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They are entitled to their opinions but a fair paper would make sure all voices are heard in balance, and they would weigh both sides of the issues equally. With their current liberally stuffed ballot box their opinions are a joke. She is lying when she says they allow dissent--implying that they do so in balance. They hold a media monopoly yet they spend all their resources promoting only one ideology, and they then lie about it. (Except for the lonely, infrequent voice of McClanahan.)

They should not exist as a way around Campaign Finance laws for the Democrats.

I agree that a paper's op-ed page should be balanced, but I believe that balance is achieved by using columns and letters to bring in counterpoints to the paper's editorial positions. That way, at least in theory, the staff gets its say (no matter how far left or right) and the rest of the page brings in other views that represent other parts of the community. If you're going to demand that the Star change something, suggest they adhere more to that principle — it's much more difficult to dismiss than a demand for more conservatives on staff, especially if the staff believes in "civic/community journalism."

And yes, I get annoyed with the persistant left-wing bias of most journalists too, but change will be slow in coming. In the meantime, the best way to fight it is to use the language of journalistic ethics, hopefully forcing them to confront bias in terms they already accept.

"They hold a media monopoly"

Seems to me that someone who has access to a television and the internet would never say something like this. Not only is your statement inaccurate when considering other media outlets, it's inaccurate when considering print news. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other newspapers are available at your local bookstore or for home delivery the same day they are published. For local news, the Sun newspapers and a variety of local papers are published all over the KC Metro area.
It seems to me that if a person is aware of a bias in the media, then they have the ability to seek out alternative sources of information, not only that, but awareness of bias innoculates a person against it, it shouldn't be effective against someone who's looking out for biased viewpoints.