Light and information?

This coming Friday is the anniversary of the Wheeling Intelligencer’s founding and if the past is any prologue, we will get to read yet another editorial telling us what an incredible job the Intelligencer does in serving its readers. The editorial will most likely quote the paper’s founding philosophy:

All that the people require in order to arrive at proper conclusions is light and information.

Ironically, I thought of “light and information” earlier today as I read an excellent article from a recent edition of the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

Is Representative David McKinley (WV-1) running unopposed in November?

No, McKinley is not running unopposed – it’s just that our local “newspapers” are totally ignoring his Democratic opponent, Kendra Fershee. If the search engine on their website is correct, it’s been over three months since we last read anything about Fershee. (Note her name does appear once in an August 2 Intelligencer article about the opening of the Northern Panhandle Democratic headquarters.)

Where does Fershee stand on the issues? How is her position different from McKinley’s? If voters are to make an informed decision in November, shouldn’t local newspapers inform us on the crucial issues? Unfortunately, the local readers of Ogden papers have learned nothing about Fershee: except for a couple of sentences on gun control in a short article last May following her victory, there has been no “light” or “information” on what she stands for or how she differs from Representative McKinley.

Light and information from the Charleston Gazette-Mail?

Back to the article that I mentioned above. On Saturday, the Gazette-Mail's front page featured a 1275 word balanced article by Jake Zuckerman that explored with considerable depth how McKinley and Fershee differ on the health care issue. (You can read Zuckerman’s analysis here.)

Let’s see. The best article on the congressional battle for WV’s First Congressional District that I’ve seen this election cycle is found in a newspaper that’s nowhere near the district. That’s not surprising: despite its rhetoric, the Wheeling Intelligencer is not about light or information; it's about insuring that the Republican Party stays in power.

I'm looking forward to Friday’s editorial.