It occurred to me in the checkout line at the grocery store that I hadn’t read the S.F. Chronicle in several months. My curiosity got the best of me, and I picked up a copy of the Chron to see what I had been missing. My expectations gong in were very low, but they were not low enough. The offerings were even worse than I remembered.
For starters, the lead front page story was written by anti-war cheerleader Joe Garofoli. When you see Joe’s name on the byline you know not to expect a journalistic gem. To see his article prominently displayed on the front page is a real measure of just how much trouble this newspaper is in.
Besides, you can tell from Joe’s article that things aren’t as exciting as they were in the past. Nowadays, there are no anti-war street protests for Joe to promote. Instead, he is forced to scrap together a boring story about the disenchantment of the anti-war types with Obama’s continuation of the Afghan war. The Obama comments were in the “how could he” category. After all, what are they going to-do, vote for a Republican. Let’s face it, Joe and his liberal buddies only reach high adrenalin levels when they have a target like Bush to blame and protest against.
In the same Chron issue, writer David Baker continues to report on new “green” energy projects. Californians already pay 35-50 cents more for a gallon of gasoline than the rest of the country. Our power rates are 50% higher than the national average. David never bothers to ask why. Instead he dutifully describes the details of the next alternative energy project that will only drive those cost differentials even higher. Pursuing such issues would require journalistic curiosity beyond David’s reach.
What got the editors attention on this day? The editorials were about customer problems with PG&E’s new smart meters with a second editorial about Dubai’s debt problem. The state of California is in desperate financial troubles as is the city of San Francisco and many of the surrounding cities. There is record unemployment in the state. The pretty boy mayor and the comical Supervisors concentrate on a veggie garden at City Hall, bans on plastic shopping bags, and the promotion of steel water bottles. Out of that horror of events, the editors focus on smart meter problems.
The Chron readership numbers are plummeting. Looking over this issue, it is a wonder there are any readers at all. It is hard not to feel sympathy for the Chron staff. Surely, they are embarrassed by the poverty of coverage they offer. Even Joe Garofoli should feel a tinge of that despite his recent front page notoriety.
