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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin certainly stirred things up. She has become the talk of the 2008 presidential campaign with eight weeks and two days before D-Day.
I’ve all but buried disturbing thoughts that voter turnout on Nov. 4 will be as dismal as it was in our Aug. 26 primary, when eight of 10 registered voters in Southwest Florida stayed home. Interest in the general election is soaring. Fight has been injected in the campaign.
The Daily News — and the rest of the media — got an indication of that this past week. GOP supporters are back in the game and they are highly protective of their rounded-out presidential ticket.
“Shame, shame, shame,” is the way one caller to the editor’s desk ended his voice message on Thursday. He was one of the readers angered by the way our print edition looked Thursday morning. A dozen or more readers called, e-mailed or wrote to complain and chide the newspaper for being “pro-Democrat.”
The lead, top-of-the-front-page story on Thursday was about Palin and her late-night speech Wednesday at the convention in St. Paul.
Callers were angry about the headline, the two-column photo of Palin and the tone of the story filed on deadline by the Associated Press. And, they were really angry about what appeared below the Palin story on the front page: a large color photo of Joe Biden being cheered by Democratic supporters in Fort Myers.
That’s what led to the “shame, shame, shame” phone call and the letter whose writer took time to measure how much space on the front page was devoted to Palin and how much was devoted to Biden. It was 54 square inches for Palin and 89 square inches for Biden.
That’s all the evidence some needed to deduce that the Daily News is a member of the bias, anti-Palin, liberal-loving media club.
We offered a number of explanations and comparisons to convince them otherwise. Nothing seemed to work.
But for the record, here’s how Thursday’s front page was planned and executed:
Sen. Biden was scheduled to speak Wednesday morning to supporters at the Harborside Convention Center in Fort Myers. The topic was the economy, though Biden branched off to discuss criminal databases and his legislation aimed at preventing tragedies like the one that occurred in Fort Myers last July 18. That’s the night Fort Myers Police Officer Andrew Widman was shot and killed by a Naples resident who should have been behind bars instead of free on bond.
Our newsroom decided that anytime a member of a presidential ticket is in our readership area, it’s front page news. We sent two reporters, a photographer and streamed portions of Biden’s visit live on www.naplesnews.com.
By late afternoon, all of the Biden stories and photographs had been filed and planning began for the front page. Space was reserved at the top for Gov. Palin’s speech from St. Paul.
Meanwhile, other portions of the front page were coming together. It was a day of significant local news. There was the robbery of a Brink’s truck in East Naples during which shots were fired and there was a roundup by law enforcement of 25 criminal aliens.
All was packaged on a front that awaited Palin’s 10:30 p.m. speech.
It ended shortly before 11 p.m. and for our first edition (the Daily News prints two editions each night — one for Bonita Springs and one for Naples) we featured one of the first stories filed. It was by David Espo of the Associated Press and it read: “Claiming her historic spot on the Republican ticket, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin mocked Barack Obama’s experience and promise of change Wednesday night and pledged to help John McCain upend the Washington establishment.”
Our copy desk wrote the following headline: “Palin jabs Obama, vows change.” The photo selected was of Palin with fist clenched at the podium.
Only our Bonita readers got that package. In the half-hour between editions more story choices and photos were received.
Our Naples readers got a story with a dual byline: Tom Taum and Liz Sidoti, both of the Associated Press. It read: “Greeted by thunderous applause, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin presented herself to the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, and millions of Americans watching from home, as a small-town outsider ready to join John McCain’s ticket in waging ‘a tough fight in this election against confident opponents at a crucial hour for our country.’”
Our headline read: “Palin casts herself as D.C. outsider.” The new photo showed the governor gesturing with her left hand while giving the speech.
After explaining our deadline and our selection of stories and photos, one caller seemed pacified, except for that big color photo of Joe Biden that was lower on the page.
I assured the caller that had the roles been reversed — had Palin been speaking in Fort Myers and had Biden been addressing the Democratic convention — the front page likely would have been designed the same, but with Biden at the top in less space and Palin at the bottom in more space.
Later, I tried to remember how our front page looked after Biden addressed the Democratic convention in Denver. I couldn’t so, I looked it up in the archive.
Biden wasn’t there. He was on page 3A at the bottom.
Phil Lewis is editor of the Daily News; his e-mail address is plewis@naplesnews.com
















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Let's face it, the real reason is that Biden is much better looking than is ugly_to_her_soul Ms. Palin.
A too large picture of Palin would cause the Daily New's computer to crash and burn!
#1 Posted by greathornedlizard on September 7, 2008 at 1:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr. Lewis should be on one of those dance shows...sure is one heck of a tap dancer with the truth.
