Tuesday, June 24, 2008

One Less Partisan Hack in Alabama

Brett Blackledge of The Birmingham News, who along with the Mobile Press-Register's Eddie Curran gives new meaning to the term "partisan hack," is leaving our fine state for a gig with the Associated Press in Washington.

Glynn Wilson at Locust Fork News has an excellent take on Blackledge's departure, with a hopeful note that it might signal a change toward badly needed media reform in Alabama.

Wilson also takes a delightful jab at Editor Tom Scarritt's Sunday column in The News, which Wilson says specializes in "saying nothing about nothing."

Scarritt's most recent effort was even worse than usual. He actually had the audacity to prattle on about "watchdog journalism," which is like Weird Al Yankovic discussing Tchaikovsky.

Wilson also notes the latest in "the sky is falling" reports about the newspaper industry. Hard to believe that the very editors who have turned away from investigative reporting, seeking accountability from those in power, have to wonder why fewer and fewer people read their fish wrappers.

Can we say "clueless?"

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