Occupy Wisconsin newspapers! Part 2

I wanted to forward you to a couple of links that showcase a couple of recent examples of how the editorial boards of our state's newspapers continue to cowtow to their corporate masters instead of doing their duty as journalists and demanding a free an open society.

The first is an excellent rundown on Blogging Blue of how Gannett-run newspapers in Appleton, Wausau, Fond du Lac, and other markets across Wisconsin ran the same editorial denouncing employees who signed recall petitions. not only is it McCarthyist to consider disciplining a food writer or sports writer for signing something that does not affect their beat (and is within their rights as a citizen), and disgusting that they used that Texass Teabagger group's illegitimate database to find this out, but there's a bigger issue here.

If these newspapers are all writing the same thing, that tells you that the orders came from the top at Gannett, and they told the editors of these Wisconsin newspapers to write this editorial. So why would a huge chain like Gannett care about what individual citizens do in little communities in Wisconsin? Because they and their corporate advertisers got a lot of money riding on being in the good graces of Scott Walker. Which means they're more interested in the bottom line than putting out a good product that informs Wisconsin citizens.

The second example is in response to the Journal-Sentinel writing another cop-out editorial against recalls, this one supporting ALEC boy Robin Vos' efforts to limit the reasons for recall petitions. We know the J-S is in the bag for Walker in order to continue to curry favor with the MMAC and other Milwaukee oligarch organizations, but even this is beyond the pale for them.

As James Rowen points out in a great article, the J-S contradicts itself on ths editorial, as it openly said Walker was not elected to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers. Rowen correctly adds:

A recall election is the only means available to hold Walker accountable for an out-sized lie of omission: his failure to disclose when it counted - - during the campaign - - that he intended, if he were to win, to do away with most public sector collective bargaining - - a lie compounded by his subsequent insistence to the contrary, PolitiFact has found.

And James also leaves out the corruption in Walker's County Executive's office, where more Walker appointees continue to be questioned about doing campaign work while being paid by county taxpayers, and that the offices of Walker staffers were raided the night before the 2010 elections as part of the John Doe investigation. There's also the "50th in the nation" status on job creation under Walker, and the huge amounts of out-of-state money and ALEC influence that has defined the Walker Administration's agenda. None of this was reported by our media in 2010 (scary thought- "not being reported" does not mean they didn't know), and now that we do know, we deserve the right to decide whether this administration be allowed to spend our taxpayer dollars while in office.

And further, the J-S demanding that recalls not happen when politicians lie, cheat and ram through legislation that the people do not approve of goes against all marks of a functioning democracy where politicians have the "consent of the governed", i.e., the PEOPLE. What the J-S wants is to have a small society make the rules for the people, and have the media report on how it affects their small Village of friends. Meanwhile, they expect us to follow like a bunch of brain-dead suckers. NO SALE GUYS. Much like I mentioned earlier this month on the state media's failures to hold Walker to account, I'm starting to believe our state's newspapers and editorial boards need to get Occupied in order to start calling it fairly. Apparently cancelling subscriptions might not be enough.