The Journal Sentinel’s coverage of the governor’s race looks increasingly suspect.
For months, JS reporters have been telling me that the newspaper will under-cover the stem cell research issue because it would hurt Mark Green, the Republican challenger to Gov. Jim Doyle. Green opposes embryonic stem cell research, and Doyle backs it, as do most voters, polls show.
JS reporter Katherine M. Skiba has written extensively about the dispute between Congress and President George Bush over a bill to fund embryonic stem cell research. Last week, she did two stories about Bush’s veto of this legislation. But Skiba typically ignores or buries the fact that Green voted against this legislation, which passed by big margins in both the House and Senate.
Her story http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=474319
last week gave us a long history of presidential vetoes, with information about FDR and Ronald Reagan’s vetoes but not one word about Green.
By contrast, the Republican-leaning Wisconsin State Journal offered a front-page headline: “Stem cell bill veto makes its way into the governor’s race.” The story noted that most Americans disagree with Bush and had quotes from Doyle and Green defending their positions.
The state AP did a story with the headline: “Bush’s veto a setback for research, UW-Madison scientists say.” The story noted the state’s leadership role in developing stem cell research and the fact that polls show Wisconsin voters support the research and described the differing stands of Green and Doyle.
There’s no surprise in the State Journal and AP coverage; you always try to connect a federal issue to your readers’ more immediate concerns. It’s not just good journalism, it’s good business because it draws more readers. The State Journal clearly understands this. Why doesn’t the Journal Sentinel?
The JS has also been checking the Doyle administration’s inner documents and staff calendars in its effort to question major campaign contributions received. A July 7 story http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=459170
headlined “Timing of Doyle gift questioned” merely told us that former administration secretary Marc Marotta met with a Philadelphia attorney on the same day the lawyer donated $10,000 to Doyle. So who was questioning the gift? Both State Elections Board head Kevin Kennedy and State of Wisconsin Ethics Board attorney Jonathan Becker were interviewed, and neither offered criticism. The only critic was state Republican Party Executive Director Rick Wiley, who was quoted accusing Doyle and Marotta of “lying” and “arrogance.” This is a front-page story?
More recently, the JS gave front-page coverage to the fact that six officials from the HNTB company, which has gotten contracts to work on the Marquette Interchange, donated more than $17,000 to Doyle. There was no evidence of any quid pro quo, just the usual smelly donations that grease all levels of government.
Meanwhile, Green has collected buckets of money from special interests, who doubtless appreciated many of his votes in Congress. So is the JS on a campaign to look at his e-mails and staff calendars to connect those contributions to any meetings he or his staff had with special interests? No.
Nowadays, it’s no big deal how newspapers endorse; most readers don’t read editorials. The Journal Sentinel may well endorse Doyle, given the politics of its editorial board, but what about the politics of its news editors? The paper’s front-page stories, which are picked up by radio and TV stations across the state, are likely to keep going after Doyle. I’m sure the governor would gladly give away a JS endorsement if he could just get the paper to cover him the same way the AP and State Journal do.
The Shepherd Express Targets David Clarke
On the other side of the coin is our local weekly. Conservative politicians would never expect a fair shake in a Shepherd Express news story. But even liberals with the wrong friends can get the same treatment. Thus, in the 2004 race for Appeals Court judge, liberals were split between incumbent Charles Schudson and challenger Joan Kessler. The Shepherd Express decided to target Schudson and did a barrage of negative stories on Schudson, who lost the race.
The weekly is already giving the same treatment to incumbent and conservative Sheriff David Clarke, while canonizing his Democratic primary challenger, Vince Bobot. It’s only July, but the Shepherd has already run two news stories attacking Clarke. Neither story offered one quote from Clarke defending himself.
A July 5 story http://www.shepherd-express.com/7_5_06/newsandviews.htm attacks Clarke for asking for more state money to patrol the expressways. Milwaukee is the only county where state troopers do not patrol the highways. Clarke and others have argued that the state under-funds the county’s patrol of the expressways. Even state officials have conceded that the state doesn’t provide full funding.
There are arguments on both sides of this issue, but the Shepherd story simply blames Clarke and lets Bobot and Republican challenger for sheriff Don Holt heap more blame, with no response from the sheriff. Bobot is also quoted as saying the fringe benefits Clarke must absorb are the same as every government and company faces. Ah, Vince, did you ever hear of the county pension scandal?
But that was mild stuff compared to last week’s story, http://www.shepherd-express.com/7_19_06/newsandviews.htm, which dumps on Clarke and all but canonizes Bobot. We learn from Milwaukee Deputy Sheriffs’ Association President Roy Felber that Bobot is “a man of integrity.” We learn from Milwaukee County Democratic Party chair Martha Love that Bobot is “well-rounded and compassionate” and that “in every post that he’s held, he’s demonstrated fairness and principle.” We learn from Bobot himself that as sheriff, he will want “excellence in performance, with creative and innovative thinking.” Quite a guy, that Mr. Bobot.
As for Clarke, “his term as sheriff hasn’t been a success,” reporter Lisa Kaiser writes. He’s doing “a lousy job,” says Bobot. “There isn’t a lot of leadership in the department” and “morale is low,” says Love. “He’s been ineffective,” echoes Michael Rosen, who, as head of the MATC teachers’ union is somehow brought in as an expert on the sherrif’s race. And for good measure, we learn from Felber that Clarke “is very vindictive.”
And what does Clarke, one of the most articulate politicians in town, have to say about all of this? Nothing. Now that’s fair and balanced.
Contact Milwaukee Magazine Editor Bruce Murphy with a tip.
For our Endgame on the police union and other stories in the July issue, send me a copy.
