As the new year begins, it's worth reviewing some of the criticism in the past year of the Argus Leader's biased political reporting.
Since the pattern of liberal bias at the Argus Leader goes back a number of years, it was necessary to do some historical research to determine how far back the pattern went, and how far-reaching it was. This research uncovered, among other things, two stories written in 1990. One story appeared in Roll Call, which described the AL's bias as "hysterical." The other story appeared in a post election-day roundup by the New York Times, which labeled the AL's bias "vituperative." David Kranz, now the "dean of South Dakota political reporters" was the AL's managing editor at the time. I commented on this research last May. Interestingly, Senator Larry Pressler, the subject of the AL's vituperative and hysterical bias in the 1990 race, wrote in a 1999 letter to the editor of the AL, published on June 19, that "David Kranz is my longtime nemesis, but I consider him a friend. He is a good writer, but intellectually flawed in that he lets his biases show through."
In response to accusations of bias in the AL by a prospective Senate candidate, Talon News launched an investigation of the AL that yielded over a half-dozen stories, which you can find chronologically linked on the right side of this blog. One of the more poignant stories is headlined "South Dakota Reporter Key to Daschle Strategy" which discusses an article written for Campaigns and Elections magazine by Karl Struble, a media consultant for Tom Daschle, and how it relates to bias at the AL.
As this blog gained more readers due to links from Instapundit, Powerline, etc., an academic named Andrew Clem, originally from South Dakota and now a professor at James Madison University, stumbled upon SDP and commented on his own blog that "we prairie folk used to call it, the 'Argus Liar.'" John Hinderaker at the Powerline blog, who is originally from South Dakota, weighed in on the bias of the AL in general and David Kranz in particular.
Throughout the year, it has been observed that the AL and particularly Kranz often engage in the bias of omission. What is NOT reported is just as important as what IS reported. The AL usually ignores or downplays stories that reflect negatively on Tom Daschle, and highlight stories that reflect positively on Tom Daschle. One example is the coverage (or more accurately, non-coverage) of Tom Daschle's polling and focus-grouping activities last spring. Even ABC's "The Note" took notice of Kranz's willful refusal to report the story.
Finally, Congressman Bill Janklow, on trial for his role in the death of motorcyclist Randy Scott, criticized the "cunning" bias of the AL's leadership.
Through the past year, as I have observed and commented on the reporting of the Argus Leader and its star political reporter, much has been learned and much is open to question. Through systematic inquiry, we've been able to discover that the past is littered with criticism of the AL's bias. Much of it has been documented on this blog, and any glance through the archives will bear out that much of this criticism is warranted. As we begin a new year, an election year, with potentially one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country right here in South Dakota, will we see the same pattern of bias at the AL emerge as it has in the past? Will we see the AL trying to influence voters rather than report the news to voters? The smart money says that we will.
As the year progresses, SDP will continue to observe and comment on the reporting of the Argus Leader. Thanks to all of my readers for a great 2003. When I started this blog a year ago, I had no idea it would take off like it has. It began with a readership of about two or three of my friends, and these days there's more like 200 readers a day. I started on a whim, mostly because I was tired of reading the biased political reporting of the AL, and wanted to do something about it. Now that we've got their attention, it's time to take it to the next level. Here's to a wild ride in 2004!
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