Virginian-Pilot: Irrelevant by choice
By Brian Kirwin | Wednesday, October 13th, 2010 | PoliticsRoger Chesley, editorial writer for the Virginian-Pilot, writes a column today that shows even more why the newspaper is useless when it comes to political discussion.
“Don’t you just love candidate forums? Most of the time, they’re dull affairs featuring scripted statements, dyed hair and silly campaign slogans.”
Not that I’ve seen Chesley at a whole lot of forums (none, actually) this year, at least not in Virginia Beach. You know, the city that happens to have the largest population of any city in Virginia. Ya know, that happens to have (or at least used to have) the most readers of the newspaper.
Chesley’s headline tells the tale. “The Newspaper Will Sell Ads. But Not News Stories. Sorry.”
Apparently, it won’t even do that well. One measly ad in the vaunted Pilot costs slightly less than the gross national product of Kenya, which I’m sure is some backhanded endorsement of Obama.
And although the Virginian-Pilot doesn’t sell news stories, it sure buys them! By page 9, the Virginian-Pilot has no less than 9 stories bought by subscription from the Associated Press. Good journalism, fellas!
And when the Pilot decides to get around to writing a token story covering the local campaigns in Virginia’s largest city, it gets buried in the local “Beacon,” where all good stories go to get ignored. I guess there’s too little space left over in the main paper after giving Roger Chesley his FRONT PAGE COLUMN complete with his smiling color picture.
Less than 3 weeks before the election, and the most coverage these local campaigns have gotten in the main paper, campaigns that have been running for 5 months now, is about whom Beach Mayor Will Sessoms endorsed, followed by a Beacon story centered on the same topic. I love how the press repeats their own stories and counts it as research.
Chesley, however, is proud of the Pilot’s yearning for (ahem) hard news.
He (Portsmouth candidate Lee Cherry) doesn’t seem to know the difference between “news” – reporting of legitimate events by journalists trained in the craft; and “PR” – activities and photo-ops with minimal value that are designed to distract from weightier issues.
An endorsement. That’s the “weightier issue?”
Besides, if there is anything that has minimal values and is designed to distract from weightier issues, it’s a Virginian-Pilot editorial board endorsement interview. One could have a fairly competitive drinking game watching them use the same reasons to endorse one candidate as the reasons to attack another. Watching the Pilot debate whom to endorse is like reading the back section of the maze puzzle book – they know who they are supporting in the end, but they have to find the path to take to get there.
Now reporters sit in on the editorial board candidate interviews. These are the same people who brag about the “wall” between news and editorial departments. It’s nice that the liberals in the press finally found a wall that they support tearing down.
“Leave the reporting and publishing to us,” says the arrogant Chesley.
We’d love to, if you’d actually do some.
There was a candidate forum last Saturday morning. No Press. There was another last night. No press. About a half dozen in September alone, and the press did show up to one. It was a lunch. Wouldn’t want to cramp the work schedule, now would we?
There are two this week. I’m not holding my breath. In the past few weeks there were no fewer than a half dozen with not even a hint of a newspaper reporter even driving past due to a wrong turn.
If candidates want to be in the paper, you have to buy advertising. That’s the message I got from Chesley.
“I know ad reps who will gladly quote Cherry a fee – and make sure the word “Advertisement” is displayed prominently in the copy.”
I’m sure you do, Roger. I also know what that fee is, and when you compare it to your competition, the many, many thousands of dollars you charge to be on some unknown, unpromised page of a section is simply laughable when you compare it to what television, radio and direct mail deliver. For the cost of one ad for one day on one page in one section of the Virginian-Pilot, I could mail every Republican likely voter in the city, and guess what? I don’t have to hope and pray that everyone opens to page 7 to see it.
So keep shilling for ad dollars, Roger. It’s highly ethical.
And keep writing your columns. Obviously, an editor thinks your column about campaign reporting is more important than the actual campaign reporting that will run in the Beacon this weekend.
Tags:
Contribute for Conservatism!
Share this post
About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
Comments
14 Responses to "Virginian-Pilot: Irrelevant by choice"
Chesley is a complete joke. This past spring he wrote a column stating how well the Norfolk school board was doing. Enough said.
