For some time now, Goldy and I have been harping on how The Seattle Times, especially their ed board, is out of step with Seattle. Their endorsements don’t sway people and they don’t feel the same way as most city dwellers on many issues. They represent a conservative, old guard elite that simply doesn’t have the truck that it once did in Seattle. But perhaps we’ve been wrong.
So stay with me a little bit. The Seattle Times certainly disagrees with city residents on taxes, sure. While city residents understand that things cost money, and are generally willing to pay for them (roads and stadiums aside), The Seattle Times seems to think any tax increase for any reason is always bad. And they want more roads. And for Seattle to pay for those roads, even state roads that Seattle is at best ambivalent about.
And even when they say they want something lefty like health care, they change their mind when that lefty thing might actually pass.
And on candidates, oh my. The Seattle Times thinks all candidates for all offices should abide by the above crazy. So they often pick candidates very different from who Seattle picks.
But it isn’t just politically: the ed board is (aside from Ryan Blethen) quite old in a youthful city. How many columns and posts by Bruce Ramsey mention something Carter did that he didn’t like, as if it relates to the experience of most people in Seattle today? They have an attitude of respect for conservative institutions, giving the likes of Bruce Chapman a fair hearing while the typical Seattle resident doesn’t care that you were in the Reagan administration. The adoration of bland institutions is downright strange. They’ve written multiple anti Google rants in a tech friendly city. Finally, they’ve, mostly (all?) people who grew up here despite the large number of people who’ve come here more recently either from other countries or other parts of America.
So the point is, Goldy, The Seattle Times was here long before the current iteration of Seattle politically and culturally. But The Seattle Times isn’t out of step with Seattle: if anything, Seattle is out of step with The Seattle Times.
And the editors like kicking union members in general for sport and the editors love punching school teachers in particular ever since the WEA sided with striking Seattle Times unions.
While it makes the petty owners feel better, in a pro-union town like Seattle that is not a very good business plan.
The primary motivation of the Blethens is to not mess up the good deal they’ve got. Because they own the paper, people need to listen to them, whether they are full of crap or not. If they didn’t own the Seattle Times, they would be about as relevant as a homeless man begging quarters at a red light and slipping into the bushes to swig Mickeys.
They rant on Google because they are homers and think that they need to help protect the Microsoft business empire. Meanwhile, Microsoft is sitting on $30 billion and don’t know how or where to invest it. Or maybe the Blethens are just toadies, sucking up to whoever has money or power (as they perceive it).
The Seattle Times is a family business. If your name is Blethen you have a job for life. (At least the life of the newspaper.)
They are trying to run a traditional newspaper while the whole news media has been turned on its ear. Everyday the value of a newspaper diminishes. The Blethens are stuck with a 20th century model and trying to pass that onto to their children, meanwhile technology is passing them by. No wonder they hate Google.
The editors at the Seattle Times takes a big shit on democracy with 1053 and brag about cynicism in this stunning editorial from Wednesday:
The argument against it is that two-thirds is undemocratic. This is a well-meaning thought, but most of those who express it are not realistic enough, or maybe not cynical enough, about how laws are made.
Politicians are often people of large ego. They respond to people who seek them out, who plead with them, who flatter them and who contribute money to them. And those people most often want the state to spend money.
I’ve been here 43 years and the Seattle Times sucked back then, too. But then, I’ve never met anyone who actually reads the editorial page. I do see a lot of people wrapping coffee grounds, banana peels, and dog barf in it.
I found this posting out of the Seattle Times comment threads under the Clint Didier article, and it’s too hilarious not to repost here:
“the reason no one buys your paper is because you are so leftist. i quit my subscription 20 years ago, because of your liberal propaganda. too bad you only cater to the letists.”
The poster lives in Bothell and calls himself “let’sgocougs!”
Rich farts hate any and all taxes. If they attack tax increases, and convince average people to vote against their own personal financial self interest, they personally save a boatload of money. Average people, not so much. This obsession with taxes is a scam to enrich already rich people.
If they seriously want to focus on what really ails people, look no further than the Department of War which has a budget higher than all other countries combined (no kidding here.) Alan Grayson has proposed legislation that will eliminate the unpaid-for supplemental budgets for the Defense Department, which I think was 150 billion or more this year (keep in mind this is borrowed money that adds to the deficit.) With the savings, every single American would be able to write off the first 35K in earnings. This would be a god send for average working people, but for rich old farts, not so much.
The Seattle Times doesn’t give a damn about average people. Remember, at least half of people working in Washington State earn less than around 44K per year. Can you imagine how important a 35K writeoff would be to people like this? Not even considering some poor sod trying to live on minimum wage.
I stopped reading the Seattle Times about 2 years ago. Last weekend I picked up a copy and quickly remembered the reason. In terms of interesting reading material, The Seattle Times is worthless.
Almost Live’s John Kiester gave an award to someone who actually read an interesting article in the Seattle Times. That was 20 years ago. Nothing has changed.
I keep hoping that SeaTimes minority owner McClatchy will buy out one of the little Blethens and exile King Frank and Ryanclone to Mercer Island. Or maybe Maine. Or St. Helena.
@3, 2cents spewed: If your name is Blethen you have a job for life. (At least the life of the newspaper.)
Ha!
But it isn’t just politically: the ed board is (aside from Ryan Blethen) quite old in a youthful city.
age discriimination from a liberal?
we dont discriminate based on, race, religion, gender, sexual preference or age, unless its suits us.