Santorum Named Columnist; How Can Newspapers Complain?

Let's see...Newspapers like the Philadelphia Inquirer are complaining that they are losing readership. Philadelphia is an overwhelmingly Democratic city. And yet, here is the announcement from the Philadelphia Inquirer, as reported by Editor & Publisher.

The excerpt:

Former Sen. Rick Santorum Gets 'Philadelphia Inquirer' Column

By E&P Staff

Published: October 24, 2007 12:05 PM ET

NEW YORK A press conference will be held at 1:30 this afternoon at the Philadelphia Inquirer to announce that it has added former Sen. Rick Santorum to its stable of columnists.

Santorum, you may recall, isn't even from Philadelphia. He was from Western Pennsylvania (I say "was" and not "is" because he actually moved to a wealthy Virginia suburb). But beyond that, you may recall, as Editor & Publisher did, that Santorum "was soundly defeated in his race for re-election last year." In fact, he received just 16 percent of the vote in Philadelphia County - the state's most populous county and the county that is the Inquirer's customer base.

So how can a newspaper like the Philadelphia Inquirer complain about losing readership when, in a major Democratic city, it is providing news analysis from a right-wing Republican who was soundly rejected by voters, who isn't even originally from Philadelphia, and who actually decided to move out of Pennsylvania while representing the state in the U.S. Senate?

Hell, I, like Santorum, used to live in Pennsylvania. And actually, I actually used to live in the city of Philadelphia. I also am a progressive and a Democrat, which is what Philadelphia is. I wonder why the Inquirer has decided to publish Santorum as a columnist, but isn't running my nationally syndicated column?

All kidding aside, this isn't, of course, about me (though the comparison, I think, is appropriate). It is about media bias. It shows just how far out of the way some newspaper owners will go to overrepresent conservative voices in the media. And yet, somehow, conservatives still claim the media is liberal.

Comments

[flatus]

Let me guess. The headline of his first column will be, "WMD's found in Iraq!"

Wouldn't this guy be more appropriately placed in a McDonald's drive-thru window?

Want fries with that?

[KRANKY]

The dead tree media has long been dominated by reactionary publishers that built their business the old fashioned way...through inheritance. Then there are those cowards we call editors that value their jobs over professional integrity. I have been told directly ( as a reporter and editorial cartoonist ) by more than a handful of these asshats that they want "balance". What BS!
THe local "daily" has this line-up of columnists: Dan Walters, conservative that writes on state issues; Leonard Pitts, token black and moderate; David Brooks, log cabin lackey from WSJ; Cal Thomas, evangical nutcase; Victor David Hansen, toady from Stanford/ Hoover Institute; Dan Weintraub, another state middle-of-roader; Ellen Goodman, womens' issues moderate; Kathleen Parker, rubber stamp Repuke.
What a bunch of horse hockey!

I also know that they censor the letters to the editor, as I have never had one published, yet have submitted perhaps a dozen in a two year time frame. Even then, the liberal LTO's outnumber the freaky conservatives by about four to one.

The reality is that most everyone I converse with about this realize that the editorial section is garbage. They continue to get the paper for local coverage, and that's all. They get their news and opinion from the internet.

[pygmytyke]

Way to go Dave! This myth of a "Liberal Media" has to be addressed continuously.It is nothing but a big lie put forth for years by the Corporatocracy and disseminated by their Repuglican goons. It follows the lead of their patron "Saint", Adolph who said that by spreading lies long enough and loud enough will soon have the ignorent masses believing them.

[JoePenn]

rick santorum is one of the stupidest persons to walk the halls of Congress. Pennsylvanians should be ashamed for having voted for this meathead in the first place.

Seriously ------ he is one stupid sonuvabitch.

[marko77]

If I were a Philadelphia Inquirer editor or writer, I would be ashamed to be a part of this paper that has just hired Rick Santorum - a real throwback to the days of the Spanish Inquisition - to be a writer.

