http://ouroregon.org/sockeye/blog/o-lowers-bar-yet-again No matter what your partisan persuasion, today is undeniably an historic day. President Barack Obama was sworn in for a second term, on the same day the nation is celebrating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And yet, here's how the Oregonian decided to mark the occasion with their front page: It's awfully reminiscent of their "Obama Keeps Job" headline the day after the election, and a mysterious "Bigfoot" noise in Eastern Oregon gets more elaborate treatment than the swearing in of the President of the United States. Effectively, conservative publisher N. Christian Anderson III and his editors are using the front page to thumb their noses at Oregonians who voted for Obama by a 12-point margin (and who make up a majority of the Oregonian's readership). They're basically saying, "Don't hold your breath, because your hero isn't going to accomplish anything anyway." It's undeniable that Anderson's political agenda has transformed the newsroom at the O. There's no mention of the historic nature of the day, and Dr. King is relegated to the second page, where the primary article is about disagreements over what his famous "I Have A Dream" speech means. A quick review of front page newspapers from around the country shows that the Oregonian's front page is far outside of the mainstream coverage. Heck, even Anderson's former paper, the right-wing Orange County Register, offers a relatively straightforward "A Quiet Beginning."
What's wrong with keepin' it real? I think everyone has lower expectations of Obama now than they did 4 years ago. Why is that shocking? I'm not an Obama supporter, but everyone I know that supports him has far less faith in him now (or more importantly, less faith that one man, the President, can make such a deep impact on the things that ail America). That's not necessarily being inobjective - that's simply putting the general consensus of the American Public as the headline to the paper.
It is a remarkably realistic way to present the news. Reuters explains it pretty well: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/19/us-usa-obama-budget-idUSBRE90I04D20130119 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama starts his second term in office facing unprecedented budget constraints that will challenge his ability to implement his economic vision. Spending caps that Obama signed into law in 2011 will make it difficult to boost investment in education, scientific research, transportation and other areas that he says will help the country retool for heightened global competition and rapid technological change, budget experts say. Because those caps won't keep pace with inflation and population growth, the government will effectively have 16 percent less to spend in these areas by the time Obama leaves office in 2017, according to White House estimates. That could constrain college loans, preschool education, job training and other programs that Obama says will boost national competitiveness. "Under the caps as they are currently constructed, we're going to see pretty significant diminishment of investment in all of those things," said Scott Lilly, who spent decades writing spending bills as a Democratic staffer in the House of Representatives. Since taking office in 2009, Obama has tried to balance his belief in an active government with concerns that the nation's finances are on an unsustainable course.
