- This topic has 67 replies, 23 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 4 months ago by redblack.
-
AuthorPosts
-
May 4, 2012 at 3:41 pm #603133
alexboParticipantI have noticed lately that the reader comments on most front-page ST articles are heavily conservative in nature. For example, today’s article about the jobs report has a long list of commenters blaming Obama for the bad economy, and each one of those comments has a 20:1 “thumbs up to thumbs down” reader vote ratio.
Obviously any political issue like the jobs report would be interpretted in opposing ways by liberals and conservatives (each would blame the other side for such bad news, in all cases, despite any evidence to the contrary). So what I find weird is that the conservative voice online is so much stronger, seemingly far outweighing the true balance of support for liberal/conservative ideas… I mean, this is Seattle! Since when do conservatives outnumber liberals here?
I can only think of two ways to explain this.
1. The people who happen to read the ST (and comment on articles during the daytime) are overwhelmingly conservative, by something amazing like a 20:1 ratio.
2. Someone hired one of those companies that alters internet reputations using shill voters and fake commenters, to give the false impression that the prevailing view is anti-Obama. This technique is most commonly used by companies for faking Yelp reviews, etc., but it is also used for things like this…
Thoughts?
May 4, 2012 at 3:48 pm #757408
datamuseParticipantI don’t read reader comments on news sites anymore (except for the West Seattle Blog and the Atlantic, whose readers are erudite, civilized, and capable of correct spelling). Better for my blood pressure that way. (Not because the comments were especially liberal or especially conservative, but because they tend to be especially vitriolic.)
May 4, 2012 at 4:15 pm #757409
JanSParticipantsometimes, if you read the comments with the right frame of mind, the comments can be much, much better (read:entertaining) than the article.
May 4, 2012 at 4:21 pm #757410
SmittyParticipantI think it’s just a function of the article/news itself.
Had the jobs report been 450,000+ then the Republicans would have been the ones sticking their head in the sand and the Democratics would be gloating.
May 4, 2012 at 4:40 pm #757411
alexboParticipantIt’s not just this article though, I’ve noticed this trend for a long time, on tons of articles, many that aren’t even political in nature. DOWN WITH OBAMA is a strong trend in lots and lots of ST articles’ comments that have nothing to do with the election or the economy.
I would think the natural state of comments in a Seattle newspaper would be a strong liberal bias, since our populace is mostly liberal. For example, The NY Times article on this same topic has comments that tell a very different story: they mostly point out how conservative-backed austerity is causing the slow job gains, not Obama.
The ST comments go beyond any reasonable explanation for real conservatives gloating.
May 4, 2012 at 4:51 pm #757412
douglasMemberMy brother has, as a fact, been paid by a political party specifically to post comments on news articles.
Paid by the posting number and visibility. The bigger the readership/viewership the greater the payout (though tiny on a per post ratio). Better if it stuck to the current party viewpoint, codewords, and catchphrases. In 2004 it helped him keep up with bills at home, while recovering from a health issue.
The point is, perhaps all parties are employing these tactics, and cluttering up yet another public venue.
May 4, 2012 at 4:52 pm #757413
DBPMemberInteresting observation, alexbo. Maybe they’ve got some kind of conservative comments mob going there . . .
BTY: My take on the Times’ slant as a whole is that the paper is VERY conservative and VERY pro-business.
Sure, they’ve got a couple “sob sisters” like Nicole Brodeur on there for good measure. Whenever there’s an individual or small group that needs help, she can be counted on to be sympathetic. But when it comes to voters making far-reaching changes to the system — like a state income tax on the rich (I-1098) for example — then the Times editors can be counted on to come out strongly against it.
The Times was instrumental in defeating I-1098. So now, every time they run a story about the education crisis or the social services crisis, I have a hard time buying it.
If the Times really cared about social services, they would’ve backed I-1098.
Â
–David Preston
 Highland Park
May 4, 2012 at 5:21 pm #757414
JVMemberAs it stands right now, the WSB political comments are probably 70%/30% liberal. Does that reflect the political leanings of WS? Maybe. Or maybe that’s who has time to type comments.
I think at if about 3 conservatives dropped off the WSB, the comments would be 95%/5% liberal.
Or if 3 liberals dropped off it would make it about 51%/49% conservative.
If JanS and JoB got on the Seattle Times blog page, both would be more balanced! Problem solved!
May 4, 2012 at 5:24 pm #757415
miwsParticipantThe Seattle Times has historically been considered a more conservative paper.
Conversely, the now defunct print issue of the P-I, was considered to be more liberal leaning.
Mike
May 4, 2012 at 5:45 pm #757416
JanSParticipantwhy, JV, thanks for thinking about me :D
May 4, 2012 at 5:56 pm #757417
HuindekmiParticipantMay 4, 2012 at 7:54 pm #757418
alexboParticipantHuindekme, I suspect they don’t even have to hire 5 whole college stuents. It could be just one guy in a room, with 20 fake ST accounts each linked to a free email address, logging in with each of them one by one to comment and “thumbs up” every anti-Obama comment there.
