Saturday

Trump barely makes the front page

As noted in my previous post, President Trump was only referenced once in Friday's Wheeling Intelligencer -- on the last page of the paper in an article about the Kentucky governor's race. Despite Friday being an especially newsworthy day in the impeachment hearings, Saturday's paper carried only the first 40% of the Associated Press article about the hearings.

Old news

Deemed more important with larger headlines and a higher placement were two articles that were old news:

Philanthropy WV Honors C.J. Kaiser

The article begins:

Wheeling attorney C.J. Kaiser has received the Lifetime Volunteer Leadership Award from Philanthropy West Virginia.

He is one of six 2019 West Virginia Spirit of Philanthropy honorees.

Philanthropy West Virginia presented the awards this week at the organization’s 26th annual members meeting and conference at The Blennerhassett Hotel in Parkersburg.

The award was not given "this week." According to the conference schedule, the award was given on November 9. Shouldn't news have some recency?

And:

Teacher Charged With Hitting Student

The article tells us that she was arraigned on Wednesday. Shouldn't this have been news on Thursday? But then, what would be on the front page?

Sunday

The biggest story on today's front page (by word count) is:

Report: Oil, Gas Drilling Impacts Housing Prices

It's a 990 word article. The first half is about a recent study done by three West Virginia University researchers. In addition to stating the obvious, the study focused on Colorado's Front Range and doesn't even mention West Virginia. Why is this in a Wheeling paper? Probably to allow a local industry spokesperson the opportunity to propagandize for the industry (the second half of the article.)

The front page did carry some news about efforts to get a federal grant for road repair and renovation of a drug treatment center. The obligatory picture of bridge repair was at the bottom of the page.

Mike Myer and "truth"

Today's Mike Myer's column asks "Can We Handle The Truth?" and it's an attack on the Northwestern University student newspaper for overreacting to a speech by Jeff Sessions. Myer starts with an explanation of the famous quote from the Jack Nicholson character in "A Few Good Men"and then moves to criticism of The Daily Northwestern for being overly sensitive. It's a cheap shot but it's the kind Myer loves to take any time he thinks he's dealing with political correctness:

If this is Northwestern’s version of journalism in 2019, it is, in three words, crazy, wrong and irresponsible. . . .

If the rising generation of journalists truly believes we can’t handle the truth, we’re in big trouble.

Myer's righteous indignation is duly noted but these are students -- they make mistakes. Here, I agree with Northwestern's Dean of the School of Journalism, Charles Whitacre:

And to the swarm of alums and journalists who are outraged about The Daily editorial and have been equally rancorous in their condemnation of our students on social media, I say, give the young people a break. I know you feel that you were made of sterner stuff and would have the fortitude and courage of your conviction to fend off the campus critics. But you are not living with them through this firestorm, facing the brutal onslaught of venom and hostility that has been directed their way on weaponized social media. Don’t make judgments about them or their mettle until you’ve walked in their shoes. What they need at this moment is our support and the encouragement to stay the course.

Speaking of "handling the truth," perhaps the next time he takes up that subject, Myer can relate why his papers ignored the Abu Ghraib story when it first broke.