Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

I came across this piece today from the Seattle Times, and it got me thinking.  Much of the "traditional media", especially the print media is so blatantly left that it's no wonder that they are becoming irrelevant.

 

This op-ed column is about Airbus opening a factory in Alabama.  The writer is so far left in his stereotyping of the State of Alabama, and his disdain for them being a right to work state.  He also manages to play the "race card" very early in his opinion piece.  Some quotes.

 

Quote: 

That would specifically be lower labor costs. And no pesky unions.

 
This was the lure of the South devastated by the Civil War when New England textile mills (which profited mightily from slave-picked cotton) began moving into the region. They were followed by furniture and carpet-makers, which remained a backbone of Southern industrialization until recently.

 

So in the first part of the article he feels the need to bring up unions, the civil war and slavery.  It goes further.

 

Quote: 

Despite a heroic labor effort in the early decades of the 20th century, Southern business managed to keep unions out and wages low. White Southerners began to see unions as un-American, a situation that continues today. And their wages from manufacturing are better than anything else there.

 

So it's only "white southerners" that are against unions.

 

He then goes on about wages, and this is where it gets really good (or bad depending on your point of view).

Quote: 

In Alabama, according to Seattle-based PayScale, Airbus line worker pay starts at $35,367 annually, a king’s ransom in a low-wage state. The company expects to employ about 1,000. The starting wage for a Boeing machinist is $38,263. It’s not a huge difference, but Boeing has more experienced, higher-paid workers in the Puget Sound region.

 

This is very misleading because he is comparing a "line worker" in Alabama to a "machinist" in Seattle.  What does a line worker make in Seattle and what does a machinist make in Alabama?  It's not a fair comparison at all.  The part in bold is just laughable.  They are "higher paid" based on the cost of living.  More experienced?  I know a few people from Alabama that have plenty of experience.

 

The guy goes on to say that "you get what you pay for" eluding to the perceived idea that quality won't come out of the new plant in Alabama because the wages are lower than in a union plant in Seattle.

 

There are many topics that can be discussed regarding this op-ed piece, those being unions, the perception of non-southern people of southern states and their people, the perception that the south is all "southern white men" (the author refers to southern white men in particular) or the sad fact that this is considered "journalism" and is what is published in today's printed (and on-line) media.

 

I can understand partisan views if an op-ed was purely political.  This one though, takes the cake.

Oh Lordy here comes the pc police. *Wero Wero Wero* Stop in the name of thin-skinned people with nothing better to do with their time but complain about everything.


Also, the reason no one is responding to this thread is because everyone knows print media isn't dead just because someone wrote an editorial you didn't like. You can write whatever you want in an editorial--because you aren't reporting the news, you're giving an opinion. Forming an argument. You should be keenly aware of them as an avid Fox News consumer. Anyways, I've seen you post some on then climate change thread. They are ok as long as they suit your purpose I guess.

The print media will never be entirely dead as long as we have bird cages.