The Chron - Big Paper, Small Town Quality?

[worldlyman]

The Houston Chronicle, though right of center, is more moderate than the vociferous right-wing San Diego Union-Tribune. The Chron is something like the seventh largest daily in America? Is that right?

That being said, the Chron likes to state that it is not biased to any political direction, as I once read some years ago in one of its annual mission statements. Well, the Chron does seem to support general US militarism, the death penalty, "Axis of Evil" accusations, union-busting, wage freezes and what not. Those views, whether one agrees with them or not, give a yahoo or hickish identity to a city newspaper. Well, Establishment Newspapers are rightish in general but could the Chron at least be more in tune with the NY Times or even the St. Petersburg Times on socio-economic issues?

And the Chron, always so damn vociferous and assured in its Texan Pride swagger seems to forget about having columns by great Texan icons like Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins (to add balance to the likes of Novak, Michelle Malkin, William Buckley, George Will and others who are allowed to pollute the editorial pages...not counting candy-ass pretend "liberals" like Michael Kinsley and the like). Some things I miss about the Post.

What is it about the "Texas" weekly pull out? A modern and cosmopolitan city like Houston should have something more more hip. What do these editors think general Chron readers are? Bumpkins who live in Victoria or Cleveland or Vidor or Sealy? Or have those mindsets?

Dallas Morning News, heavens-to-Betsy, has a good weekly city pull-out. LA and New York, obviously. The content focuses on the world, and heavy local issues and other things hip. There should not be too much focus on those stateside but out-of-the-way, down-home quilt shops or cute but pointless road-trip tales that "Texas" magazine likes to focus on. Someone at the Houston Chronicle ought to phase out "Texas Magazine," give it more gloss and pages then re-name it Houston On, H-town Week, Houston Page or something like that. The seventh or eighth largest daily in the nation ought to have substance in that department!

I gotta say, though, the Chron Sports page is superior to the Dallas Morning News and the San Diego Union-Tribune which are too local rah-rah for my tastes. What brings the Chron Sports page up to par with the LA Times (in my book) is that it has no real assholes like T.J. Simers who make Bill Simmons seem good.

[dbigtex56]

And the Chron, always so damn vociferous and assured in its Texan Pride swagger seems to forget about having columns by great Texan icons like Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins (to add balance to the likes of Novak, Michelle Malkin, William Buckley, George Will and others who are allowed to pollute the editorial pages...not counting candy-ass pretend "liberals" like Michael Kinsley and the like).

Absolutely agree.

Some of the changes over the past couple of years have been welcome. Editorials occasionally take a centerist approach; overall they continue to lean to the right. Political reporting remains weak. How helpful it would be if the Chron were to list how each city council member votes on specific issues.

Nancy Sarnoff has been a welcome addition to real estate reporting (with the occasional lapse - psst! - Ms Sarnoff? In your update on the Plaza Hotel last week, you referred to its architectural style as "Art Nouveau"; try Italian Renaissance .)

The Chronicle remains weak on fact checking and proofreading for clarity and accuracy. Last week it was reported (both in the headline and body of the article) that Cheney's shooting victim had expressed an apology to the Vice President. He hadn't, of course. He had only expressed his concern and best wishes, which is not at all the same thing.

Lana Berkowitz is an embarrassment. Dump her.

Patricia C. Johnson and Kathy Huber (art critic and garden columnist, respectively) are knowledgable, insightful and dedicated to their subjects. I appreciate their unadorned writing styles and clarity.

One last complaint - is it just me, or are four pages of comics overkill? Does any other daily devote so much space to comic strips?

[DJ V Lawrence]

I respect the Chronicle with it's format, and especially their Sports page. That being said, I miss the Houston Post. The Chronicle is quality, but it was even more quality when it had a competitor to keep it's content and context at top notch. Now, there's no one for Chronicle to compete with unless they try a more national and international recognition campaign like the New York Times, Post, USA Today, and LA Times are. Until that happens, I think you have a better chance at seeing biased reporting without seeing the other side.

What elements would be needed for another newspaper company in Houston to be competitive with the Chronicle the way the Post was? Is that possible?

[Jeebus]

What do these editors think general Chron readers are? Bumpkins who live in Victoria or Cleveland or Vidor or Sealy? Or have those mindsets?

If you've seen any of the latest "Chron dot com, the curser knows.." commercials, then you would already know that: yes, the Chronicle must think poorly of its readers.

