Journal Sentinel

From watching media reports, you’d think that Gov. Scott Walker has nothing to do with the stinking financial debacle called the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC).

Well think again.

In a controversial move just two years ago, Walker himself initiated WEDC creation, pushing out career employees of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. He put in charge a Republic politician, former Green Bay Mayor Paul Jadin. And, the WEDC board chairman? Gov.

MILWAUKEE — Journal Communications Inc. said Thursday its profits rose 24 percent in the last quarter, as the media company’s broadcasting segment benefited from heavy spending on political advertising. -- Associated Press.

In days of old, when newspapers had advertisers, readers, and more space, we used to get pre-election stories about every race for alderman, county supervisor, and other offices.  They were usually balanced, back-and-forth stories that hit on key issues and gave some background on the candidates.  Not page-turners, but pretty valuable to most people who are not really following those races very closely.  Which is most people.

Today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is quite a contrast.  What readers got today was one roundup story on all of the aldermanic races, with the three highlighted ones getting 5 or 6 paragraphs and the others getting barely a mention.

.PolitiFact Wisconsin takes a double hit today, with a Shepherd Express article by your truly, and another piece from Erik Gunn at Milwaukee Magazine's website.

Regular Xoff readers know I'm a frequent critic of PolitiFact, but I tried to be more thoughtful and not just blast away as usual. See what you think.

And, yes, the Shepherd fact checked my piece before it ran.

Sometimes you really do miss out by reading a newspaper online.

The "story" (to use the term loosely) about Tommy Thompson naming co-chairs for his still tentative Senate race was first reported on WisPolitics.com and then surfaced on the Journal Sentinel website two days later.

It seemed like an item that might rate a couple of paragraphs in the paper's political blog.  I've announced a lot of campaign chairs, finance chairs, steering committee, endorsements, and the like for a variety of candidates over the years.  Most of those press releases went into the reporters' circular files, where the probably belonged.

So it was amazing to see an actual dead tree copy of the Journal Sentinel today and discover that the news of Thompson's naming some co-chairs, Jim Klauser and J.B

That's certainly what it looks like, in what is becoming a more frequent way to find sources for stories -- advertise for them on the newspaper's website:

Looking for teachers who took union survey July 28, 2011 2:11 p.m.

The Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association has released survey results that show about 52% of members oppose further contract concessions as a way to avoid about 200 layoffs. We're looking for MPS teachers willing to discuss this survey outcome. Please call or email reporters Erin Richards or Kaellen Hessel (I've deleted their emails and phone numbers.)

Is this acceptable journalism these days? Just asking. I truly don't know any more.

UPDATE: The story is pretty fair.

Paul Ryan's new national notoriety has made him a target in 2012. Craig Gilbert, the Journal Sentinel's DC bureau chief and top political reporter, offers a thoughtful assessment of the Ryan race and whether the Democrats actually have any hopes of unseating him. His conclusion is a pretty safe one: This race won't be as easy for Ryan as his last six have been, but it would be a major upset if he loses. But it's filled with facts, insights and analysis -- a rarity these days -- and well worth a read.