Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

The "Paper of Record" for Pullman?

Brian Everstine wrote in the Daily Evergreen on August 18, 2006:
"As the student newspaper of WSU and the paper of record for Pullman, we see ourselves as being community oriented. The news coverage strives to tell the stories of the people. Our opinion section wants to serve as the students’ and the residents’ megaphone. As a newspaper with a relatively large circulation, this is our public service. This is not only what we want to do, it is what we need to do. Your involvement is essential....

In Civic Outlook, we are looking to have representatives from influential positions in the area write guest commentaries on topical issues. We will be actively recruiting for the column, and anyone interested can contact us...

We want all people within our reach to know that their voices have a home inside the pages of the Evergreen. There is a length limit on letters, but if you have more to say, you can contact us to write a Guest Commentary..."
Well, put down your megaphone, Pullman residents. I took Mr. Everstine up on his offer and this is the reply I received today:
Mr. Forbes-

The Daily Evergreen tries to give our columnists as much freedom as possible regarding their commentary pieces. As a staff columnist for the Evergreen, Mr. Blue has the right to comment on the Wal-Mart debate however he wishes. Mr. Blue also serves to represent a certain student perception on the debate regardless of how you may feel about his, or other students', temporary investments in the community.

BREO is not a student organizationand its position is clear, especially in light of the most recent court decision. Our Opinion editor packaged the column with links to both the BREO and PARD Web sites to encourage awareness of both sides. I feel this was an appropriate step. Considering the amount of ink we have already offered to both PARD and BREO on the issue, in both News and Opinion, an additional rebuttal column from BREO seems excessive.

However, I would encourage you to write a letter to the editor if you feel new information is available. Thank you.

-Jacob Jones
Editor
The Daily Evergreen
Amount of ink already offered? Additional rebuttal? Excessive? BREO has never been given ONE SINGLE column in the Daily Evergreen's Wal-Mart "debate", versus more than I can remember for PARD and other anti-Wal-Mart pieces. Letter to the editor? I've had several that have never been published. In any case, a 250-word letter cannot possibly rebut a 700-word op-ed piece.

Was Mr. Blue presenting any "new information" in his recent column? No, it was the same old tired PARD arguments. We've never had a chance to lay out our arguments one time. What is the Evergreen so afraid of?

Let's hear it for freedom of speech at WSU!! And be sure to let the Evergreen know how you feel.

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11 comments:

Satanic Mechanic said...

That is funny.... the Evergreen is so pro-PARD that I am not surprised they renamed the paper the "Daily PARD".
I was a past resident of Pullman and lived there for five years. The Daily Evergreen has never reperesented the views of the people of Pullman. The Evergreen always bashed the local police, complained about the lack of stores in Pullman and how boring it is in the Palouse.
The Evergreen is the most liberal biased fish rag I have ever read. Half of the writers need to use spell check or take English 101. I remember the 2004 election and the Evergreen only showed the election results of the people/intitatives that they endorsed and won. No mention of the scandal over the theft of the election of governor by Commissar Gregiore.

Unknown said...

Sadly, Pullman has not had a paper of record since the Herald closed its doors.

Mr. Jones seems to have skipped class the day that "equal time" was discussed.

April E. Coggins said...

The Evergreen's response is very discouraging. Back during the city council election and the Wal-Mart hearings, I also had letters that were never published and two other Wal-Mart supporters told me that their letters weren't published. How many other differing opinions, no matter the issue, are being suppressed. In my mind, this marginalizes the Evergreen to an agenda driven publication. Sigh.

I agree with Pullman Chamber Guy. The Pullman Herald is greatly missed. Pullman needs and deserves to have it's own newspaper. I am not knocking the Daily News, but it is written from a Moscow point of view. The Whitman County Gazette is written from a Colfax point of view and the Tribune is written from a Lewiston point of view. We need a Pullman point of view.

Unknown said...

And the Daily Evergreen is written from a Seattle point of view.

Jacob Jones responded back to me that "The Evergreen would have no problem with a column from a student supporting Wal-Mart because that aspect is often left out of news stories dominated by PARD and BREO." Apparently, he just assumes BREO is made up of old, greedy townies. In fact, many of our members, like Vice-Chair Joshua Coke, are students.

"The Evergreen would also consider covering or running direct statements from Wal-Mart because the company has not issued many comments on the local store."

Basically, they'd like to hear from anybody except the people that will be most affected by the Supercenter.

April E. Coggins said...

This is typical. The Evergreen is forever complaining that students are not considered members of the community, but at the first opportunity they run for cover, reminding us that they are students first, community members second. It's a shame.

Unknown said...

Jones also wrote:

"The Evergreen also attempts to run as many letters as space allows, but must sometimes hold letters that include perceived personal attacks, repetitive information or back-and-forth arguments. The Opinion page must maintain certain standards regarding public discourse on behalf of our readers."

Standards? Ah, that explains why Chris Lupke was allowed to say "If Wal-Mart has its way, say good-bye to public schools" in the Evergreen last year http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/15148 or the letter from PARDner James "Uncle Buck" Krueger earlier this year that stated, "The arguments from the opposing side encompass property rights and an apparent new constitutional right to shop in disregard of community and responsibility to one’s fellow man" http://palousitics.blogspot.com/2006/01/uncle-buck-speaks.html

Paul E. Zimmerman said...

Hrm... I definitely think that my companies will no longer spend money with the Evergreen.

April E. Coggins said...

Maybe they were saving ink for the how-to articles on anal sex for Wednesday's Hump Day column. (Only people who have been here for more than three years will know what I am talking about) Or they were saving space for their "bash a local business" weekly feature. Or WSU and Pullman are racist, sexist, ignorant, "f"ing, etc. One nice thing about the Wal-Mart debate, I haven't had to endure another Evergreen article about the lack of shopping in Pullman.

Uncle Bubba said...

The Daily Evergreen will never be Pullman's "Paper of Record".
I also remenber the articles April refers to.
Talking nasty in print and promoting the socialist views of your mentors doesn't make you a community newspaper.

Victoria Dehlbom said...

I don't care what TV Reed says, as the Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts - he has a great deal of influence on these kids.

Unknown said...

I agree. How does the Evergreen expect any public pro-Wal-Mart comments from students when PARD includes an Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, the Chair of the Sociology Department, and the Vice Chair of the English Department, not to mention a bevy of other professors and graduate teaching assistants?

Don't forget how free speech is viewed in the College of Liberal Arts: http://palousitics.blogspot.com/2005/12/enough-is-enough.html