@GoldyHA @seattletimes I don't read the editorials. Rarely ever did.
— David Boardman (@dlboardman) August 25, 2014
Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!
off-topic trivial phenomenon. if one visits HA right now with Safari (iPad) this posting isn’t (and likely all top postings aren’t) shown at all. it seems to be eclipsed by the banner advert (currently for Hainan airlines). probably the next posting will force it down to be revealed while itself remaining hidden etc [shrug]
Without ST editorials, what would we do around here for fun (and field goal practice)? We’d have only Puddy.
Good point – why read the editorial section of the only major newspaper in the state of Washington?
Of course, the quality of the ST has never been high and the sad state of the editorials has been known for a long time. Consider these doozies:
Opposing a high wage income tax because…rich people might pay a higher tax rate.
Endorsing Rob McKenna and claiming he was a moderate.
Endorsing Bush in 2004
Endorsing Reichert multiple times – despite chiding him for lying about his environmental record. Apparently, a liar is better than a democrat who opposes the estate tax.
Clarifying my position, lest Goldy try to misrepresent it: As the Executive Editor of The Seattle Times, I had responsibility for all of the content except advertising and the editorial pages. I felt I could best do my job if I kept an optimal distance from whatever institutional positions the editorial board was taking; I didn’t want my judgment on coverage influenced either positively or negatively by those positions, and I liked being able to say truthfully to readers who accused us of bias that I didn’t even know the paper’s position on a particular topic.
In fact, if I owned a newspaper there would be no unsigned, institutional editorials. I think they make the jobs of news reporters more difficult. I’d have the opinion pages be a forum for a variety of voices, both inside and outside the newspaper. But The Times, like most daily newspapers, retains that institutional voice and many people believe it is a great community service.
I have high respect for Editorial Page Editor Kate Riley and her staff. My decision not to read editorials had nothing to do with their quality.
@4
I can’t emphasize how strongly I agree with you on this. I’ve been mulling over a post on this exact subject for some time now.