[PAFirefighter]

Mr. Santorum should heed his own talking points. Religious extremism is dangerous no matter WHAT religion you're discussing.

That's the biggest reason we here in Pennsylvania WIPED him off...

PA Firefighter
"Cogito, ergo Liberal!"

[MajorKong]

Tonight on Fox: Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Neil Cavuto, Don Imus, Cal Thomas, Michelle Malkin, Michael Medved, William F. Buckley Jr., Laura Ingram, Michael Reagan, Pat Buchanan, Jonah Goldburg, Mike Gallagher, Ann Coulter, William Bennett, Oliver North, John Kasich, Pat Robertson, Thomas Sowell, Charles Krauthammer, Robert Novak, Tucker Carlson, Glenn Beck, Bill Kristol, Melanie Morgan, John Gibson, Robert Samuelson, Brit Hume, Paul Gigot, Michael Savage and George Will discuss the lack of conservative voices in the media.

[Boomerwoman]

Snort!

[smartstuart]

Maybe the owners of The Inquirer want to use it as a tax write-off next year! Sirota is right.....not only is Insanitorum a right-wing neo-con, he's a cheat where funding for his kids' private school funding was concerned! He's the perfect Repuke hack...another garden-variety "family values" joker without values or honesty. Wonder if he believes in evolution?? Why didn't the Inquirer hire Hugo Chavez,instead of this chump???

[rhdsma]

And to think Boston, MA and Providence, RI lost Air America Radio. Somethings wrong in Peoria when Liberal areas/regions can't listen to or read liberal opinions, but are instead flooded with "conseravtive" sewage. And what's this we hear about the evil Liberal Media controlling everything and not letting "conservatives" express their viewpoint? I'm beginning to think that "conservatives" are closet Control Freaks! Exposing "conservative" ideas are what turns people off to them, which is why "conservatives" run for office as sensible moderates.

[TheRagingModerate]

I'm a Philly guy too and, like Sirota, I have to ask: What the hell is happening to my hometown newspaper?!
I'm afraid the Inquirer may actually be hiring Santorum to bring a more moderate, civil tone to the Paper, in light of the recent ranting of Inquirer columnist Stu Bykofsy. Bykofsky believes (and I'm sure Santorum would agree) that this country "needs another 9/11" because we've become too disunified (privately, Bykofsky and Santorum probably use the term "dissident") as we've foolishly allowed our original post-9/11 panic to subside.
So glad we now have a second genius writing a regular column for the Inquirer, because when it's just one voice saying such absurd things, it comes across as, well, absurd; but with two ... well, now maybe Philadelphians will start to take this kind of crap seriously.

[TheRagingModerate]

Woops, my mistake -- I forgot, Bykofsky is actually with the Phila Daily News (no difference though, really, as they are both owned by the same company)

[bigdaddyvike]

one more reason to not read the Inquirer.

[adzeman]

PS: The funniest remark I've EVER heard was from Sen. Kerrey. After sitting in a protracted committee meeting with a freshman Santorum, Kerrey remarked to the hallway crowd: Santorum? is that latin for asshole?

[fedupwiththis]

Are they putting his column in the comic section?

[CharlesMac]

David... they have to be going for draw out here in the western suburbs. In the 6th District, we re-elected Jim Gerlach. Partly because of the tight butts on the Main Line, and the frenzy of McMansion building clear out to Downingtown. And partly he won because Lois Murphy, who lost to him by just a few points in the prior election, took the DLC campaign approach. She did not even have the word "Iraq" on her website until the last week of the campaign.

This a great opportunity for the Repubs to go after Sestak and Patrick Murphy. In general, it is timed right for the election year. But if Santorum takes swipes at candidates in Delaware and Chester County, he isn't going to get a good response.

If he starts on Street and city government, he had best still be living in Virginia.

[MSheppard]

This actually a fine example of the liberal media at work.

Those radical far left looney libs at the Inquirer made Santorum a columnist just so people could read his columns and ridicule him for being such a moron, thus denigrating all right thinking conservatives by association. A devilish plot indeed.