EVERYBODY IS A STAR

It’s always cool to get a Letter to the Editor published in the Journal Sentinel. This morning, I received my reward for my week of e-mails and blogs. As they told me they would (and as I agreed they could), the J-S revised my e-mail from Thursday and ran it on today’s Letter’s page. Look way down on the bottom of the page (not that I’m complaining):

Article placement shows paper's bias

Wow. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has followed up on the judge's ruling that gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.) has to give back $467,844, as ordered by the state Elections Board, by filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that Green give up more than twice as much - almost $1.3 million! - because of his violation of federal law. This has got to be big news, right?

Not according to the Journal Sentinel. Once again, the paper buried a negative story about Green's campaign on Page 3B ("Fund transfer prompts complaint," Sept. 28). I suppose if Green had somehow appealed the complaint or at least vowed to fight, that would have been the lead on Page One.

"Federal clarification of Green move sought," the sub-headline said. Whoa. Easy, Journal Sentinel, you wouldn't want anyone to notice such a bold move. If it were Gov. Jim Doyle who was alleged to have violated federal law, just imagine the headline, not to mention the story placement.

The story did, however, bring back the voice of Mike McCabe, often quoted in anti-Doyle articles in the past but remarkably silent in the Journal Sentinel pages since the illegal Green money was exposed. This even though he brought the complaint to the state Elections Board in the first place.

The Journal Sentinel continues to disappoint in its biased election coverage.

Michael B. Plaisted
Shorewood

There was a lot more in the e-mail, but, on the basic point, it’s a fair edit-for-space of my ideas. My problem with the J-S has never been with the edit page -- well, not primarily, anyway. They seem to reach out for diverse views, especially with the community columnist effort (I applied and lost both times). On the other hand, there is no excuse for giving the talentless wing-nut Patrick McIlheran a column (I hope they are saving his seat at the copy desk)or running Michael Ramirez' silly right-wing cartoons.

Now, I guess, I’m supposed to leave them alone and give someone else a chance at their 200 words next week. Not a chance, especially since things are bound to heat up in the paper’s pro-Green campaigning, now just a month before the election.