Big ups to the Deseret Morning News for having the balls to come out of the closet and proclaim its political persuasion with the hiring of Utah Republican head Joe Cannon.
We all knew which way the paper swung long before Cannon took over, and by naming him editor, the paper has shown it ain’t afraid to flaunt its leanings to the right.
Meanwhile, Fox News–surely pleased by the Deseret Morning News news–is still shamed by its relationship with the right as it continues its claim to be “fair and balanced.” Yet would Republicans even want such an association with the network? When the parody of the network–“The Daily Show” and “Colbert Report”–better informs with more poignant analysis, it’s a pretty good indication that the Fox News content is comical.
The Deseret Morning News has the chance to fill the void of high-quality, conservatively biased media. Or it can hire the Republican PR machine to fill the paper and bring Karl Rove home and name him political editor. Rove’s strategy of stroking the political “base” would fit well at the Mormon-owned paper.
Regardless, the Deseret Morning News should be seen as a beacon of diversity for today’s press in the fog of feigned objectivity. The paper is propagandist, loud and proud, paying homage to the American newspapers from the revolutionary era. Papers like the Pennsylvania Gazette and American Minerva did not shy away from taking stances on controversial issues of the day, and the public understood and embraced this prejudice.
Today’s news media claims to be unaffected by outside interests, yet it often succumbs to the interests of its owner. Thanks to the relaxation of federal media-ownership rules, the ones that sign the paychecks are increasingly multinational conglomerates more focused on earnings growth than the integrity and quality of their product.
One glaring example is when The Salt Lake Tribune endorsed George Bush in the 2004 presidential election. The endorsement was preceded by a litany of reasons not to vote for him. For this reason, one has to wonder if The Tribune owner Dean Singleton, a self-described friend of Dubya, had any say in the endorsement.
America doesn’t like deception. If you choose the right (and righteous), come on out and say it–there’s nothing wrong with a little spin. Diversity is what makes this nation strong; there’s no need to hide under the mantra of “fair and balanced.” American media should take a page from the Deseret Morning News and celebrate their subjectivity.
Most importantly, the Deseret Morning News has blatantly signaled to its readers that its “news” will come from the Republican angle. This service may help readers (and viewers) come to the realization that all news has a certain slant (and, maybe The Tribune will try to one-up the Deseret Morning News by hiring Rocky Anderson as its next editor).
