Monday, March 1, 2010

Will the media leap to Tom Ganley's ad dollars?

AN INTERESTING situation is shaping up in the 13th Congressional District as financially weakened newspapers grope for shrinking advertising dollars. Mega-millionaire right-wing auto dealer Tom Ganley is not only expected to win the Republican primary to face U.S. Rep Betty Sutton, he also is the Plain Dealer's biggest advertiser. That's real big! So how much will that count when he marches in to see the paper's brass about an endorsement? I don't know. But the odds would seem to favor him - particularly against a liberal Democrat with friendly ties to organized labor. The only cautionary note is that fewer and fewer readers are taking newspaper endorsements seriously. Who can forget the thrashing that the Beacon Journal editorial page gave to U. S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a liberal Democrat, in 2006 on his way to clobbering incumbent Republican Mike DeWine?

2 comments:

Mencken said...

The simple and fair solution would be for the PD to recuse itself from making an endorsement in that race.

Grumpy Abe said...

In the world of corporate journalism/politics, fairness can be an elusive thing. i