Those Crazy Bolsheviks Over At Hearst

The Seattle Weekly's "Watchdogs" column recently praised the Hearst-owned Post-Intelligencer for supposed improvements on its editorial page. "Watchdogs" approaches media criticism from an amusing perspective: they think people like us control the media! So when the P-I earns their approval, it's time to focus on that paper.

"Watchdogs" informs us that cold relations between the P-I and Slade Gorton have recently thawed. It seems they had a tiff back in '94, when Gorton was running for Senate. He refused to meet with the P-I's editorial board, figuring they wouldn't endorse him anyway. (If he had a complaint, than what about his opponents? The Seattle Times has endorsed Gorton every time he's run, going back to 1968. Incidentally, John Hamer of Watchdogs was on the Times' editorial board for one of those endorsements.)

The good news is that in spite of any thaw, the P-I regularly opposes Gorton's positions. It's taken him to task on campaign finance reform (3/3), the Elwha dams (4/6), and tribal sovereignty (4/13). On the other hand, the P-I has provided editorial page space to Gorton himself more than once recently. On 2/13, he wrote pleading for the government to stop bullying Microsoft. (It's always inspiring to see Slade stand up for the poor and defenseless.)

The P-I's "liberal" reputation is sometimes deserved. Witness its call for ending the embargo against Cuba (1/23 and 3/31) and its opposition to banning a late-term abortion procedure (2/19). It's editorialized many times about the Wenatchee child abuse scandal, wisely observing (3/3) that it reflects much wider problems of due process, "a reflexive reliance on authority to disseminate the truth and an attendant absence of even healthy skepticism of the 'official' line," and "smug indifference toward poor people."

But these are not the kind of issues the Chamber of Commerce lines up for or against. On labor issues, the P-I stands shoulder to shoulder with big business. On 1/13, it celebrated the defeat of union representation for apple workers. On 3/12, it supported a bill that would have reduced employers' liability for false job references. On 4/5, it enthused over prohibiting the use of union dues for political purposes.

Not surprisingly, P-I editorials often reflect a fondness for our local corporate giants. In a 3/5 editorial titled "Is Microsoft bad? No way," it seconded Gorton's view of the antitrust action. But while Gorton sees no Microsoft monopoly, the P-I just thinks it's a good thing. Of course, it ignored Microsoft's worrisome entry into news and entertainment media, and its flagrant efforts to sabotage the Java programming language.

On 3/27, it praised Boeing president Harry Stonecipher's candor in admitting the company suffers from insularity, saying "we haven't yet achieved the global status that we seek." Translation: they're going to be moving more operations out of Washington. In the process, unions representing local Boeing workers can expect hardball from management in next year's massive contract talks. Apparently, the P-I can't wait.

In a 4/1 editorial, the P-I referred to tobacco executives as "addictive nicotine pushers." It's safe to say that if tobacco were grown in this state, it would've used different language. And its criticism of tobacco's clout in Congress rings hollow when no doubts are expressed about whether the public interest is served by our Senators' cheerleading on behalf of Microsoft and Boeing.

Or American Seafoods, the Norwegian-owned operator of factory trawlers based in Seattle. On 3/21, the P-I decried a bill banning such foreign-owned boats. The P-I is undoubtedly correct that the Alaskan sponsors are simply out to eliminate competition. However, Greenpeace alleges that these ships engage in overfishing--an issue the P-I chooses to ignore.

It even weighed in on behalf of Starbucks, which wants to infest Bainbridge Island, but is stymied by an ordinance forbidding fast-food franchises. On 4/17, the P-I supported a move to remove the prohibition. "If a local couple can set up a coffee shop, so can a couple from New York, or even: a corporation from Seattle." Never mind that with franchises benefiting from economies of scale, and without government action to preserve small, independent businesses, soon there won't be any.

Sometimes, even when espousing stereotypically liberal positions, the P-I only seems to be taking a longer-range view of corporate interests. Thus, in calling for stronger state salmon recovery action (3/8-9), it seemed primarily concerned with protecting businesses from lawsuits that might follow the Chinook's listing as a threatened species.

We constantly hear about "the liberal media." Like most lies that gain currency, this contains a grain of truth. Liberal values are sometimes favored--if they don't interfere with corporate profits. (One example: the I-200 issue, where corporate and "liberal" views happen to coincide.) But as the P-I's editorials show, values of economic justice are jettisoned when a threat is perceived to the bottom line.

Media Watch is written every two weeks by members of the MediaWatch collective, a local group monitoring Seattle news media. Our next meeting will be Monday, May 11 at 6:00 PM, 3rd floor Univ. Baptist Church (4554 12th Ave. NE in Seattle). For info or to get involved, e-mail mediawatch@u.washington.edu or call 632-1656.