My local paper is the Cincinnati Enquirer, a reliably conservative paper that virtually always endorses Republicans. In 2008, they deftly endorsed John McCain without one word mentioning the walking time-bomb he had chosen as his Vice Presidential candidate. I have been surprised lately that their coverage seems more even handed.
This morning, for example, there were front page articles on the the CBC analysis that the ACA cuts the deficit and that repeal would increase it. They even included this paragraph:
Republicans have insisted that the Affordable Care Act will increase deficits - by "trillions", according to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But that's not so, the Congressional Budget Office said.
Gee, was that pointing out one of Mitt's many lies?
Also on the front page was an article about the rival Senate bills dealing with the Bush tax cuts. The article made clear that Democrats want to close the deficit by increasing taxes on the richest Americans while Republicans want to protect the rich and increase taxes on the poorest working Americans.
The front page of the local section had an article about Michelle Obama's visit to Ohio complete with a large picture.
That article included this quote:
She said when Barack Obama took office the country was losing 750,000 jobs per month and since he’s been president there have been 28 straight months of job creation and four million new jobs. We have a long way to go and more work to rebuild the economy. But millions are collecting a pay check again.
Alongside the story about the First Lady was a fact filled article about the ACA health care rebates.
I still expect the paper will come around and endorse Romney in the end, but a person can always hope that reason will prevail.
What has local coverage been like in other papers?