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Originally posted by jimmy123x:
You're buying the wrong newspaper. The Sun Sentinel here in South Florida rarely talks about Trump. It's mostly what's going on in South Florida etc.

Exactly what a local paper should be. Wish they were all like that.

I grew up reading the Chicago Tribune because that's where I lived. My dad like the NY Times, because he grew up and worked there until his 30's.

Of course, I didn't realize how leftist the Tribune was until I left town for college. Still, Mike Royko was a great columnist and he routinely criticized Chicago public schools for doing stupid things like giving calculators to primary school kids so they didn't actually have to learn to do math by hand. There were some other sane voices too.

My education in journalism is limited to what I was taught in English class in public school, but I remember that the first paragraph is supposed to include all of the important info - who, what, where, when, why, how.

I can't believe how many articles I read now (online articles on newspaper or magazine websites) where important information is buried deep in the article or left out. Maybe that's a ploy to get you to read more, but it's bad journalism.

But there are still some great writers out there that are not hopelessly biased. I like City-Journal, published by the Manhattan institute a lot. Heather MacDonald does some of the best analysis of crime stats and debunking of the police and justice system bias myth. I also like the "Real Clear" websites - Politics, Markets, etc. They actually will link to articles on opposite sides of an issue right next to each other.

[quote]I grew up reading the Chicago Tribune because that's where I lived. My dad like the NY Times, because he grew up and worked there until his 30's.


So did I. Royko was great. John Kass is pretty good too. I remember when he asked people to send him names of people who had no show jobs at City Hall. His series on the Chicago Outfit were superb. That guy has got some guts.

None of these guys was as colorful though as Jimmy Breslin. His coverage of Son of Sam killings was great.

I avoid it as well but do sometimes watch Tucker Carlson. Just to see whatever dipshit thinks they are going to get the better of him and wind up taking it in the a$$. Rob Reiner got force fed his own hypocrisy the other night and it was beautiful.

I very, very, rarely watch TV.
I do read widely and always the editorial pages of the WSJ.

However, Irma came along and we were without power for 7 days. The cable, my internet provider went dark. Local FM spent almost 100% of their time on local storm related problems.

The hiatus from the news was great---I don't know whether I will go back.

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But there are still some great writers out there that are not hopelessly biased. I like City-Journal, published by the Manhattan institute a lot. Heather MacDonald does some of the best analysis of crime stats and debunking of the police and justice system bias myth. I also like the "Real Clear" websites - Politics, Markets, etc. They actually will link to articles on opposite sides of an issue right next to each other.

I agree completely about Heather MacDonald. WSJ also has some great writers. I do go to RealClearPolitics every day as part of my "sweep" for interesting op-ed pieces; and select from the authors I know I will learn something from.

Well said.

An additional criticism I'd like to add is the general decline in the quality of writing.


Silent

For fun, when you finish the "Mote in God's Eye", read the sequel, "The Gripping Hand".

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These are hard times for people who have spent their lives soaking up news

Adding to this is that, in the immediate wake of 9/11, I began listening to AM news radio all day every day at work.
Turns out it was CBS radio. Some of the crappiest of the koolaid purveyors.