And I reply with an open letter to Ryan Blethen. (For those unfamiliar with the Seattle Times, Ryan Blethen is the editorial page editor. It is probably sheer coincidence that the publisher of the newspaper is also named Blethen.)
Dear Mr. Blethen:
Today, you published a cartoon by Mike Peters referring to the anti-deficit protesters as "Tea Baggers". As everyone should know by now, "Tea Baggers" refers to an unusual sexual practice. (Consult an urban dictionary if you don't know the meaning of the term.)
The cartoon is inappropriate for a family newspaper. And the slur is inappropriate for anyone who thinks that our political debates should be conducted with some civility. The Seattle Times should apologize for publishing the cartoon. (Your cartoon editor, Ken Rosenthal, may want to consider banning Peters entirely, if the cartoonist won't apologize for the slur.)
The tea party protesters, as they call themselves, have, in general, been treated badly by most "mainstream" journalists, including most at the Seattle Times, even though the protesters are mostly saying what every serious person knows: that our current and projected deficits are unsustainable. That the protesters have been subjected to this particular slur, again and again, is not only wrong — which should be enough for you — but bad business, since you risk alienating so many potential subscribers.
Sincerely,
Jim MillerPS - Mr. Rosenthal should read my site for the next week, since I plan to publish a post which will criticize him by name. Your circulation manager may want to read that post, too.)
Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.
(You can see the cartoon here. It's the current cartoon as I write, and is dated 10/22/2009.)
Note to would-be commenters: I'll give the Seattle Times a week to reply. If they don't reply by next Friday, I'll have an open thread on the subject. If they do, I'll publish the reply, and let you discuss that.
Posted by Jim Miller at October 23, 2009 12:55 PM | Email This