Detroit News (pinkish-conservative)

http://info.detnews.com/pix/wrightoon/2006/toons/wright1125color.jpg

[columbusguy21]

The Columbus Dispatch has been going more and more left in the past few years, which is quite unfortunate in my opinion. But then again, there are times when they still seem somewhat conservative.

[LMich]

BTW, just a general point, just because someone bashes Bush, now, hardly makes one a liberal. Everyone is bashing Bush, now. It's in vogue, and that includes liberals and conservatives, alike. There is definitely better criteria to use to find the lean of a particular media estbalishment.

[ColDayMan]

That, and that even the idea of being the "most liberal" paper automatically equates with "best newspaper" and "high quality."

Silly, just silly. This country is going to the shitter faster than Tony along I-94.

[The-New-Tony-Detroit]

and i dodge the potholes too!

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

hat, and that even the idea of being the "most liberal" paper automatically equates with "best newspaper" and "high quality."

Where did you get that from?

It really depends on how well a newspaper reports. A famous example is the Wall Street Journal, which is well respected for the quality & objectivity of its reporting. The WSJ is also famous for its quite conservative op-ed pages.

Then there are papers like the daily in Oklahoma City, which makes no pretense in that is slants the news to the right, as the publisher sees the entire paper as outlet for conservatism, not just the op-ed page

[ColDayMan]

^I got it from this thread.

[Wheelingman04]

My favorite newspapers are the ones that give a balanced viewpoint, along with a lot of well written, intellectual local, national and international news. I also hate newspapers that are overly negative about their city and state. There needs to be a at least enough positive articles as negative ones regarding the city and state.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I also hate newspapers that are overly negative about their city and state.

I dunno, I think the negativity spewed from the Enquirer reflects the general mood of most Cincinnatians. Better that than a bunch of slack-jawed hicks shouting "Whoopee, we're gon' git us an Ikea in West Chester! A'ight Cincinnatuh!"

[ArchMadness]

Interesting thread.

My thoughts are the St Louis Post Dispatch has consistently disappointed me on positive city specific topics. There have been a few columnists that used to pick up the slack, but not anymore. Their St. Charles news stories have been getting much more attention lately and losing mine.

In the twin cities I perfer the St. Paul Pioneer Press to the Mpls Star Tribune. The local coverage in the Pioneer is pretty decent. My only complaint would be their articles seem to be a tad less intelligent minded.

If I could read one paper it would be the Wall Street Journal. I love their no nonsense style. To bad they don't cover local issues.

[Xing]

It made me happy to see a somewhat positive news article on Hugo Chavez, in the Post Dispatch. It wasn't exactly written by them, but they did post it. Maybe they just had no clue, and posted it because they needed some gaps filled in the World section of the paper, but I can only hope not. ... I can only hope not.... *tear

[Wheelingman04]

I have been reading the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune for the last week and I am suprised at how little local news they have in their newspaper. That is ashame. Local content is the most important.

[Wheelingman04]

The Chicago Tribune's website needs a major overhaul and a lot more interactive features, like good sized photo(s) for each story, graphics and charts, video, etc.

What's especially sad about Chicago area newspapers is that the New York Times often does a better job reporting about Chicago.

I agree. The Chicago Tribune's website is terrible for such a major newspaper. It is not interactive at all. Even small city newspapers have better websites.

[Michi]

Wow, look how liberal the Detroit News is becoming!
http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20061214&Category=UPDATE&ArtNo=612140488&Ref=H3&Profile=1361&MaxW=1500&Q=100&title=1

http://vh10924.moc.gbahn.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20061214&Category=UPDATE&ArtNo=612140488&Ref=V2Q=100&MaxW=500

:no:

[wrabbit]

What is the editorial slant of the Cleveland Plain Dealer? That is one paper I would like to know more about.
The PD editorial page has a moderate liberal tilt. Both the PD & the Beacon Journal are in serious decline, in readership & in quality. The Beacon Journal is rumored to be folding.

