Is The Forum intrusive in MN politics?

Newspaper political endorsements seem quaint today. They are still done, of course, in the same way papers run old comic strips that seem to have no redeeming value. I've read that pulling strips like these cause the phone to ring off the hook from older readers, you know, the kind of people who were once big Boone and Erickson fans (WCCO Radio).
WCCO itself has been buying out most of its established "name" personnel as it continues the retrenchment going on in our legacy media. Eric Eskola was the most recent shocker.
"Dark Star" has moseyed down the road, meaning he'll have to find some other place where he can ask his guests if they sleep in the nude. I'm put off that no one has ever asked me that. The answer is yes. If I offered a discussion forum here, this would be a neat topic.
I would rather know if a newspaper publisher sleeps in the nude than who he recommends voting for in an upcoming election. Even though endorsements represent an old habit for newspapers - the word "old" is so key with newspapers - I'm surprised so many still do it.
There's an obvious risk in alienating some readers. In this age where readership rolls are shrinking steadily, why does the practice continue? My inquiring mind does have a theory. It's ego.
The main reason Rupert Murdoch has begun a price war with the New York Times, it is suggested, is power. The "old" media mogul whose Fox News has become such a stinking dead fish covets power. Power and ego are soul mates.
The topic of newspaper political endorsements came up in David Brauer's blog on the Minnpost site a few days ago. Brauer, a sage media writer, wrote that endorsements by themselves may have little influence. But candidates can use endorsements in TV ads. It builds their "cred."
Brauer noted that "in a close race, even little things can be crucial."
There may be nothing "little" about the endorsement Tim Pawlenty received in 2006 from Forum Communications. I got to thinking about this Tuesday when "TPaw" was one of the talking parrots on the Fox News propaganda network - that "sea of ignorance," as one critic has described it.
Many of the politicians who suck up to Fox News are from the southern U.S., a growing bastion for the Republican Party (a trend that began after LBJ got civil rights legislation pushed through in the 1960s). The deep south seems to bring out a certain impulsive reactionary tendency.
So why is our governor so prominent and able to be part of that gallery? It might, just might, be because of the endorsement nod he received from Forum Communications. This media behemoth, according to Brauer, "owns more Minnesota in-state and border dailies than any other company."
Four years ago it acquired the Duluth and Grand Forks papers. Soon thereafter it put its blessing on Tim Pawlenty's campaign which was engaged in a tight battle with the feisty DFLer Mike Hatch. Off in the periphery was Peter Hutchinson of the Independence Party - no trivial factor either.
But it was Pawlenty who got the nod from a sprawling newspaper chain that has its corporate roots in Fargo, North Dakota. Brauer described the company as "Fargo-based Forum Communications."
I believe the company has at least cosmetically crossed the border to associate itself with Moorhead, but that's a quibble. When you think of the Forum you think of Fargo, and that's not in Minnesota.
So, we may have our Fox News governor because of the Forum. That's no trivial matter, not with the kind of budget tremors and conflict we're seeing in St. Paul now.
Brauer wrote that when Hatch became ultra-feisty and used the term "Republican whore," he was using it vs. a Forum Communications writer, venting in the shadow of that pivotal endorsement that had gone to Hatch's chief foe.
Now, you could argue that this indiscretion was Hatch's own fault. Fair enough.
Hatch's runningmate had a costly indiscretion as well, not being aware of what E85 was. Although, I don't know why people can't freely choose to consume E85, or any other fuel or product, without the guiding hand of government. Poor Judi Dutcher. She'll be associated with that gaffe as much as Dan Quayle with putting an "e" on the end of "potato."
As much as I'm averse to Republicans, I really think the Quayle episode was overblown. If spelling were so routine, how come people turn to their spell-check so often?
The Hatch/Dutcher ticket should have won. Hutchinson siphoned off progressive votes. Our political system in America really wasn't designed to accommodate third parties. We got the sideshow of Jesse Ventura thanks to a third party. His Independence Party got legs because of that.
Ventura has libertarian inclinations many of which I find agreeable. He wasn't up to the grind of holding that high office, though. He took too many things personally. Today he's in his niche simply as a celebrity. It's heartwarming to see him on Larry King Live. He and Bill Maher handle that environment better than anyone. Maher is a political soul mate of mine.
Wasn't it heartwarming to get those "Jesse checks?"
Republicans are currently trying to just absorb the "tea party." That's why Sarah Palin is endorsing Carly Fiorina in California instead of the tea party guy. The tea party is just a novelty that is bringing attention to conservative causes. Republican leaders are humored by it. Cable news can chatter over it.
Because Mike Hatch bears some of the blame himself for the "whore" comment, it's not wise to say that Forum Communications decided the Minnesota governor's race - not in a black and white way anyway. But it's not totally unreasonable either. Here's how David Brauer put it: "In a sideways way, that endorsement likely did decide the '06 race."
Sideways. "Sideways" was a movie I saw at the Morris Theater about a couple of amoral guys, old college roommates, who traveled around wine country engaging in foolishness. Typical Hollywood ethos. Thumbs-down on that one.
When Minnesota votes again for governor, it will be a pivotal time given stark budget realities. So we all ought to watch with interest who gets the thumbs-up from Forum Communications.
The Forum endorsements actually reflect "the political preferences of one man," according to Paul Schmelzer of the Minnesota Independent.
That man is Bill Marcil, and his "leanings are decidedly Republican," Schmelzer wrote in a 2006 piece.
Schmelzer wrote about a spate of newspapers around Minnesota endorsing Republicans like Mary Kiffmeyer, and how one might get the impression that a "Republican groundswell" might be building. Of course it was just the phenomenon of a big newspaper chain, the Forum, putting its blessing on the same candidates everywhere.
2006 was four years ago and the newspaper industry has retreated significantly since. Unfortunately the decline hasn't happened fast enough. We are all getting liberated by the new media which loosen the shackles we have traditionally had with the paternalistic old media.
But just as those old, un-funny comic strips survive, and certain columnists keep sitting down at a typewriter when they should have retired 30 years ago - I won't name names - newspapers survive.
Our troubled economic waters might finally push them over the edge. Oh, and it has nothing to do with quality of journalism. The decline of newspapers has nothing more to do with journalism than the decline of Vaudeville had to do with quality of one-liners.
New communications technology is simply a game-changer. Web 2.0 was a breakthrough point. It has applied a dagger to the one-size-fits-all newspaper product.
We are seeing an unraveling process now with evidence even in West Central Minnesota.
In the meantime, think for yourself on political races please. Minnesota deserves better than having a Fox News governor.
Incidentally, the Forum owns the papers in Morris and Hancock. Think about that if you're a Democrat, please.
-Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com