I realize David Sirota diaried this subject on Wednesday. I just wanted to put my two cents into the mix about it. I just wanted to point out the subtle method right wing corporations are using their power to purchase newspaper companies to re-invent the news and editorial content and promote their right wing agenda onto the reading public. They are now using their financial capital to try to manipulate the news and editorial content of what was once a bastion of independent journalism.
This week, the mask has come off one of this nation's oldest and most respected newspapers in our journalistic history. The Philadelphia Inquirer has chosen to add former whacko US Senator Rick Santorum as a columnist.
Why would a newspaper, representing what many widely consider the most liberal city in the US, decide to include the most right wing, Catholic inspired commentary as part of their editorial philosophy? One must consider why the Inquirer decided to hire a non-journalist like Santorum who was the #3 ranked republican in the Senate when he lost by almost 20% in 2006 to a so-so democratic candidate. Bob Casey's only claim to fame was that he was a former governor's son. To top it off, the city itself gave Santorum just 16% of the vote.
When Philadelphia Media Holdings purchased the Inquirer, their media chief Brian Tierney told us he would not change the editorial content and signed a pledge promising that they would not influence the content of the paper. Obviously promises do not mean anything to Mr. Tierney. With additions like Michael Smirconish and Jonathan Last, the Inquirer is moving to the right at break-neck speed. The paper that has served Philadelphia since 1829, and is actually a symbol of journalism dating back to Ben Franklin's Poor Richard Almanac, has now become just another corporate marketing entity for the likes of Rupert Murdoch and other billionaire robber barons. I've read my last Inquirer and will no longer purchase a product like the Inquirer that does not truly represent the citizens of this great city.