That Seattle Times staffers are upset about The Seattle Times giving Rob McKenna free advertising. But honestly, this would be a lot more meaningful if the newsroom felt like it had stood up to Frank Blethen on newsroom issues.
It threatens the two things we value the most, the traits that make The Seattle Times a strong brand: Our independence and credibility.
Ultimately, The Seattle Times’ independence and credibility are harmed more by, for example, Truth Needle segments that say things that are true are false if Democrats say them and ignoring things GOP candidates says that aren’t right. The newsroom has an obligation to independence and credibility. They’d be better able to withstand any fallout from their publisher being in the bag for McKenna if their paper hadn’t been in the bag for him and much of the GOP.
When the paper reads like a free ad for a certain type of GOP elected official, it’s tough to complain that there’s a free ad for a certain type of GOP elected official.
Well flushing the ST down the toilet is surely one effective way of ending the corporate welfare for it. Bravo for “conservative” business decisions!
Sorry employees of the soon to be defunct ST.
I think most of the dogs, cats, squirrels, raccoons, and other sentient critters in Seattle understand that ST is little more than a personal soapbox for an eccentric union-hating bearded guy who looks down on the rest of us from a $4 million Lake Washington mansion.