It is almost always supportive of the GOP and business interests---though there are exceptions. A big one was their departure from a century of editorial support for the death penalty in 2005. That's when they decided they could not be pro-life and pro-death penalty at the same time.
That was a brave stand to take, at least in Alabama.
They certainly have taken some positions about the Immigration Law.
The paper criticised Alabama's 1901 Constitution as getting in the way of the new law and used the words "bad" and "flawed" about the law to reach that conclusion.
It decided Governor Bentley is wrong for not being more public in his support for the law.
An editorial said the law "badly overreached", might hurt Alabama's reputation, and should be "reconsidered".
I was not able to read every editorial by The News since the bill was passed in 2010 or became law this Summer, but if the above linked editorials are representative, their criticism has been, well, muted.
Today, I see a column by Editorial Page Editor Joey Kennedy trashing the Republican Immigration Law, plain and simple.
But that's just an individual opinion column by Joey, not the official opinion of the state's largest paper. Did I miss a more plainly stated editorial somewhere?
[The Monday--and sometimes Sunday--Morning Media Memo is a regular feature here.]
At least editorial cartoonist Scott Stantis is gone.
ReplyDeleteHey Jay,
ReplyDeleteWhy the hating on me? I was at the forefront of criticizing Fob and his lard brained ideas. I was a strong supporter of Amendment 1. I drew non-stop for constitution reform and against the regressive nature of the tax system in Alabama. I was a strong advocate for many years of changing The News position on the death penalty and insisted they add the moral component to their argument when they finally did change their position.
Yeah, he's right, it's a good thing I'm gone....Why the hating on me? I was at the forefront of criticizing Fob and his lard brained ideas. I was a strong supporter of Amendment 1. I drew non-stop for constitution reform and against the regressive nature of the tax system in Alabama. I was a strong advocate for many years of changing The News position on the death penalty and insisted they add the moral component to their argument when they finally did change their position.
Yeah, he's right, it's a good thing I'm gone....
Well, well, well. Yes, Scott, you were good at criticizing Fob. I still remember your classic cartoon "DeMent--Demented." And I truly appreciated cartoons like that. I also appreciated your blog, which ran for too short a time before you went off to the Windy City.
ReplyDeleteYou see, Scott, I'm a LEEBRUL. From the Nawth. Between the Fob cartoons, most of your cartoons had a very conservative bent. You were a member of the NEWS' editorial board, so you had a strong influence on the printed editorials, including almost unvarying support of Republican politicians and policies.
I was not aware of your position on the death penalty and the other things you mentioned. Thank you for explaining that.
I live in Montgomery now and haven't seen a Birmingham newspaper for five or six years. I've heard that the newspaper is under new ownership now. Perhaps it has improved.
After spending half my adult life with either the NYT or the WaPo as my morning reading matter, the Alabama press is indeed a comparative let-down. For the Sunday Montgomery Advertiser, the most interesting part is Ms. Link's real estate column.
Thank you for responding to my comment. Actually you did it twice.
Best wishes, and bundle up! As you know, an advantage of living in Alabama is watching the nationwide weather reports and laughing at the poor folks up there, shivering in the snow.