Mr. Barth, what was the journalist reasoning behind the placement of an AP story titled "Despite stronger economy, many Americans struggling" on the first page of your August 28th edition? There is no local connection. This article could be printed during any economic uptick by just changing the percentage to match the latest data.
There is no reporting on the context of the 40 percent. During the last "stronger economy" was it 20 percent, 30 percent, 50 percent? Is there anything particularly special about Debra's and Jerri's situations, as difficult as they are, that adds relevance to this front page story? Unfortunately, similar situations are with us always.
And how about the source, Urban Institute? Interesting that it is a Washington DC-based think tank, the president of which is Sarah Rosen Wartell who was the founding COO and then EVP of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank founded in 2003 by none other than John Podesta.
Why was this article positioned on the front page, particularly after the big deal made about fake news in the August 16th BDN? Fellow readers, I present fake news in our own backyard. No, it does not have to be lies or half-truths. It is bias (in this case liberal, anti-Trump) presented as actual news on the front page of a local paper, a paper we want to trust. It is important news, factual news, relished to pages 5 and 6 in hopes it gets less attention.
Mr. Barth, please, I am counting on you to be that independent journalist you promoted in your August 16th editorial. Putting such an AP article that didn't even have a by-line on the front page is not helping.
Robert Zibert
Beloit