| It’s election eve day. Last full day of campaigning. The polls have mostly all been conducted and published (see weekend news links), the news stories written, the campaigns winding down. Tomorrow the voters speak, and then we get to see who wins.
It Was Singleton!
Freedom of the press belongs to he who owns the press. The mystery of the Tribune’s editorial endorsements of George Bush, Jon Huntsman and Ellis Ivory was pretty much cleared up in a Sunday column by editorial page editor Vern Anderson. The publisher did it! William Dean Singleton believed the paper should endorse Bush, so it did, Anderson wrote. (The endorsement, by the way, was very half-hearted).
“Here’s the reality,” Anderson wrote, “Dean Singleton is both publisher and owner of this newspaper and, like publishers and owners all around the country, has the final say over what appears on the editorial page . . .”
So Singleton went with Bush (probably in all his papers), Huntsman (probably because he doesn’t want to continue to be on the outs with the next governor and Utah’s most powerful family) and Ivory (probably because he has a relationship there and Ivory asked for the endorsement).
The Tribune’s liberal readers went predictably nuts (letters to editor on Bush endorsement: 7 in favor, 421 against; 355 complaints to the reader advocate).
So here’s the lesson: If you really want a voice, go start (or buy) yourself a newspaper.
An Alternative Newspaper Scorned... Can be Pretty Brutal
When the Tribune endorsed Huntsman over Matheson for governor, some people no doubt wondered, “What could be possibly next . . . City Weekly? Well, as a matter of fact, City Weekly all but endorsed Huntsman in its Oct. 21 edition, trashing both Scott Matheson and Jim Matheson for declining an invitation to be interviewed by the paper.
“While the brothers prim quivered in their tube socks, Republican rocker Jon Huntsman Jr., good sport that he is, sat down for a glass of milk with City Weekly’s Ben Fulton,” the paper said. “It appears that the Demo bros have taken the duck-and-cover approach to getting the word out.”
The Oct. 21 edition featured a positive two-page Q&A spread with Huntsman, complete with a nice color photo. It also featured a photo of Scott Matheson with tape over his mouth.
Election Night Parties
It’s traditional to revel in victory or commiserate in defeat with others of your political clan.
- The Republicans will celebrate a lot of wins Tuesday night at the Hilton Hotel, 255 South West Temple, in the Main Ballroom on the second floor.
- The Democrats will bewail their losses (but probably still have more fun) at the Marriott Downtown, 75 West 100 South.
- The Libertarians won’t win anything, but will have the most fun of all, at Brewvies Cinema Pub, 677 South 200 West. All parties start about 8 p.m.
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