There can be no doubt that had the roles been reversed, Mr Lewis would have shown Biden just as he did this time, only the reasoning would have gone something like this.
"While Mrs. Palin was indeed in our local area, Mr. Biden and his speech were of national concern and that led to our decision to cover his activities more thoroughly." What a crock.
Time for Mr Lewis to go back to high school and learn to be a real journalist as opposed to the tabloid thrash hack that he is today.
#2 Posted by bluestreak on September 7, 2008 at 2:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Come to think of it...
Didn't the NDN mention earlier that the Biden thing was a private affair and the public was not invited?
Pathetic.
#3 Posted by bluestreak on September 7, 2008 at 2:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Don't pick on Pain, don't question her experience that is sexist. Don't claim that she is pimping out her family included bringing out her newborn downs child to be tossed around like a prop because you have no family values.
Don't question that Sarah Pain believes the world was created in 7 days and governs according to God's will, W did that and he has been great.
She desrves more coverage than Biden because she hasn't left her hotel room since she was nominated. Write nice things about her because she refuses to hold a press conference and the campaign has her guarded.
Don't criticize her dril drill drill mentality. And don't even question that she had an affair with her husbands business partner because McCain cheated on his ex and Rudy G cheated on his and Thompson did too so Sarah was just trying to be one of the boys.
#4 Posted by kneejerk on September 7, 2008 at 3:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If Phil Lewis ran a "liberal" newspaper, Brent Batten would be back in southern Ohio covering high school football and the sewer board. Instead, he is chosen to tell us the difference between Republicans and Democrats.
And that's only the local angle. Nationally, the NDN has long favored the voices of conservatives that include Will and Sowell, and nutbags like Mona Charen and Cal Thomas.
No "liberal" columnist regularly appears here.
The NDN accurately reflects the political composition of its readership, which is conservative, as befits an affluent population disinclined to contribute to the common good because that's the same as offering help to the demonstrably inferior.
The NDN's profit stream is keyed to the same real estate market that funds the rest of the county. It isn't about to jeopardize that market by behaving "liberally" and questioning the real estate industry, which runs on a constant stream of transgressions against living systems for the sake of human comfort and profit.
And beyond the environmental issues, there really aren't any battlegrounds for the NDN to fly the liberal flag. The doctors here long ago decided that it was good business to keep the fetus posters off the sidewalks in front of their offices.
The fact is there isn't enough lipstick in the world to make a librarian-firing, earmark-seeking, debt-acquiring pig seem less ambitious, less self-centered, less sanctimonious, and more equipped to lead this nation.
She can't run a household. She puts the proof -- her pregnant teen-ager -- out before the public just so she can accuse the other side of looking at it.
But for those who see their superficial world views reflected back, bigger than life, in her brazen false image, an entire front page devoted to her majesty would be less than she (and they) deserve.
The ants need a queen. Karl found them one. Beware the wrath of the colony all who withhold their fealty to the Chosen One.
Even "good conservatives" will find themselves on the outside if their enthusiasm is judged wanting.
#5 Posted by elnuestros on September 7, 2008 at 6:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Issac Asimov wrote a trilogy titled 'The Foundation Trilogy' and the post by elnuestros is a eloquent demonstration.
In the book the writings of individuals was rendered down to the basic words so that it could be interpreted more easily.
elnuestros' post today would equal '...' a total waste of broadband electricity. As a matter of fact...the same goes for good ole kneejerk.
I am glad that I read so fast or the time I wasted would really be tragic.
#6 Posted by bluestreak on September 7, 2008 at 7:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
As indifferent as I am to some clodhopper's opinion of what constitutes appropriate language in this forum, I can't resist the observation that the clodhopper in question, when not mouthing silly Lou Dobbs-ian jibber jabber about "illegals," found time to pen the following:
"Regardless, as time passes, the usage of a word can and does change. I suppose it is simply a trait of mankind that we have our words evolve as we evolve as persons and generations."
Pure genius, Sherlock. Language evolves. People learn new and better expressions to communicate heretofore unexplainable concepts. The Oxford English Dictionary exists for no other reason than to document the gradual changes in the English language.
From the dictionary's website: "The Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books."
Why am I pretty sure all this is over bluestreak's head?
#7 Posted by elnuestros on September 7, 2008 at 9:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Adam Sandler made a movie, I believe it was one of his trilogy. Mr Deeds. In it he says
“Mr. Bluestreak, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your whiny, moronic remark did you even come close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to you. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
How pompous of you, Asimov was a Science Fiction writer who shall you quote next L Ron Hubbard. Gene Roddenberry BTW Asimov was a huge democrat and liberal.
#8 Posted by kneejerk on September 7, 2008 at 11:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Obama will win this election anyway!
I can feel it.
#9 Posted by beetlejuice on September 8, 2008 at 11:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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