Local Media: No Panacea

Another reminder of why local ownership of media is neither here nor there in terms of either a progressive editorial slant or quality journalism: that epitome of third-rateness the Seattle Times has followed up its Bush 2000 endorsement by endorsing Mike McGavrick for the Senate. What’s worse about the Times is that it’s not even really that the publisher has strong wingnut ideological commitments as his selfish opposition to the estate tax, which of course figures prominently in the endorsement. Seattle’s Hearst paper, conversely, actually tries to reflect the politics of its readers.