Virginian-Pilot: News and Editorial collusion
By Brian Kirwin | Monday, February 7th, 2011 | PolicyDuring the Green Bay Packers triumphant stand against the turnover-prone Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, did a friend hand you some hot wings and say, “Hey, nevermind football. Have you heard about the bill about subaqueous land?”
Apparently, that must happen at the Virginian-Pilot.
2,397 bills were introduced in the General Assembly this year. Somehow, the editorial board of the Virginian Pilot decided to dedicate a whole editorial to HB2310 about filled subaqueous bottomland.
They would’ve dedicated an entire page, but they had to squeeze in their mandatory gun control adoration column.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been talking about subaqueous bottomland since I was a boy. I was so excited when the General Assembly was legislating about it that I wrote my mother and told her that her little boy’s dream had come true.
But, I wondered, did the Virginian-Pilot share my unique interest and focus on subaqueocity?
In the same issue of the Virginian-Pilot, this news story about HB2310 was on Page 1 of the Hampton Roads section.
So, either the Editorial scribes are psychic or they have one of those Time Machines that H.G. Wells used to read newspapers of the future.
Or the so-called “wall of separation” between news and editorial has been torn down.
The editorialists could’ve waited a day, and made it at least look like they weren’t colluding with their news division. But unless someone is going to claim that the 1/2397 chance that they’d both write about the same bill on the same day actually occurred, or the news and editorial departments are guilty of collusion, or worse.
Did the editorial page push the news division into writing a story that they wanted to opine about? Surely, any chance to attack Governor Bob McDonnell would make the Pilot lefties swoon. Since more than a few Editorial Board members are reporter-wannabees anyway, I’m not surprised.
As a blogger/columnist, I never claim objectivity. But the newspaper does. And today’s obvious collusion shows that claim is seriously suspect.
The next time the Virginian-Pilot writes about ethics reform, I’m sending them a mirror.
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.
We're 75% there! Thank you to everyone who has so far contributed! Just $2000 to go!
Comments
5 Responses to "Virginian-Pilot: News and Editorial collusion"
Brian, Frank Batten’s quote is on the editorial page everyday: “Our duty is clear: It is to serve the public with skill and character, and to exercise First Amendment freedoms with vigor and responsibility”.
No where in that statement does it say what kind of skill, character or responsibility.
When you are served the same meal everyday, you shouldn’t be surprised.
The editorial department could have picked that up from the news department, if they knew a story was in the works, that presented a timely point to write an editorial.
However, I think they fact that they had written an editorial probably contributed to the somewhat questionable news judgement of putting that rather obscure issue on the front page.
These continuing no-news, confused-news, biased-news examples are why I switched to the Daily Press. The VP should be published monthly and placed on the stands in the supermarket checkout line with their soul mates in the colorful tabloid press to explore their inner predilection for the inane, irrelevant and sensational.
Where’s that article on how the “tanning tax” in the new health care bill is affecting business and reducing the “healthy glow” of residents in the Hampton Roads area?
I have always wondered about land under the water and filled in creeks and how we diecide who ownes what … ‘jus say’in.
The Virginian-Pravda is still in business?
Leave your response