One reason political coverage has declined in every paper is that publishers believe the consultants who tell them that reader surveys show that’s the last thing readers want to see. We’ve spent the last 25 years trying to redesign the prooduct to appeal to people who don’t actually like to read. The results are pretty obvious.
Twenty years ago we used to do a full story on the monthly meetings of the two local party committees. This year, we’ve covered one Tea Party meeting, because that was new.
I think newspapers are forgetting why they have First Amendment protections.
There’s no better way to get readers than to announce ones irrelevance on the front page.
Instead of actually covering the news, Chesley editorializes about the newspaper and how they’re not going to cover political speech unless it’s paid for.
Whatever happened to the concept of “earned media.”
More importantly, if only those who can afford the paper’s exhorbitant prices are permitted to have political speech in the paper, what does that do to democracy?
So much for the “fourth estate.”
Chesley just wrote the obit.
Surprisingly, we agree. I think newspapers have a public obligation to cover politics and government. The people who oversee the bottom line don’t always agree with that. But their ideas haven’t worked so hot over the last two decades either.
When your newspaper becomes the news for not reporting the news, you have crossed the great divide to becoming a tabloid and ending up on the checkout line of a supermarket.
Interesting enough, the Virginian Pilot is exempt from the gross receipts tax (BPOL) ostensibly because of the NEWS service they provide. If that is not the case, then maybe their business license fee should be reinstated.
Well…for some reason I did not recieve my paper today. I have not had the chance to call it in, I was asking the hubby to do it.
This is 2 weeks after the Pilot sends a letter indicating 7 day home delivery is increasing to $12.00 per month. AUTO DEBIT from my bank account for years on end…
Gone are the days when you could affect these things by treating a local paper carrier good. This is another reason I don’t respect our local rag much. This is not an opportunity I saw offered by the Pilot when I got here in 1976.
This comes from a gal who carried paper routes in Indianapolis Indiana for the Indianapolis Star and Inianapolis News in snow, sleet & ice from ages 9-13.
Wishing & hoping the Pilot revists some bad decisions…Compass on Sunday???? Have you noticed how thin it is now?
Brian,
LMFAO! “they know who they are supporting in the end, but they have to find the path to take to get there.”
Interesting thoughts. I believe the Pilot is simply lost due to a change in the manner people acquire their news.
Now if the candidates would just tell the Editorial Page to go F themselves when they call and ask the candidate to come to the Pilot building on Brambleton Avenue, then we would be getting somewhere. Until then, nothing changes.
In all honesty, I have no idea why any Republican candidate goes down there to have a chat with Roger, Don and Christina and the other idiots. We don;t give a crap what they say anyway, so why ask for their frigging endorsement? It’s madness. You might as well go to the VB Democratic Party meeting and ask for theirs.
The Pilot only endorses the R when the D is just a complete idiot – Drake over Kellam, etc. Can anyone recall a statewide race where the Pilot endorsed the Republican? In 1996 – John over Mark Warner? Is that the last time?
These editorial writers are virtually unemployable outside of the Pilot. The fact that the public gives their opinion any deference is the most tragic aspect of this story…
Brian: I forgot to comment on one thing in your original post. The reporters in the ed-board interview is pretty common and not really a new development. The political reporters are there because they know the candidates and the issues better than the editors. So they help conduct the interview, both to make the candidate more comfortable and to make sure the editors understand the issues. (Editorial page editors generally do, managing and city editors have other things that take up their time and might no be as conversant with that year’s issues). The reporters don’t get a vote, in fact aren’t in the meeting, when the decision to endorse or not is made.
If the Pilot saw that much collusion in government, they’d oppose it.
Brian, Sorry I missed seeing you at the candidate forum at City Hall.
Roger Chesley is a metro columnist, not an editorial writer. He does not participate in editorial board meetings.
Candy Hatcher
Leave your response
The comments section is for meaningful discussion. Readers are reminded to post comments that are germane to the article and write in a common language that steers clear of personal attacks and/or vulgarities.
Please take a moment to review our comment policy.