A ChronWatch reader recently asked why we no longer critique the Chronicle. Here’s the story.
ChronWatch was formed almost ten years ago to critique the S.F. Chronicle, hence the name of the website . At that time, readers did not expect the flagrant media bias that exists today. News content was assumed to be reported without bias with opinions restricted to the editorial pages. The Chronicle was among the first newspapers to ignore these traditional media rules as it adopted an unfailing and unapologetic liberal bias.
Naively, ChronWatch hoped its critiques would influence the Chronicle to adopt a more balanced political tone.
At the same time, the quality of the Chron offerings deteriorated markedly. Predictably, circulation dropped. That downward trend continues today with Chron circulation down over 11% in the past year.
Several years ago, ChronWatch finally realized it no longer made sense to continue to critique the Chron. The bias was still there, even more so. But, the newspaper’s quality and substance deteriorated so badly critique no longer seemed appropriate. In fact, the offerings were so poor that ChronWatch editors began to feel sorry for the Chron. Accordingly, we stopped our critique. With some remorse I canceled my Chron subscription after some thirty years of daily delivery to my home.
The S.F. Chronicle is a sad tale of institutional decline. The Chron was once a proud media establishment that now struggles in its pretense at relevance.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
"Progressive" virus infects California
Californians elect a geriatric moonbeam, Jerry Brown, as their retread governor. Barbara Boxer is reelected despite a totally ineffective career. Even the over-board lib newspaper the SF Chronicle could not bring themselves to endorse her The flaky San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom is elected Lt. Governor. Remarkably, voters in the city of San Francisco cast ballots in favor of these candidates at the 80% level. The proposition to temporarily set aside the global warming initiatives was defeated. This, despite the fact these initiatives have negative economic consequences in a state with massive unemployment. The state faces huge deficits that will require herculean efforts to overcome, but social priorities continue to command politician’s attention.
How can you explain this totally irrational behavior of Californians?
ChronWatch believes there must be a serious virus infecting large numbers of the residents of the golden state of California. The virus is a peculiar strain of liberalism that causes citizens to react emotionally and illogically to issues of importance. Unlike most diseases, those with the virus become quite proud of their condition and justify it by proudly calling themselves “progressives.” The virus is concentrated in the San Francisco area, but has spread into other areas in the Bay Area as well.
Virus victims habitually elect as their leaders those who possess the most active form of the virus. Leaders in advanced stages of the disease include Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Pete Stark, George Miller, Lynn Woolsey, Gavin Newsom, and others. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors exhibits the most serious characteristics of the disease. Their deliberations are so far out they become comical. Mayor Newsom acts as their ringmaster as they gaily ban plastic shopping bags and McDonald’s Happy Meals, while supervising the citizenry on properly recycling their garbage and serving as their food police. In a bold display of “progressive” leadership Mayor Newsom rips out the grass in front of City Hall and plants a victory garden. How impressive! Meanwhile, large budget deficits get lip service.
The virus even strikes those of a different political persuasion causing them to react in the same manner as the “progressives.” For example, Republican Governor Schwarzenegger loudly supports the Al Gore global warming hype. The virus has obviously reached as far as Sacramento.
Fortunately, the people in the rest of the country seem to have built a strong resistance to the “progressive” virus, leaving Californians to suffer alone.
How can you explain this totally irrational behavior of Californians?
ChronWatch believes there must be a serious virus infecting large numbers of the residents of the golden state of California. The virus is a peculiar strain of liberalism that causes citizens to react emotionally and illogically to issues of importance. Unlike most diseases, those with the virus become quite proud of their condition and justify it by proudly calling themselves “progressives.” The virus is concentrated in the San Francisco area, but has spread into other areas in the Bay Area as well.
Virus victims habitually elect as their leaders those who possess the most active form of the virus. Leaders in advanced stages of the disease include Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Pete Stark, George Miller, Lynn Woolsey, Gavin Newsom, and others. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors exhibits the most serious characteristics of the disease. Their deliberations are so far out they become comical. Mayor Newsom acts as their ringmaster as they gaily ban plastic shopping bags and McDonald’s Happy Meals, while supervising the citizenry on properly recycling their garbage and serving as their food police. In a bold display of “progressive” leadership Mayor Newsom rips out the grass in front of City Hall and plants a victory garden. How impressive! Meanwhile, large budget deficits get lip service.
The virus even strikes those of a different political persuasion causing them to react in the same manner as the “progressives.” For example, Republican Governor Schwarzenegger loudly supports the Al Gore global warming hype. The virus has obviously reached as far as Sacramento.
Fortunately, the people in the rest of the country seem to have built a strong resistance to the “progressive” virus, leaving Californians to suffer alone.
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