Jeff Gannon and Argus Leader - Editor Talks

[dutchdemocrat]

Growth of Web logs forces public to read skeptically
Political zealots try to manipulate press coverage

By Randell Beck - Executive Editor
[e-mail]

published: 03/6/05

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As the Internet attacks on Kranz and the newspaper intensified throughout 2003 and into 2004, I decided not to share with you what was happening behind the scenes.

My reasoning was pretty simple.

First, attacking the messenger - and especially an influential newspaper - has been a strategy employed by politicians since the beginning of time. (Remember Bill Janklow?) Responding publicly to such efforts tends to jeopardize the newspaper's role as an independent news medium.

Second, it is my experience that most readers don't care - and probably shouldn't - about what journalists occasionally have to put up with to report the news accurately and fairly. Our primary duty during the campaign was to tell you where political candidates stood on the issues and offer insight into what made them tick, while maintaining our high ethical standards.

That's what we did. Nowhere else could South Dakotans get the kind of in-depth journalism about the candidates and the issues that they found in the Argus Leader. I remain proud of our role in providing news and information that formed the basis for the choices you made.

Only in the past month has it become clear that I needed to explain the ugly backdrop to the 2004 Senate campaign - and then, not for reasons you might think.

<SNIP>

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050306/COLUMNISTS01/503060308/1057/COLUMNISTS