by William Skink
*correction, the original post mistakingly ascribed the quote below to reporter Chuck Johnson.
I was in my car doing my civic duty by allowing Montana Public Radio to educate me about the looming elections, now just one week away. Last week’s campaign beat was all about undecided voters, ballot initiatives and erroneous voter information. It was the last topic of erroneous voter information where Montana’s premier partisan blog, The Montana Post, was mentioned. Why? Because MP is allowing itself to passed off as an official source of news, which it is not. From the link:
You know, there is one other element of this ad that I think is notable and that is pretty deceptive, actually. When it accuses Gianforte of gutting Medicare to enrich himself – which of course is not how he would describe his position on Medicare – but leaving that aside, the visual you see is of an apparent newspaper headline that reads, Gianforte guts Medicare to give himself massive tax break. Well, the source for that headline is the Montana Post, right? Which sounds like a credible news outlet, but it’s not. The Montana Post is one of the state’s most prominent political blogs. It’s authored by Don Pogreba, a progressive writer based in Helena. (Editor’s Note: The specific post in question was authored by Nathan Kosted) And his blog is very well regarded for what it is, and it has a wide following among those interested in Montana politics, but it operates just in a very different space than a newspaper that’s committed to objectivity and to nonpartisanship. But this ad presents it as an authoritative, dispassionate, journalistic source. Not quite.
I agree with Rob. The Montana Post is trying damn hard to pass off their partisan content as journalism, but it is not.