Friday, January 25, 2008
The Chron is Rotten at the Top.
I'm listening to Forum on KQED this morning, and SF Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein is the guest to discuss his leaving his job for new responsibility in the Hearst empire. And listening to him, you understand that the Chron is rotten at the top, and that all these Republican hacks they put on the front page, they're there because they please management.
The guest (not Krasny) asks him what were his accomplishments at the paper, and Bronstein comes up with...ok, I'll let you guess...something really, really ridiculous...you're ready?...Chronicle Watch!
Yep, putting the phone number of Department of Public Works employee on the front page of the B section so that readers can harass them into stopping the important work they're doing and putting the Chron's pet projects on top of their priority list, that's the main achievement. The assumption of Chronicle Watch is that public service employees are not doing their job (read: government does not work) unless you kick them in the butt. Of course, the assumption is despicable, and so is Bronstein.
And then someone makes the point that, you know, San Francisco is a pretty progressive city, how come there is no local progressive columnist to balance Debra Saunders?
Phil's answer: first, Debra is not that conservative, she's quite moderate!!!! I could not believe he could think, let alone say, that. Up is down, black is white at the Chron's top layer. Either Phil does not read Debra, or he must have tried to kill me, since at that point, I was driving in the rain. Then, he went on, it's good to poke at the liberals (sure it is, but I'd ask, why not poke the conservatives as well?) Plus, Bronstein concluded, she is balanced by a liberal columnist: Jon Carroll!
Jon Carroll might be a bleeding heart liberal, but his columns are not. Parking meters in Berkeley, his daughter the performer at Cirque du Soleil, Archie & Bucket the cats, that's the progressive columns to counter weigh the Republican talking points faxed straight from Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove's desk to Debra Saunders'.
That's the balance Bronstein is proud off: continuous, senseless advocacy of GOP party line is balanced by how cute Jon's granddaughter Alice is.
It's a good thing Bronstein is leaving as an editor. However, he's not leaving because of disagreement on the editorial line, and there is no reason to believe his successor will try to clean up the mess Bronstein has piled up behind.
The guest (not Krasny) asks him what were his accomplishments at the paper, and Bronstein comes up with...ok, I'll let you guess...something really, really ridiculous...you're ready?...Chronicle Watch!
Yep, putting the phone number of Department of Public Works employee on the front page of the B section so that readers can harass them into stopping the important work they're doing and putting the Chron's pet projects on top of their priority list, that's the main achievement. The assumption of Chronicle Watch is that public service employees are not doing their job (read: government does not work) unless you kick them in the butt. Of course, the assumption is despicable, and so is Bronstein.
And then someone makes the point that, you know, San Francisco is a pretty progressive city, how come there is no local progressive columnist to balance Debra Saunders?
Phil's answer: first, Debra is not that conservative, she's quite moderate!!!! I could not believe he could think, let alone say, that. Up is down, black is white at the Chron's top layer. Either Phil does not read Debra, or he must have tried to kill me, since at that point, I was driving in the rain. Then, he went on, it's good to poke at the liberals (sure it is, but I'd ask, why not poke the conservatives as well?) Plus, Bronstein concluded, she is balanced by a liberal columnist: Jon Carroll!
Jon Carroll might be a bleeding heart liberal, but his columns are not. Parking meters in Berkeley, his daughter the performer at Cirque du Soleil, Archie & Bucket the cats, that's the progressive columns to counter weigh the Republican talking points faxed straight from Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove's desk to Debra Saunders'.
That's the balance Bronstein is proud off: continuous, senseless advocacy of GOP party line is balanced by how cute Jon's granddaughter Alice is.
It's a good thing Bronstein is leaving as an editor. However, he's not leaving because of disagreement on the editorial line, and there is no reason to believe his successor will try to clean up the mess Bronstein has piled up behind.
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