Kentucky

This was an interesting piece by the CJ's Arnie Garson to explain the liberal leanings of his paper.  However, when he takes the basic position that if you are on the left, the right will complain; on the right, the left will complain; and in the middle you stand for little and are boring to boot, I just shake my head in amazement as he just misses the real concerns behind the question. 

However, that's the editorial section; and most of us can agree with that position - -  for the editorial pages that is.

I have no problem with a liberal or a conservative editorial bent in any paper, and enjoy the debate.  What I don't like is a belief that the rest of the paper is fair and objective with no agenda.  This just ain't so.  Those stories that are selected, positioned, headlined, bannered, bantered, and peppered with comments and quotes are the embodiment of that leaning.  Any delusions to the contrary makes one wonder about who's running the show.

A newspaper is a public trust - responsible to the citizens, the readers.  When the trust is lost, broken, or questioned, then the paper's credibility is diminished. 

As for liberal leanings.  I do not think that is the label that most readers find disturbing, but rather it's their liberal reactionary position that seems to have lost track of the public's best interests.   A newspaper run by a corporation is not the same as one run by a family with ties to the community, ties to the people, and accountability to their neighbors.  The Binghams gave back to the city they loved and where they lived.  That connection increased the responsibility for their positions which were more forward thinking and progressive rather than liberal and reactionary.

Gannett does not have to live with their opinions in this community; the Binghams did. Disagree as  you may with some of their positions, but you nonetheless felt they were with you. 

That's the rub between then and now.

Judge Bingham said it best  when he regarded the newspapers he owned (the late Louisville Times as well as The Courier-Journal ) as a public trust, and that he ?endeavored so to conduct them as to render the greatest public service.?