[JivecitySTL]

I honestly have never even heard of the Beacon Journal. Is it a mainstream paper?

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

The BJ is the daily paper for Akron and vicinity. I would figure its as mainstream as the Toledo Blade or Dayton Daily News or Youngstown Vindicator.

Ohio is urbanized enought so that these cities all have fairly respectable daily newspapers...its not just the Cleveland, Cincy, or Columbus papers that are news sources.

[Guardian]

Here's the website for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Once there, type in editorial on their search space. This will give you some idea of their slant. I personally believe they are moderate-liberal.

[Guardian]

Here's the website for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Once there, type in editorial on their search space. This will give you some idea of their slant. I personally believe they are moderate-liberal.

http://www.cleveland.com/

[Wheelingman04]

The Chicago Tribune is likely to be sold along with the rest of the Tribune Company within the next few months.

[LMich]

Well, I wouldn't consider my cities little newspaper among the best, but thought I'd mention it. The Lansing State Journal is a professionally done newspaper, but doesn't get a lot of play (71,386 morning; 89,020 Sunday) being geographically enveloped by the sphere of the two Detroit newspaper. It's owned by Gannett who also uses the presses at the Lansing State Journal to publish USA Today for the Midwest region. It was started weekly abolitionist weekly back in 1855 under the name of the Lansing Republican.

I think the paper is rather flimsy, content-wise, and particularly on its local coverage. And, being the newspaper for the state capital, it's political coverage of local politics is surprisingly lacking.

Where it does make up for its shortcomings is in its relatively frequent extra publications, and it also has a pretty decent website for such a small paper. It also does a good job covering state-wide and national sports.

The actual paper doesn't have much of a slant. In fact, there coverage can be down right boring. But, it's editorial board is solidly liberal. In fact, the board is probably one of the most liberal of any of the major cities in the state, but I'd call it a very practical, pragmatic liberalism. In fact, Gannett actually co-opted/overruled the editorial board in the endorsement of a Democratic candidate for the House, claiming the board only had advisory power over who the paper endorses.

[Wheelingman04]

Report: Execs, Chandler family may bid on Tribune
(http://www.suntimes.com/business/177228,121806tribune.article)

December 18, 2006


LOS ANGELES -- The family that formerly owned the Los Angeles Times and a group of Tribune Co. executives led by CEO Dennis FitzSimons may make separate bids for the media company, it was reported Monday.



Members of the Chandler family, which sold Times Mirror to Chicago-based Tribune in 2000 for $6.5 billion, have talked with billionaire Ron Burkle's investment firm about making a joint offer for some or all of Tribune's assets, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing two people familiar with the plans.

Meanwhile, some Tribune managers, including FitzSimons, were expected to enter a bid with the help of three private investment firms, according to the Times, which is the Tribune's largest newspaper.

Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman and a Chandler family spokeswoman declined comment on the report Monday.

The company announced in September it was willing to sell all or part of its assets following pressure from large shareholders including the Chandler family who were disappointed with Tribune's lagging stock price and slumping fortunes.

Tribune owns 11 papers, including its flagship Chicago Tribune, as well as 24 television stations and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

Last month, Burkle and philanthropist Eli Broad teamed to make a bid for the entire Tribune Co. Music mogul David Geffen reportedly followed with a $2 billion cash bid for the Los Angeles Times.

Tribune has said it expects to decide whether to sell the company whole or piecemeal by early next year. It remains unclear how the Chandlers and Burkle's company would proceed and whether Broad would be included in a new partnership.

Analyst Alan Mutter said interest by the Chandler and Tribune management shouldn't come as a surprise because there hasn't been a flood of interested buyers.

''In the absence of a successful auction, management could move forward with a bid to take the company private,'' Mutter told the newspaper. ''And in light of that, it appears that the Chandlers and their financial partners are moving to create an opposing offer.''

Analysts said selling the company piecemeal has serious tax consequences for Tribune because its newspapers have a low tax basis and individual sales would result in a large tax bill.

AP