Gannett nears deal to buy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel owner Journal Media Group for near $300m w/ @danacimilluca http://t.co/LtPqaK3psC
— Keach Hagey (@keachhagey) October 7, 2015While Gannett has its own set of issues as a corporate behemoth with a desire to delocalize and lame out news as much as possible, there is the smile that goes on my face when I see that the
Let's see if Gannett realizes the one strength the J-S has (sports coverage, especially the Packers), and keeps the talent it does have in that area. If Gannett wants to "improve efficiencies" at its new acquisition in Milwaukee, they can boot much of the editorial staff and weak-minded "news" folks who should be held responsible for ruining what was left of the J-S's reputation with their kid-gloves treatment of Scott Walker, leading to the inevitable embarrassment that doofus faced in his short presidential run. And too many of them sure don't seem to have learned their lesson or feel the shame they should have for their contribution to that embarrassment, since these guys are still giving Walker's dishonest side of the story without question and giving column space to his photo ops at campaign contributors, despite the fact that Walker is often refusing to answer reporters' questions at these "events." Maybe they'll raise their game, now that they're jobs are likely on the line (or maybe they'll slough off even more- interesting to see which way they turn).
So while I'm ordinarily not a fan of media consolidation, especially involving such a huge corporation like Gannett (as it inevitably slants the coverage toward the rich and powerful), buying the J-S would be an exception. Because the
Maybe that explains also why Tom Kertscher and the pathetic Wisconsin Politi-"fact" are slanting even more pro-Walker in recent days than their usual disgraceful attempt at "analysis" (read the whopper those fuckers wrote to back up Scotty on civil service today- think the J-S doesn't want a piece of the resulting cronyism and money-funneling?). Kertscher and others in the Politi-"fact" crew are trying to get a nice communications gig with the Walker Admin before they get canned in the consolidation with Gannett! (hey, it works for many a former Madison "journalist").
I look at the papers in the Fox River Valley (Green Bay Press Gazette, Oshkosh Northwestern, Fond du Lac Reporter) and they appear to have a more reality-based coverage than the J-S (or the "urinal" as we called it back in my newspaper delivery days).
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I'm no fan of consolidation. But Gannett is not going to be the local GOP establishment's lapdog. Their coverage is bland, uninteresting and conservative.
But they're also too big to be in the pocket of a bunch of WOW grifters.
I like that last point. The J-S clearly looked out for the interests of Milwaukee oligarchs like the MMAC and the Bradley Foundation. The people at Gannett are much less likely to care about those small frys, much like how the national media didn't have a need to kiss Walker's ass on the campaign trail, and actually held him to account.
DeleteThe fact that Gannett also doesn't need Walker's ad money like JournalComm did is another way this may be positive for the decent people in Wisconsin
Wowzers. I kinda sorta called this last week. Never imagined it would happen that fast!
ReplyDeleteI think the most important thing here is that MJS (and Memphis Commercial Appeal, plus a couple throw-ins) can be had for the low-low price of $300M. Before it gets absorbed into Gannett, this would be the opportunity for union pension plans to grab a microphone or two away from the 1%. The Ontario Teachers Union owns bigger companies than this... do you think SEIU and AFSCME could go halfsies on it?
Yes, those disgruntled readers are going to come flooding back now. Didn't these people do any research on what they are getting?
ReplyDeleteSue- You think they care all that much about content and quality? They care about PROFITS, and unlike JournalComm, they don't need a RW propaganda station or GOP ad money to get them from this deal.
DeleteIn fact, if they jettisoned garbage like Schneider and Sleaz-energy from their editorial page, and booted the Walker fanboys from Politi-"fact" they might get some readers back!
But till then, don't give em a dime
The only way I'm going back is if the paper that in the not-so-distant past won Pulitzers for investigative journalism suddenly decides that there might be something worth checking out in those emails. Til then, not one cent. Nothing.
DeleteOne thing about Gannett Co newspapers (and most dailies) is they want young reporters to come and not stay long.
ReplyDeleteIt is possible that the Journal-Sentinel's lap-dog commitment to Scott Walker will decrease. I note this in reading the Gannett Co's Wisconsin Rapids Daily Trib and Marshfield papers. Local coverage has become much better in the past three years. And the papers are doing actual investigative work on Wisconsin water being systemically polluted by Big Ag.
There something about Christian Schnieder columns that are a unique kind of bad. I confess to not reading the JS much outside of education coverage, but I see they also regularly reprint J Goldberg columns, which are often basically hate speech. Do they even have a left-leaning, regularly employed columnist?
ReplyDeleteNot really Chuck. And they borrow national righties like Soccer Mom Kathleen Parker in addition to DC lowlives like Goldberg. And they almost never pick up national lefties, or even some local flavor like John Nichols or Joan Walsh.
DeleteThey give occasional "guest spots", but no regulars. Urban Milwaukee might even have a more diverse group than the J-S, and a more knowledgeable one
Unfortunately, other than occasional investigative articles -- and they can be good -- the Gannett newspapers do not cover state politics well. Perhaps bringing in Stein and Marley will add that, but right now when you go to the Post Crescent or Press Gazette, you are far more likely to find several articles about local sports than one article about legislative goings on. For instance, there was coverage of the bathroom gender bill yesterday, but nothing about changes to election laws or the GAB, and little more than a press release on the civil service bill.
ReplyDelete