Our View: A-D election coverage all about balance
Regardless of one's opinion of the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets, there's no denying the race for the White House is one of the most exciting in recent history. Judging by the recent Appeal-Democrat letters to the editor and comments posted on our Web site's political stories, Mid-Valley residents are fired up.
The Appeal-Democrat strives to present balanced election coverage on its news and opinion pages. For example, a lengthy front-page profile about Barack Obama to kick off the Democratic National Convention coverage was followed a week later by the front-page profile of John McCain to launch the Republican National Convention coverage. A Linda Chavez column on Monday's opinion page blasting "the media's effort to destroy Gov. Sarah Palin" was followed a day later by Stephen Silver's opinion that McCain's selection of Sarah Palin's as his VP nominee will come back to haunt the Republican Party.
It's all about balance - presenting as much news and opinion as possible in print and online, and letting readers decide what they want to absorb and believe. We don't have a horse in the presidential race; the A-D does not endorse political candidates, a longstanding tradition followed by newspapers in the Freedom Communications family. Commenting on the upcoming 1964 presidential race, Freedom founder R.C. Hoiles was quoted as saying "it doesn't make much difference who is president. What is important is the attitude of the American people."
Early last week, a handful of readers complained the story about Palin's pick as GOP VP choice didn't get the coverage it deserved. The story, accompanied by a photo, ran below the fold on the front page and continued inside. The fact it wasn't the top story of the day "shows the newspaper's liberal bias" was a charge I heard. Two responses: the story was presented on the front page in nearly the same placement given Obama's pick of Joe Biden for his running mate. Fair is fair, right? Second, and most importantly, the Appeal-Democrat is a local newspaper whose first responsibility is to cover local news affecting its readers. The top story of the day, appropriately, involved certification of the Hillcrest water vote and the heated debate about what's next in the ongoing controversy.
There is no real complicated science as to how the newspaper decides which political stories from the wire services to publish. Several editors review story budgets and read the stories, then select the ones they believe are the most compelling and will be of most interest to our readers. It's really that simple. The "news of the day" may dictate one candidate gets more press than the other, but overall you can expect a balanced daily report.
At least one reader is convinced that publishing an Obama story inside the A section and a McCain story in the C section is proof of our anti-GOP stance. Here's the deal: presidential campaign stories that don't rise to Page 1 status will be placed wherever we have room inside the paper. (Readers looking for political coverage beyond what appears in print can go to www.appeal-democrat.com and click on the "news" tab, then go to "Election '08").
When it comes to the opinion page, the newspaper presents content that informs, educates and, in some cases, provokes. While our editorials adhere to the Libertarian viewpoint, columns and cartoons cross all boundaries. We've got opinions from the right, the left and the center. Are our editorial columnists biased? Absolutely. We expect them to be.
Again, it's about balance. The makeup of the A-D opinion pages rests primarily with the editor: it's a responsibility I take very seriously. Just last week, I made arrangements with a national syndicated writers group to add new editorial commentary voices —liberal and conservative — to our opinion pages to augment the current roster of columnists writing on political affairs. It's about giving you, the reader, opinions that support yours and opinions that challenge yours.
As the calendar pages turn toward Nov. 4, you have my vow that the newspaper is committed to presenting balanced election coverage. Tell us how we're doing. Call me at 749-4718 or e-mail llabarth@appealdemocrat.com.
— Len La Barth
