Posted on 08/21/2007 12:38:06 PM PDT by RatherBiased.com
For a long time, the San Antonio Express News was unique, not in its predictably liberal editorial page or in its port-skewing news coverage. No, instead, it was one of the few American newspapers to have two editorial cartoonists, one liberal and one conservative.
That is no longer the case. Under pressure to cut jobs and staff in the midst of the overall decline of print media, Express-News editorial page editor Bruce Davidson decided that the paper should drop conservative cartoonist Leo Garza, a fixture at the paper for over 20 years. Liberal cartoonist John Branch will remain on the staff.
You'd think that given the Express-News's posture of demanding accountability from government and (other) businesses, that it would be consistent and respect the "public's right to know" what prompted this politically charged decision. Alas, no such explanation seems in the offing for us plebs.
Looking for such an explanation, I spotted a column from Davidson announcing Garza's termination which gave no explanation whatsoever. Similarly, EN "public editor" Bob Richter did little to explain this decision to the public, stating that Garza was "simply a victim of the numbers" without any explanation for why Branch wasn't terminated as well. After all, wouldn't the Express-News save more by firing all its cartoonists like the Los Angeles Times has?
Hoping to find some sort of explanation, I emailed Davidson thinking that maybe he just had not been asked why the political disparity. His email was similarly useless:
Keeping Branch instead of Leo was judgment call we had to make. I'll refrain from a line-by-line comparison. But I will tell you it was not easy, but it was about the numbers. It was not about Leo's politics. You, of course, will be skeptical. I understand that, but I'm telling you the unfortunate truth.
I emailed back the following and have yet to receive a response. I'm not exactly holding my breath for one:
A "judgment call?" "About the numbers?" What does that mean? You provide no specifics which gives you no credibility.
Don't you find it the least bit hypocritical that you are refusing to disclose your decision-making process when you routinely publish editorials demanding that government and other businesses do just that? How are you doing anything but using the "unfettered power" (your phrase for the Bush White House) you have over your editorial page without having the respect for the public opinion to explain yourself?
You owe it to the public to explain your actions with more than peremptory phrases and dismissive language, especially as a member of our self-appointed "fourth estate."
The Express News has called me a couple times lately about a subscription. I enjoy telling them that I refuse to give one red cent to their crap paper. NACHO was one of the few bright spots in the rag.
Diversity? It’s about pretty colors and hues... it’s not about diversity of thought.
Nobody hates like Liberals.
SA *ping*
Be polite. Tell the subscription office of your intent first. That is as far as I had to go to stop our local Gannett rag from showing up on my doorstep. It may save a police officer from taking one more report and save a tree.
ping to SA Express-news readers..
Really? What section? Again, I don't buy the rag, but do see it in various places occasionally. Haven't seen that cartoon in the cartoon section in a long time.
It figures that they would axe the mexican guy and keep the white guy. Damn liberal racists!
They’re trying to put themselves out of business. Let’s hope it works.
“By the numbers” means they have more liberal readers than conservative, maybe a large margin.
The articles right though, they should have bounced both cartoonists. It would have spared them the appearance of being partisan and kept defections from the right down. Now they got the worst of both worlds.
Who’s making the decisions at that rag? If I owned it I’d fire the idiot just for being so stupid...or clearly partisan.
You can find Mallard Fillmore at Jewish world review.com
Ah, yes, the Kansas City Bar, I mean, Star. The news that’s fit to be written by alcoholics.
Ordinarily you’d expect a decision between a Latino and a Gringo to go PC for the Latino in a city which is more than 50% Latino.
I guess the Excuse & News will justify themselves as being above the PC apellation since they kept the Gringo—who just happens to be a lib.
I hope Leo catches on somewhere soon. His brand of ethnic humor is a treat in this ethnically polarized world.
Also, unfortunately, the JOCO Sun is just as bad. At least it’s free.
We used to get it for our business, to see the real estate listings.
We cancelled it, then they kept calling, and I told them that their bias was why I would never pay another dime for their paper.
Thanks ... would be interesting to know why the Conservative one went instead, but then .....
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