Why the Philadelphia Inquirer is in Bankruptcy

[Stingo]

They hired Rick Santorum to write a column. $1,750 per column is chicken feed, but Santorum’s was a quota hire. They needed a Republican on the opinion pages, no matter the quality. Santorum has since turned in bad writing based in faulty logic and data in severe need of a fact check. Philadelphia Inquirer = FAIL.

http://allspinzone.com/wp/2009/04/20/why-the-philadelphia-inquirer-is-in-bankruptcy/

[Stingo]

1. I hear AIG

is thinking of giving Brian Tierney a bonus for this example of incompetence.

[doc03]

2. Why not just print the news

as the Republics want to hear it then call themselves "fair and balanced". That business model seems to work for Fox, the WSJ and most other papers.

[Stingo]

3. Tierney isn't that clever nt

[noel711]

4. It wasn't just the Santorum...

Since I moved to Pennsylvania, we've subscribed to the Philly Inquirer,
and for years it was a solid, REAL newspaper, worthy of its readership.
The writing staff, the reporting, the editorials were solid,
intellectual, and appealed to an area wider than the Delaware Valley.

But for the past few years, the editorial base, and the appeal of the
paper has gone down the toilet.
Like many other newspapers, and other industries, politics leaked in the
back door when the paper was sold.Many long time writers, columnists and
reporters sought work elsewhere.
The long-time cred of the fourth estate-to objectively tell the facts,
married with provocative editorials-- went up in smoke.

In Inquirer, even in this last election, couldn't find it's voice.
Even on the editorial page... the editorial table couldn't agree to
disagree... and altho most of the board was solidly for an Obama endorsement,
that fool of an owner had to pony up his own, weak McCain endorsement.
The readership got disgusted with what had been a fine news organization.

And to have Rick Santorum on what was a solidly intellectual editorial page
was simply an insult. Santorum was voted out of the public square for his narrow,
childish voice. He has no place at the table over my breakfast coffee.

This shows the infantile republican party, no matter how much cash they try
to throw at the public, is sinking fast, and taking with them our free interchange
of facts and views. They deserve to be flushed away... but to take reputable
news organizations with them is a crime.

[Stingo]

5. Dick Polman left

when the going got good. To be fair, they still feature him as a guest.

[noel711]

7. Polman is still there...

here's his blog address.....

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/americandebate/

His column only runs in the print edition maybe once a week.

Polman is solid; met him once after a Kerry rally years ago.

[fencesitter]

10. I read Polman's blog all the time

According to the replies he gets, he's the reason the Inquirer is in bankruptcy. :crazy:

[Stingo]

11. They buy Polman

But he is elsewhere as his main job, so I understand.

[noel711]

13. Polman teaches journalism at Penn..

but he's still writer at Inquirer....

[Deja Q]

6. Wouldn't Joe the Plumber be cheaper when it comes to parroting the same jingo?

:shrug:

[Stingo]

8. Cheaper, and as a bonus

slightly more coherent. Slightly does not = actual coherence, though.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. They have several RW wackos

Santorum's columns are awful. Not just in the sense of being wingnuttery, but they are usually factually wrong. If I was a conservative, I would be doing the Funky Facepalm whenever any of that frothy mix appeared in the op-ed pages.

Then we have ...

Jonathan Last, who argues that we need strong population growth to combat the Islamic world.

Kevin Ferris, barstool patriot who has recently discovered snark in the same way 14-year-old boys discover porn.

Frequent syndicated columns by Charles Krauthammer, whose multi-decade run of editorial diarrhea is unmatched in the anals of newspaper history.

They also have a weekly column by Michael Smerconish -- but get this -- Smerconish has been getting increasingly more liberal in the last two years. He was a strong Obama supporter. (Go figure!) He still wants Mumia to fry, but it's getting harder for him to work up a good rant about how America is becoming sissified.

The "Inky" is now owned by the Toll brothers, local real estate tycoons. Bruce Tierny, the de facto editor, tries to be even-handed, but the word has come down that the editorial policy is to veer to the right.

I wouldn't mind being paid $1750 to write a column every second week -- that's $45,500 each year for about ten hours of work a month. You could feed a lot of chickens with that -- or a couple of reporters.

--d!

[Stingo]

12. Just ten hours for Santorum?

No, that is labored writing. It probably takes him ten hours just to gather his thoughts and make them stay still. Then again, there aren't many of them. . .