November 14, 2006
I nominate the P-I
The Powerline Blog is holding a contest for the worst newspaper in the United States.
How about a readers' poll on the question, with desrving candidates nominated by readers? In the interest of fairness, the newspaper must be accessible online so that we can all take a look for ourselves. Please send your nominee and your case for why it is the worst together with any supporting links to powerlinefeedback@gmail.com, and we'll see if we can set up a fair competition.
It's possible there are worse newspapers out there, but the P-I is pretty darn bad. I'll submit my case and I encourage others to do the same.
hat tip: The Orb
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 14, 2006
10:08 AM | Email This
1. PI is bad, but I'd say the Eastside Journal is worse. There's nothing in the EJ but fluff stories.
2. I think you are just basing that on editorial judgement. David Horsey wins national awards, the PI is very literate. I think when the Times started publishing in the morning it dealt a bad blow. I think that the Times has worked hard to try to kill the PI.
3. Pravda-Izvestia (P-I) has earned this distinction. The P-I, Times and all local media couldn't (or refuses to) smell out a story even if it stinks like a skunk. The P-I has chosen to die rather than investigate the skunk that is King County Elections and print an expose that would sell a lot of papers. This in itself stinks because their rationale is driven purely by ideology. When a news entity loses its objectivity, its credibility goes down the drain with it. Bye, Bye, P-I!
4. Let's see The Daily Worker or the PI? Hmmm, I vote for the PI.
5. The PI probably wins, bet there are a number that even go beyond the pale of the "mainstream" of the MSM. The New York Times and the Minneapolis Star come to mind. And don't forget the McClatchy chain. I've had the unfortunate experience of having lived in three towns (Olympia, Sacramento, and Fresno)where the McClatchy's ran the local paper.
They are the quintessential limousine liberals. Unfortunately, they've acquired a bunch of papers up here like the TNT, the Tri-Cities Herald, and the Yakima paper. Oddly, though, most of the papers they have are in towns that seem to be trending Republican--they also have a bunch of papers in North Carolina.
But the PI is worse.
6. You know, Cato, your post hits one of my biggest pet peeves. It's the King County Journal. Has been for a few years now. Granted, whoever buys it will call it what they want.
Until then, the KCJ is not the Eastside Journal, not the Journal American and not whatever it was 40 years ago.
7. Oh, and I'll defend the Seattle P-I. Granted my reasons aren't entirely altruistic (cough-cough). But they do print Mallard Fillmore!
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp?date=20061107
8. Easily the PI as worst. I've lived in plenty of places w/ fair papers (quality wise, but also semi objective). PI is easily the worst big city paper i've seen
Eastside journal isn't really in the same league, so doesn't deserve same standards.
Even pinko papers like SF Chron or others have good writing, critical thinking. PI is a joke.
9. Reporterward - You mean some people actually find Mallard Fillmore funny?
10. Still waiting to see your outrage over the proposed Income Tax in the State of Washington Cato, maybe they will let you write a letter to the editor at the PI. SJR 8211 you said you would be "up in arms".
11. Smokie - I have mailing my state senator and house rep's about SJR 8211 on my to do list, it will come. =)
12. The PI does carry Dilbert. And in all seriousness, their Sports section is better then the Times. Now for hard news, nobody is worse then the Detroit Free Press, they systimaticaly tear all Republicans apart and when you call them on it they just laugh and remind you that it is their ink and their paper. I hate those @#$%.
13. The PI stands for "Paste It" from the AP. As far as their stories and editorial policies, you have to look at the Canadian papers for more liberal/socialist pablum.
14. PI haters, you're wrong. The worst paper in the state is the Times, because it does so little with so much. The PI has made a choice, to abandon its larger audience and become even more left-wing than it was previously. That's in part because the Times stopped promoting it and sabotaged its circulation outside of the Seattle metro area. I think the PI actually does a pretty good job at its mission: being a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party.
15. I think the PI actually does a pretty good job at its mission: being a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party.
Ding. We have a winner. Except, I'd take it another step. They're a mouthpiece for the extreme liberal, anti-war, socialist wing of the Democratic Party. They compete more with the alternatives than the mainstream for market share.
And yes. Its sports section dwarfs the Times. I'll read a hackneyed, juvenile column by Jim Moore long before the insufferable, one-sentence-paragraph pretentiousness of Steve Kelley.
16. The P-I wins hands down for one BIG reason and his name is Joel Cornholey. I mean what other so-called spewer of the truth has the nerve to register to vote @ his 700 sq. ft Island County "guest cottage" when he has a house in Seattle & works in Seattle....and also registers his gardener and 2 left-wing idiots who never even lived in Washington because "they plan on living there someday!!!"
17. By the way, does anyone recall Cornholey's Island County address and the names of the 2 idiot's & his gardener??
Did they vote in this 2006 election???????????????
18. David Lawsky and his wife are the names you are looking for aaargh.
19. Not all the worst ideas rise from Seattle. The worst state newpaper is the Olympian!
From the totally stupid editorials, a recent example http://www.theolympian.com/109/story/47927.html to their choice of leftist, feminist and "give me more services" letters to the editor http://www.theolympian.com/208/story/50636.html to their glorification of Evergreen College (established as a reaction to the student oppression of the 60's), the "Zero" isn't worth the paper it's printed upon. Talk about an environmental waste of paper, ink, electricity and gas for deliveries!
I only buy it because I get more in savings in coupons than I pay for it.
20. I've never purchased a copy of The Olympian, and I stopped reading it online after their ChimpyHitler editorials (plural) on 9/11/2006. It's simply a community college newspaper masquerading as a lower-tier daily. They don't qualify as a serious newspaper.
21. I nominate The Washington Times. In the late 1990s, it revealed that we were listening in on Usama bin Laden's mobile telephone conversations. He quickly stopped communicating by that method. Owned by the Rev. Moon, who declared "Satan's Harvest is America", it has given the arch-terrorist leader of Al-Qe'ada aid and comfort. Luckily for Rev. Moon and his employees, we liberals have not demanded retribution for his compromising of our national security.