It’s pretty blatant. One of the “commenters,” actually complained about the ST’s “liberal media” bias (that the article was somehow Pro-Obama), because the article subtitle pointed out that the now-lower 8.1% unemployment rate had only declined due to people giving up their search for work. He was confused, the subtitle was underscoring how bad the news really was, which is actually an ANTI-Obama slant. Despite this obvious misunderstanding, his idiotic comment was still rated “thumbs up” by a 10:1 margin because it used the words “liberal media.” The only way to explain that is that the “raters” were following a simplistic rule: thumbs up all conservative comments, thumbs down all liberal.
May 5, 2012 at 1:38 am #757419
kootchmanMemberIr could also be, Sea residents are actually shocked at how out of touch they are with the rest of a disgusted country… it’s inconceivable to them they are witnessing a growing condemnation of liberalism. The press is if anything self serving… they jump on whatever band wagon their readers are listening to. If Obama has a glass jaw… there is nothing worse than a jilted ex. ST is hardly a conservative paper.. but they can read research data… news seekers are moving to conservative news sources.
May 5, 2012 at 4:28 am #757420
JoBParticipantdouglas..
wow.. a real job?
to think. you can get paid to talk like a jerk ;->
JV
my biggest problem is my lack of patience with jerks
whether they are paid jerks or unpaid jerks
i simply don’t have the patience for the Times comment section.
datamuse…
“I don’t read reader comments on news sites anymore (except for the West Seattle Blog and the Atlantic, whose readers are erudite, civilized, and capable of correct spelling).”
and whose posts can be easily ignored if they are not :-)
May 5, 2012 at 6:02 am #757421
dhgParticipantKootch: consistently you sound like charleston Heston proclaiming the coming judgement. We few, we liberals will do just fine. I suspect the rising red tide you prophesy is just a purple wavelet.
The seattle times is a very conservative, right leaning paper in a left wing city. I won’t annoy you with examples of their credentials ( cough ** Rossi supporters**) but I will invoke one line from a p-i reporter objecting to the joint agreement with st: the times has more sacred cows than a king’s stable.
May 5, 2012 at 7:47 am #757422
kootchmanMemberRight leaning in Seattle. But, I would bet our state would not have fallen so far in the rankings as a “good place to do business’ or would have been as financially stressed as it is but for the tenure of Gregoire. But we will never know. P-I… what P-I?
May 5, 2012 at 9:30 am #757423
JanSParticipantok, so the Seattle Times has conservative leaning comments..has anyone ever read the comments on Yahoo pages after some of their articles? esp. the ‘political’ ones? It’s amazing…people go there just to read the comments…some can be astonishingly jaw dropping…
May 5, 2012 at 2:59 pm #757424
JoBParticipantYes, they can.
May 5, 2012 at 4:21 pm #757425
JanSParticipantand please remember that brain cells start to die as you read them…
May 5, 2012 at 5:34 pm #757426
dhgParticipantkootch: Not a good place to do business? Financially stressed? Compared to what… Vancouver BC? We’re going gangbusters compared to the rest of the country. It’s our liberal bent that did it.
May 5, 2012 at 6:18 pm #757427
DBPMemberI’d like to see a few more righties on this forum, if for no other reason than that it makes the discussion more interesting. Beyond that, it would make the forum a tad more representative of the community as a whole.
Of course, it’s not like there are no righties here at all. But they do carry a heavy burden, don’t they?
Yes, friends: A heavy burden.
 Â
Â
For example, there’s a certain conservative blogger who sometimes comes on here with messages that appear to have been produced by a committee of himself and no less than 9 other demons.
It’s not that the fellow actually has 10 opinions at once, of course. Rather, I think he’s trying to cover the bases for those who are missing from the debate . . . to be the “voice of the voiceless” as it were.
Â
May 5, 2012 at 9:08 pm #757428
dhgParticipantI agree with DBP that righties are welcome and should feel free to express their thoughts BUT please do not cite faux facts. It is maddening to hear outright lies.
I think, in JV’s eyes, I moved into another category of left altogether by admiring the work of that socialist Bernie Saunders. Here, for your edification, is the latest crowing newsletter of that evil scoundrel:
http://sanders.enews.senate.gov/mail/util.cfm?gpiv=2100087910.145240.572&gen=1
He’s boasting about providing health care! And keeping the post office. (Nothing more socialist than a post office!)
May 6, 2012 at 12:59 am #757429
kootchmanMemberGood thing you aren’t the purchasing agent for USPS.. you’d be ordering saddle soap for the pony express.
May 6, 2012 at 4:26 am #757430
beefParticipantof course the seattle times is a misnomer, at best the king county times, more likely the Bellevue times. i’d prefer a no newspaper town to this rag.
May 6, 2012 at 4:43 pm #757431
JoBParticipantbeef..
i second your vote every time i pass a newsbox..
but without it?
what would we wrap fish in?
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.