Chronicle Bans the Word "Progressive"

Bruce Brugmann, editor and founder of the SF Bay Guardian, has the scoop: Hearst Corporation has banned the use of the term "progressive" to describe local political figures, favoring instead derrogatory terms like "far left" and "ultra-liberal." This is typical of the Chron's heavily-biased coverage in the local market. The company that brought us "Remember the Maine!" has been waging an editorial and yellow journalism campaign against San Francisco's progressive Board of Supervisors for almost 8 years...ever since the return of district elections, and the subsequent victory of neighborhood interests over the corrupt political machine of Willie Brown.

See, The Chronicle doesn't write stories for the people of San Francisco. They write stories to please their advertisers, and secondarily to soothe the egos of the wealthy suburbanites they're targeting with those ads. They also write editorials and local "coverage" designed to please their patrons in San Francisco, namely the real estate speculators, high-end retailers, PG&E, and other local forces for evil. They do this by carrying water for the likes of Gavin Newsom. Their sustained, multi-year campaign to smear progressives has largely fallen on deaf ears in San Francisco, as voters keep putting progressive politicians in office, and passing progressive initiatives.

The Chron's plummeting circulation numbers show the results of their approach. As much as I'd love to see the paper implode, I think it's important to have a true daily paper here. But we need a fair daily paper...not one that's out to denigrate anyone it disagrees with.