If I hear that loser talking about reading the Chronicle to find out which nightclubs to go to, or hear that girl talking about looking hot in a convertible one more time..........

[TheNiche]

Well, the Chron does seem to support general US militarism, the death penalty, "Axis of Evil" accusations, union-busting, wage freezes and what not. Those views, whether one agrees with them or not, give a yahoo or hickish identity to a city newspaper. Well, Establishment Newspapers are rightish in general but could the Chron at least be more in tune with the NY Times or even the St. Petersburg Times on socio-economic issues?

Jeez, man...do bear in mind that most of the Chronicle's readership is in southeast Texas and that there wasn't a single blue county for hundreds of miles in the 2004 presidential election. Perhaps they have reason to be a little bit to the right of center (if that's actually the case): that's who buys their subscriptions, and you don't want to scare off your customers.

Besides, objective individual judgements about what is in fact left or right of center aren't very reliable because a lot of people can't reliably measure what 'center' is. If I were a Socialist, I'm not likely to be a fan of the NY Times because it isn't taking a stronger enough look at alternative socialist policies. If I were a skinhead, I'd not be a fan of the NY Times because it isn't taking a stronger look at alternative neonazi policies. Within the realm of more moderate political groups, the same tendencies apply. Democrats tend to see publications right of their own viewpoints as really far to the right, and Republicans tend to see publications left of their own viewpoints as really far to the left.

By the way, using the words "yahoo" and "hickish" was very yahoo and hickish in and of itself. Very low-brow, indeed, and only contributing further to the partisan divide in this country.

[Gary]

Jeez, man...do bear in mind that most of the Chronicle's readership is in southeast Texas and that there wasn't a single blue county for hundreds of miles in the 2004 presidential election. Perhaps they have reason to be a little bit to the right of center (if that's actually the case): that's who buys their subscriptions, and you don't want to scare off your customers.

Besides, objective individual judgements about what is in fact left or right of center aren't very reliable because a lot of people can't reliably measure what 'center' is. If I were a Socialist, I'm not likely to be a fan of the NY Times because it isn't taking a stronger enough look at alternative socialist policies. If I were a skinhead, I'd not be a fan of the NY Times because it isn't taking a stronger look at alternative neonazi policies. Within the realm of more moderate political groups, the same tendencies apply. Democrats tend to see publications right of their own viewpoints as really far to the right, and Republicans tend to see publications left of their own viewpoints as really far to the left.

By the way, using the words "yahoo" and "hickish" was very yahoo and hickish in and of itself. Very low-brow, indeed, and only contributing further to the partisan divide in this country.

Great Post! Your analogy is well thought out and dead on.

I also thought the "yahoo and hickish" comment was way off base.

[editor]

The Houston Chronicle, though right of center, is more moderate than the vociferous right-wing San Diego Union-Tribune. The Chron is something like the seventh largest daily in America? Is that right?

Here's the top 150 list from the Audit Bureau.

1. USA Today Gannett Company Inc. Washington, DC Fri 2,590,695

2. The Wall Street Journal Dow Jones & Co. Inc. New York, NY Fri 2,100,760

3. New York Times New York Times Company New York, NY Sun 1,682,644

4. Los Angeles Times Tribune Publishing Company Los Angeles, CA Sun 1,247,588

5. The Washington Post Washington Post Company Washington, DC Sun 965,919

6. Chicago Tribune Tribune Publishing Company Chicago, IL Sun 950,582

7. New York Daily News New York Daily News New York, NY Sun 781,375

[8.] Denver Post/Rocky Mountain News Media News Group, Inc. Denver, CO Sun 725,178

9. Philadelphia Inquirer Knight Ridder, Inc. Philadelphia, PA Sun 714,609

10. Houston Chronicle Hearst Newspapers Houston, TX Sun 708,312

[11.] The Detroit News/Free Press Gannett Company Inc./Knight Ridder, Inc. Detroit, MI Sun 679,484

12. New York Post New York Post Corp. New York, NY M-F 662,681

[gto250us]

I think that the Chron is one of the worst papers in the country, especially in light of the fact that it is in the 4th larges city in America. Take any edition and cut out all of the ads and then remove all of the news items that come from a wire service or another paper, what do you have left? Not much. Most of the news that is in the Chron was printed previously, sometimes weeks earlier, in other papers.