It’s customary in these year-end appeals to enumerate all the things MinnPost has accomplished over the last year — and all the cool things we’re going to do in 2022. And there’s no shortage of stuff I could put on either of those lists.
But for me, it’s hard not to think of 2021 without a sense of loss. The year started with the Jan. 6 insurrection, an event that obliterated any illusions about America “coming together” after the tumult of the previous four years. It ended with the resurgence of a virus that has so far killed more than 800,000 Americans, nearly twice as many as were killed in World War II. In between came a loss that was achingly personal for us here at MinnPost: the death of longtime arts columnist Pamela Espeland.
Given all that, perhaps you’ll forgive me for bringing that same dark lens when it comes to asking you to support MinnPost. The fact is, for all the good things happening at MinnPost and in journalism today — and there certainly are good things happening on both fronts — it’s often easiest to explain the value of MinnPost by pointing out what it would mean if there is no MinnPost.
It would mean an end to some of the most insightful reporting in the state, on everything from politics and the environment to the arts. It would mean the loss of a critical platform for opinion writing that represents a diverse array of community voices. And it would mean the end of compelling events, innovative collaborations and, yes, some of the nerdiest stories you can find anywhere.
Most importantly, it would mean that there would be one fewer independent media outlet taking on the often unsexy but essential work so fundamental in a democratic society, the not-so-simple task of trying to make people smarter about their city, their state, their country and their fellow humans (and doing so without a reader paywall, ever).
To make sure that doesn’t happen, we need you. Reader support is the single most important factor in our ability to provide the type of in-depth coverage you’ve come to rely on — the kind of journalism that is vital to Minnesota and to the country. If you’re able, and if you value the work we do, please donate now in any amount.
It would mean that corporate education “reformers” and their right-wing backers would have to go somewhere else to share their propaganda.
Ouch.
I will give Minnpost props for posting this comment, and my responses to their frequent education “reform” pieces. Better journalism would involve disclosing the funding and connections in each piece. Actually, a great story would be pointing out all the connections and agendas these groups are pushing. There are a ton of organizations, but its ultimately the same people involved in each.
Some observations from an occasional reader and commenter. Minnpost is technically non-partisan in that you don’t directly endorse political candidates. But it is obvious that all of your writers are left-of-center, in most/all cases quite obviously so. All politically themed articles have a clear leftward slant. There is little to no diversity of opinion in the Community Voice selections: 99+% of those pieces advocate for moderate liberal to far Left positions.
It is of course your right to publish what you want, just as National Review and other conservative outlets have their own slants. But you might have more community support if you had more diversity of opinion, and especially if you allowed for more dissenting opinions in the comments sections. Over the last two years your staff has censored at least a dozen of my comments; I have been very careful to not use inflammatory or insulting language, even though such language is often allowed when the topic is Donald Trump or another conservative figure or cause you oppose. I suspect that other dissenting voices have also been censored.
For frame of reference, I’m a political moderate who has voted for general election candidates of both major parties, including Obama, Clinton, Gore, Klobuchar, Wellstone and others. I’ve posted many dissenting comments on conservative blogs and I’ve gotten pushback from other commenters. But never – not once – has a right-of-center outlet ever censored my comments. That’s very different from Minnpost and the Star Tribune and other left-of-center outlets.
Anyone seeking more “balance” in their reading material can easily find whatever variety of perspectives they want by looking at a variety of websites. Any attempt to duplicate the mediocrity of moderation found elsewhere would degrade Minnpost and damage their brand. So long as coverage is honest and Minnpost writers work with integrity it doesn’t matter how “liberal” the format is. If a reader wants dishonest and disingenuous “conservative” perspectives, let them find that elsewhere, Minnpost gains nothing by including such voices in their coverage.
Guess that pretty much sums up the definition of “liberal elite” when balance is a dirty word and that readers should just go somewhere else. Echo chamber. Echo chamber. Echo chamber.
Perhaps some readers come here so as not to be in their own echo chamber and get a different liberal perspective of the world.
“But never – not once – has a right-of-center outlet ever censored my comments. ”
We are obviously not including the PowerLine blog here which simply bans folks for the sin of all sins, to ridicule any thing written by management. I guess it is not easy to maintain an echo chamber…
Without knowing what has been censored, I would speculated that the fact that right-of-center outlets aren’t censoring your comments and Minnpost is probably says more about your comments than anything else. Trust me, those places censor comments with which they disagree with far more regularity than Minnpost or the Strib. Frankly, I can’t believe Minnpost posted my comment above about corporate education reformers. I have posted many comments critical of those on the left that have appeared. And I have had quite a few comments censored over the years, and most of the time I can go back and tone down the language or add some links to substantiate my claims, and then they get approved.
What Minnpost won’t post is comments about Trump and his election fraud claims, and for good reason. Its garbage. Pure lies. There is no discourse involved. Just nonsense. There is no value in allowing it. Similarly, Covid conspiracy theories get kicked. I have seen some appear and then disappear. Misinformation serves no purpose other than to misinform.
