Omission of Obama on front page stirs protest in Terrell, TX

[sabra]

Source: WFAA-TV

TERRELL - Protestors spoke out Thursday against The Terrell Tribune's decision not to put Barack Obama's presidential victory on its front page.

The day after Obama was elected as president, the banner headline for the Tribune focused on the county commissioner's race. The headline read, "Jackson defeats Schoen."

About 25 residents, who said they had hoped to save the local paper with Obama's victory noted front page, picketed the newspaper's office Thursday.

...

Protestors pointed out that on Election Day, the Tribune had printed a John McCain-focused story as their lead story on the front page.

..

The Terrell Tribune's publisher, Bill Jordan, declined an on-camera interview.

"We run a newspaper, not a memory book service," he said. "We covered the local commissioner's race. We thought that was more important."

Read more: http://www.fox11az.com/news/topstories/stories/texas-20081107-obama-omission-front-page.18ccd69fe.html

[Connie_Corleone]

1. The commissioner's race is more important than an historic presidential election??

Even if it was a standard run-of-the-mill presidential election, it would still be on the front page.

[newtothegame]

16. How about millions of citizens losing their rights...

in digusting votes like Prop 8? That shoulda made the front page before anything, including a "historic presidential election."

[superconnected]

40. Ya think they'll get rights faster if we don't care who is in as president.

Gee, I think the place will start swinging more left as America discovers a black president is not the end of the world. It's an educational thing.

[DoubleStandardAlert]

35. Terrell Tribune

Whites Should be outraged at the Terrell Tribune.

[curse of greyface]

2. Bill Jordan doesn't belong within twenty miles of a newspaper. NT

[Miss Chybil]

3. [email protected]

[email protected]

[Sub Atomic]

6. Done and done.

Thanks for the link.

[jobycom]

4. While that's idiotic, I would point out that Terrel is a tiny town outside Dallas

and their paper is generally devoted to local town issues, since the Dallas Morning News is available everywhere in town, and the "Terrell Tribune" isn't likely to try to compete with the DMN. They try to cover local stories the DMN wouldn't, and leave the big stories, which they don't have the resources to cover, to the bigger paper.

Not saying it was a smart editorial decision or that there wasn't some sour grapes involved, but there's more to the story than that.

[Robb]

14. Having worked for a tiny newspaper, I would cut them some slack

...However, the right move for a community newspaper trying like hell to focus on local issues would be to do, as I found my former paper did, an analysis of the tiny districts nearby and who they voted for, and by how much.

The commissioner race is often a big deal in a small town, but readers are more interested in knowing how their neighbors voted in the "big story." Both could share page 1 easily enough; page 2 should have the pictures of locals voting, campaigning or counting votes, and page 3 for the (inevitable) road and school bond questions. :D

[jobycom]

20. Oh, I agree, it was the wrong decision, I'm just saying

it's not some evil act of unfathomable hatred and betrayal as some here seem to be portraying it. This is the way this paper works.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

61. WHAT!!! You would cut them some slack????

How much you wanna bet if McCain had indeed won, they would have his picture full size!

[TomInTib]

15. Amen. One needs to understand the realities of small-town papers.

Especially papers in the circulation area of the largest newspaper in N Texas.

[pattmarty]

5. NO, he doesn't run a newspaper, he runs a propaganda rag.

[jobycom]

8. It's really more of a small town newsletter.

They cover the local Red Cross charity potluck and the local junior high football team and the fifth grader essay contest winner. I didn't make any of those up, btw, here's the link.

http://www.terrelltribune.com/

[pattmarty]

9. I live in a rather small, conservative Arkansas town............

........and our home town paper had him on the front page. "Newsletter" or not, they blew it.

[jobycom]

11. They are part of the Dallas Morning News's circulation area.

They cover stories too small for the big papers to worry about.

[LanternWaste]

33. One county over...

One county over...

Not saying they do not have cross demographics, but for many people in Terrell, the Tribune is the only daily they get.

And yeah before we go there, I know the area pretty damn well.

[Doremus]

54. The article says they had a story about McPain on the cover election day.

So apparently there is precedent. And a reason subscribers would expect Obama's win to be covered.

[treestar]

55. The question would be what did they do 4, 8, years ago?

Granted they are a local paper. But if normally they put the presidential results on the first page (and it sounds from the flack they got as if they did) then this is being spiteful.

[LanternWaste]

32. County Commissioner race/victor made front page

County Commissioner race/victor made front page. Little more serious than the fifth grade essay contest I would imagine...

[acmavm]

7. Whoa, snappy comeback Bill.

Makes you look like the petty putz that you really are.

[enki23]

10. reminds me of the WSJ front page the next day

You couldn't tell from the headline or photo who had won. Those most be some *sour* motherfucking grapes.

[VaYallaDawg]

26. And of course - who owns that rag now????

[ellenfl]

12. hopefully, the circulation will drop. eom

[SemperEadem]

13. And guess what, Jordan---Obama winning the presidency IS NEWS

Clearly, you're running a right wing propaganda press, not a newspaper.

[Ian David]

17. It's their newspaper, they can do what they want with it. People can vote with their wallets. n/t

[CottonBear]

18. Correct. It was a business decision. Locals are who buy the paper and most are Republicans. n/t

[DoubleStandardAlert]

41. Carefull, your sounding like a republican.

[Ian David]

57. Even a stopped Republican is right twice a day. n/t

[coolguy3671]

19. Hmmm

I wonder if Bush was on the cover four years ago...

