From the Editor

Comments (14)

• 4/21/09 - Ironkettleranch — Hey Bob - Glad to see you are taking "baby steps" on your path to accountability - I want to encourage you to read the MT retraction printed on April 15th (2nd page) that corrects the misquote by Damian Mann - I believe what was actually said was U.S. Government NOT U.S. Politicians and Congress. Remember Bob, you are in a position of public trust. The citizens and subscribers deserve the truth, not your version of it.
• 4/21/09 - ERIC — With this kind of cloud hanging over American citizens, the story is not about tea party or taxes, its about the hand of big brother over reaching its grasp! Single-page confidential directive issued by the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC (FBIHQ) was sent to each of the 56 field offices located across the United States on or about March 23, 2009, instructing the Special Agents in Charge (SACs) of those offices to verify the date, time and location of each TEA Party within their region and... [Full Comment]
• 4/21/09 - Bob — I thought your post-rally article was relatively objective, and although my sensibilities weren't offended by your revision to "Obama and Congress", it did fall short of absolute accuracy. My perception is that the Tea Party protests were probably inevitable. I know that I would have been there if President Bush had taken it to this level, especially topped off with all the potential government control that seems imminent. It just happens that our current political leadership (questionable... [Full Comment]
• 4/21/09 - Oregonjaybird — Why wouldn't the organizers think you would be dumb enough to cover a manufactured news story and report it as a non-partisan, grassroots event? Your record speaks for itself. You cover these events because you fear being singled out by conservative talk radio and the rest of the mob. Heaven forbid someone lift up the curtain and do some actual investigative reporting. No, you decide it better to just send out a photographer and a sponge and slap the crap on the front page. BTW: The Republica... [Full Comment]
• 4/21/09 - AirForceBrat — As the organizer of the Vogel Plaza gathering, and one who was interviewed for Damien Mann's story, I have to say that I was not only slightly misquoted in the article, but my comments were also taken out of context. I very much resented the Editorial in the next day's paper stating that organizers were "taking pains" to make this seem a bi-partisan event (I paraphrase here.) I took no pains to do anything other than give Mr. Mann my opinion. And my opinion stands. The mess we're in is the... [Full Comment]
• 4/20/09 - griz51 — Broadway, How would you describe past liberal events such as the (so called) Million Man March? Would you say that that event was fueled by the liberal media and not truly a "grassroots" happening?
• 4/20/09 - MarkJJ — I've never picked up a picket sign in my life, but I had one in my hand in front of the Jos. Co. Court House April 15th. 51 yrs old. During the presidential campain the MT, along with most all of the Oregon METO newspapers were decidedly Obama supporters. All one has to do is look at the editorials and columnists for a blind view of that. Obama mania has subsided to the reality of politics as usual and the realization of our inability to pay the bills. Meanwhile,no matter which journalist... [Full Comment]
• 4/20/09 - Piccadilly Jim — To Broadway: NO ONE called me to attend the tea party. You can choose to believe me or not... that is your right. However, don't so casually dismiss the concerns of those fellow citizens around you who are worried about the enormous spending program our federal government has embarked upon. And PLEASE... stop labeling all those who disagree with you. It is there right to demonstrate just as much as those whom you agree with. Stop the labeling. It's an old trick to distort what the opposition... [Full Comment]
• 4/19/09 - Broadway — These tea parties are not spontaneous, grass roots or non-partisan. They are fueled by FOX news and egged on by ultra-Rightists like Newt Gingrich. Where were these people (who are now getting a tax CUT under Obama)when Bush and the GOP were handing our dough to Wall Street?
• 4/19/09 - Mark — Perhaps if you would do more research before blabbering, your article would have been better received. While the protests did turn into partisan events at times, that was not the intention. RNC Chair Michael Steele asked to speak at one gathering, and was denied permission in the interests of keeping it non-partisan. We do understand that the MMT is a liberal publication though, and you can't help but run to the defense of President Obama any more than you can avoid screaming "Bush did it" at... [Full Comment]
• 4/19/09 - Kim C — Thank you for trying to give a fair and balanced report about this event. Unfortunately, your attempt to do the right thing, journalistically speaking, was thwarted by the same rabid attitude that has hamstrung our politics in this country for at least the last year. We are suffering from the opposite of good journalism, where one covers the facts and then reports them, so that the rest of us may figure out how we see any one issue with regard to the facts at hand. Instead, the goal of... [Full Comment]
• 4/19/09 - Paul R. Huard — In life, I can count on three things: Death, taxes, and the Mail Tribune missing the point. Although I give Hunter and his crew middling marks for both their pre-party and spot news coverage of the Medford Tea Party, their obsession with casting the protests as wholly-owned subsidaries of the Republican Party baffles me. Excuse me, but did the esteemed Mr. Hunter or any of reporters actually attend the event? Protesters there were no doubt frustrated with the Obama administration's thirst for... [Full Comment]
• 4/19/09 - Hehehe... — Looks like your paper's reputation precedes itself. While your focus in this blog seems to be specific to the "tea party," it is obvious that the past reporting of you and your staff has gained a reputation -- one that doesn't appear to be flattering.
• 4/19/09 - L. Angel — I thought the M-T coverage was fair and even-handed. Damian Mann wrote an accurate account of a very successful event.