Censorship? On a site that allowed certain conservative commentors to operate multiple seperate identities long enough that they forgot which role they were supposed to be playing at any given time? Okey dokey.
We would lose a “real journalism” outlet for Trump name-calling.
We would lose the nothing but positive Biden stories.
We would lose the cover-up of the Walz 3 days of fiddle playing while MPLS burned and the insurrectionists burned a police station and blocks of free enterprise businesses.
We would lose the positive Biden stories about eradicating the virus.
We would lose the journalistic techniques employed to disguise the failing – anemic Biden agenda.
We would lose the positive Walz stories about his dealing with the virus in LTC facilities.
We would loose the public school only narrative in spite of the continued achievement gap.
However – we would never loose the MInnPost agenda and narrative that the limousine liberal donors support.
Mr. Gotzman, a simple request. Click COVID-19 on the MinnPost menu and scroll through all of the story headlines. Please cite, specifically, the stories that cover Biden “eradicating the virus.” Click on EDUCATION and read “Year in Review: Five 2021 education stories that will continue to matter in 2022.” What, in your words, is “the public school narrative”? Please provide specific examples of “journalistic techniques employed to disguise the failing – anemic Biden agenda.” Finally, what is “the MinnPost agenda” you profess to know? Seriously, I’d like to know.
We would lose Ron Gotzman, Dennis Tester, Joe Smith and their fellow travellers trying to show us the enlightenment of their ways.
Trying again and again and again…
Biden has tried to eradicate the virus. Sadly, Republicans want it to stick around. Republicans want to kill jobs and close businesses. Republicans are beholden to a man who squandered his massive inheritance on failed business after failed business. To a man who has zero understanding of economics or business. To a man who gets rolled in every negotiation. Joe Biden is just cleaning up the mess Trump left.
Since you seem to hate and resent MinnPost so much, why do you read it?
These complaints about Minnpost “bias” are always funny… lazy readers who want their own perspectives reflected back to them can find that elsewhere yet they’ll complain that Minnpost fails to serve it up to them. Dude’s…. “free press” means Minnpost and everyone else gets to be what they choose to be, you don’t have to like it.
Meanwhile I and most other of the Minnpost regular readers and supporters obviously appreciate their liberal bias and the integrity, honesty, and reliability it brings to our news feeds.
But really…. the best thing about Minnpost obviously is… their brilliant comment sections 🙂
Happy New Year!
A suggestion from a “left of center” commenter:
It would be great for comment section productivity to bring on a “right of center” columnist. Eric Black inspires more commentary than all the rest of MINNPOST combined. I’d go so far as to suggest someone from the Center of the American Experiment. A Kathy Kersten diatribe on the evils of CRT would burn up the comments section. And think of the fun if she even had the courage to defend it in the comments.
I disagree. The Strib hired Kersten to appease a certain demographic, but that didn’t stop anyone from continuing to call the paper the Red Star or the Star and Sickle.
Maybe someone like Ross Douthat, who I often find confounding, but seems to genuinely wrestle with the issues he writes about.
You presume they actually care enough about their positions to defend them. The dirty little open secret amongst those not blinded to the nature of most conservative media as not particularly veiled propaganda, is that most of it’s purveyors don’t really care about the message, so much as they care about being paid to carry it. I’m gonna guess Minnpost doesn’t have quite the pocketbook necessary to attract your average conservative media bobblehead, and we already get the daily talking points from our resident embedded observers, so what would be the point?
I guess the unknown is when MINNPOST publishes some drivel from some paid PR person how many folks read the piece and the comments? Because the comments sure do offer a “fair and balanced” look at the topic.
I think CRT is complete, unbridled, indefensible lunacy. I few reasons why Jim Crow was not systemic racism would be most interesting to hear, yet many folks spout this stuff and an engaged conversation never happens. Ever try to engage someone from a right side site like PowerLine? Not going to happen: First your death is called for by the commentariat and then management bans you as an annoyance.
Bring it on Kathy Kersten and your CAE friends: your core positions are indefensible outside your echo chamber: Have at it. An online forum is much better than print, where the drivel goes out and the response is detached.
But they won’t do that. They understand that theur positions are indefensible, that’s why they don’t attempt to defend them. They don’t need to. The intended targets will take anything spoonfed to them as gospel, and anyone who would challenge it are irrelevant to the goal. The problem is in assuming the purpose of ANY conservative outlet is anything beyond laying out whichever narrative the indoctrinated are supposed to assume at that particular moment, it has literally no other purpose (well I guess making its creators rich IS a purpose, just not a direct one).
nonpartisan journalism! It is right up there next to the headline. This obviously isn’t the case, but strike that phrase and all is good. It has really turned into just another left wing blab fest.
Again: Why do you read it, if it bothers you so much?
In honor of you and Mr. Gotzman, I have decided to order a copy of “Born to Kvetch” (e-book version on sale today – it must be a sign).
The NEWS part of Minnpost is solid. If detractors see bias they should speak up. The OPINION part is… opinion. If it has a left or right bias my response is, so what. That’s what opinion pages are for.