This may seem a little parochial, but, given the importance of the I-4 corridor in 2004, I think it's worth posting:
The Orlando Sentinel, a Tribune newspaper, is the only real major daily between Daytona and Tampa Bay. As one of the only outlets for regular political news and commentary in Central FL, it has an importance that is larger than its dwindling circulation.
Today, MoveOn.org put the Sentinel in its crosshairs. In an e-mail sent this morning, MoveOn is calling for signatures on a petition to stop the cutting of 54 people from the Sentinel's news staff. MoveOn's e-mail claims, "This means watered-down coverage of local, state and national news. Politicians and corporations who should be held accountable by vigilant watchdog journalism will instead be covered by a staff that is stretched too thin."
As a recent Orlando escapee, and a former MoveOn FL member, I have to say that I think MoveOn should take a breath here. I'll explain below...
Unless you've lived in Central FL, you've probably never read the Sentinel. It's a rag.
The Sentinel is one of Jeb!'s biggest cheerleaders, especially on education issues. The investigative journalism they do is limited, and often gives a pass to the Republican dominated Legislature. They were front and center in the campaign to smear Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, a Democrat.
Their Op-Ed page is home to the odious Kathleen Parker, whose Noonan-esque ramblings are now nationally syndicated. Peter Brown, a true wing-nut, writes a weekly column, which is supposed to be balanced by "liberal" Myriam Marquez, who is anything but. Guest columns skew right, and when I was reading the Sentinel, they even published Jonah Goldberg.
The unsigned editorials are often rambling messes of contradiction, noted especially for their inability to actually hold those in power in Tallahassee and Washington - namely, the Republicans - to account for the many problems the Sentinel laments. "Washington politicians" or "Congress" are the preferred euphemisms for those who the Sentinel would chastise - never "the Republican Congress." They endorsed Bush in 2000, but when he turned out to be so bad that even the Sentinel had to endorse Kerry in 2004, they managed to put out the most tepid, uninspiring "non-endorsement endorsement" you could imagine.
It's shortcomings are especially evident because the St. Petersburg Times and the Daytona Beach News-Journal - the dailies the Sentinel is geographically sandwiched between - are actually pretty good papers.
Given this sad state of journalism, I have to wonder why MoveOn would want MORE from this fish-wrapper. Readers of the Sentinel get a slanted and distorted view of local, state, and national politics; why should we work to make sure this continues?
I understand the sentiment behind MoveOn's action, and I would be behind it if the paper in question were the St. Petersburg Times. But this is the Orlando Sentinel. Let it die the death it deserves.
Here's the full text of MoveOn's e-mail:
Do you think the Orlando Sentinel should cut its staff and water-down its news coverage? Or should it keep a robust staff of reporters and give the public more hard-hitting journalism?
The Orlando Sentinel announced this week it is slashing 54 people from its news staff, despite record readership and huge corporate profits. This means watered-down coverage of local, state and national news. Politicians and corporations who should be held accountable by vigilant watchdog journalism will instead be covered by a staff that is stretched too thin.
Equally outrageous, Floridians are being deceived about why these cuts are happening. Despite reaping huge profits that most businesses would envy, the Sentinel's corporate owners in Chicago simply aren't satisfied—they want more. Instead of admitting this, the Sentinel points to things like rising newsprint costs to distract the public from the real reason for the cuts.
The Sentinel's corporate owners think they can get away with this because nobody is paying attention. But we're starting a petition to show the strong public opposition to these cuts. MoveOn Media Action is a campaign empowering regular people to fight back when news outlets abandon their journalistic duty to be a vigilant watchdog for the public.
Please sign the petition to the Orlando Sentinel and its corporate owners demanding they reverse their news cuts by clicking here:
http://civic.moveon.org/...
After you sign the petition, please forward this message to your friends, neighbors and co-workers who read the Sentinel.
Usually companies cut employees when they're losing money, but the Sentinel is incredibly lucrative. Sentinel Publisher Kathy Waltz recently wrote, "the Orlando Sentinel serves a growing market and our readership is now at an all-time high...We are a successful company..."
The Orlando Weekly also wrote about the large profits being made by the Sentinel and its corporate owner in Chicago, the Tribune Company:
Sentinel publisher Kathy Waltz announced impending layoffs in what has to be the coldest specimen of corporate doublespeak this wildly popular column has ever encountered. Her memo to employees says, in essence, that the Sentinel is making bucketloads of cash, but bucketloads will not suffice; it needs to be making trainloads...nowhere in Waltz' memo does the word "journalism" even appear.
[W]ith operating profits [at the Tribune Company] only at $585.9 million for the publishing division so far this year—up $93.6 million from the same time last year, by the way—it's only reasonable to expect that some poor schlubs at the Sentinel must fall on their swords. It's the only way.
The Tribune Company is forcing many of its newspapers around the country to slash their staffs. On CNN, media reporter Howard Kurtz reported on these staff cuts and asked, "Does this mean the papers are losing money? Don't be naive. It means their double-digit profit margins aren't high enough to satisfy Wall Street."
We must defend the reporters and editors who produce the paper each day but are silenced by their corporate owners and managers. We can fight these news cuts by forcing the Sentinel's corporate owners in Chicago to pay attention to the readers they are supposed to be serving in Florida.
Please sign the petition to stop the news cuts at the Sentinel, and pass it to others you know:
http://civic.moveon.org/...
Thank you for all you do.