[Drunken Irishman]

21. I'll buy this if they didn't put Bush on the front page after his victories in 2000 and 2004.

[DoubleStandardAlert]

45. It's their business what they put on the cover. If you don't like it, don't buy it!

[treestar]

56. Sure they can

But the double standard should be noted. Those residents who expected it clearly reveal that what happened 4 years ago was not the same.

[demwing]

62. Damn, see I thought news reporting was about reporting "news"

not about filtering information in a manner designed solely to maximize profitability.

[meegbear]

22. You can see the full front page in the link below from The Smoking Gun

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1105081newspaper1.html

[Bette Noir]

23. Oh, yeah.

Local commissioners are tons more important than presidents.

[amber_86]

24. Sounds like my home town

They didn't put Obama on the front page either.

[FatDave]

25. That's ridiculous.

The results of a presidential election, no matter who the participants are and who the winner is, is always front-page news. To do otherwise is just a partisan hack being pissy and childish.

[DoubleStandardAlert]

44. The cover story was about a Democrat defeating a Republican. What else ya got?

[LanternWaste]

63. How about the historic win of the first

"What else ya got?"

How about the historic win of the first African-American President. But hey, maybe you don't think that's as newsworthy as a story about the county commissioners race... :shrug:

[sonias]

27. Despicable of the Terrell Tribune!

The publisher thought the local commissioner's race was more important than the historical election of Barack Obama as president. Bill Jordan is a racist asshole! :grr:


Sonia

[DoubleStandardAlert]

39. Whites should be outraged!!!

I agree, Jordan placed on the cover the 100% African/American Commissioner instead of the 50% White president. I'm pissed.

[sonias]

49. Welcome to DU, troll

I see you just joined DU on Nov. 7th. Don't get too comfortable. You'll get tombstoned soon enough.


Sonia

[snappyturtle]

28. Did the same thing here in Kerrville, TX! Idiots.

The edition on November 3rd included a letter from the editorial board highlighting Obama and Mcsame.
Scathing of Obama......wonderous for mcsame! Surprise! Surprise! Of course we know not who is on the editorial board! Life in Texas.

[nbcouch]

29. That's prime reactionary Bible Belt country

Terrell is located in Kaufman County, where 68% of their 35 thousand votes went to McCain. This is a newspaperman who knows his readers. I wonder if he's EVER put a black man on the cover. In that part of the country, the old folks will get up and leave the room if blacks and whites are on the TV together.

[DoubleStandardAlert]

36. ?

That is a generalization of elderly people that live in Kaufman County. Help me out here. Is that racist?

[nbcouch]

47. How can a generalization about the elderly be racist?

Are "the elderly" a race?

[Javaman]

30. aka "we run a repuke rag and I'm not going to help that godless Obama". nt

[BrklynLiberal]

31. Bill Jordon is obviously a racist idiot...but of course, that is redundant.

[DoubleStandardAlert]

43. When have you met him?

[Hulk]

34. Typical "goat roper"

[DoubleStandardAlert]

37. ?

Could you elaborate?

[DoubleStandardAlert]

46. Wondering. Could the word "typical" be offensive to a particular group of people?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

38. Interesting trivia fact: Jamie Foxx was born there.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004937/

I remember when he won the Oscar for "Ray" and went on the Tonight Show. Jay Leno showed the front page of Terrell's paper -- they had Foxx's Oscar story in the sidebar while the main headline was something like "Local Farmer Grows Huge Pumpkin."

:rofl:

[DoubleStandardAlert]

42. FAKE

It was a fake that Leno used. The real paper was jammed full of Eric Bishop, I mean Jamie Fox stories.

[GetTheRightVote]

48. They definitely made it obvious what they are about, no blacks allowed

on the front page at the Terrell Tribune publishing office.

At part of the country is all grown up now.

:kick:

[rainbow4321]

50. Not a single article was in the paper about Obama's win

Sounds like they were a state of denial went they went to press.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/newspaper-in-terrell-texas-doe.html

Not only did the Tribune not put Barack Obama's election on Page One -- there was, according to Byron Harris of WFAA-TV (Channel 8), "no story devoted to the presidential victory" anywhere in the paper.

Publisher Bill Jordan had this to say to readers who complained that the paper should have preserved this historic moment:

"We run a newspaper, not a memory book service. We covered the local commissioner's race. We thought that was more important."

Terrell, population 13,606, is about 30 miles east of Dallas.

[Avalon Sparks]

51. They did the same thing in Plano, TX

figures....

[silverojo]

52. Omaha World-Herald did the same fucking thing

For that, I'll never buy their paper again! :mad:

[trof]

53. "McCain wins Alabama" - Front page top headline

on my local bi-weekly Foley (AL) Onlooker.
:eyes:

[goforit]

58. So that's where the Racists live, eh?

[fujiyama]

59. I don't know anything about Terrel and the newspaper

but I think it depends on what kind of paper this is. Does it usually only cover local events? Then fine, I can excuse this.

Otherwise, this is just plain denial. Kinda bizarre.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

60. Hope Ar did the same thing

I was looking forward for a Obama pic too...