July 8, 2009 | Ink By the Byte

“Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel” – newspaper adage

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

“She’s breaking our heart: What do you think Sarah Palin is up to now”

COMMENT: The paper offers up a “Say it ain’t so, Sarah” column about the Alaskan governor’s announcement that she’s leaving her office at the end of the month.

The writers says:

She’s breaking our hearts, those of us who have cheered her ever since she arrived on the national scene like a fresh breeze, and we want to know why she’s giving up her office.

There are few answers, and lots of speculation, the writer continues. It’s an unorthodox move for her to step away from office, but another politician found success by forging his own path – the late President Ronald Reagan.

Who knew that Keynesian economics would give way to Milton Friedman’s kind, and that Ronald Reagan would go on to be elected governor of California, and then to another political office of some note? In which capacity he would preside over the revival of the American economy and The American Dream after the disastrous Carter Years. While he was at it, he would usher in the end of the Cold War and, with it, the collapse of the late, unlamented Soviet Union.

The writer then invokes the oracular prowess of conservative intellectual William F. Buckley Jr. as the lone thinker who recognized Reagan’s political genius in the earliest days.

The editorial doesn’t say this specifically, but the reader is easily left with the question – Will Sarah Palin have her own champion, a Buckley to her Reagan.  A thinker who recognizes political genius in her and can popularize her ability to heal political rifts and navigate a tough, new course for the country.

Nope, Buckley’s own son abandoned that ticket during the last election, and I don’t see any thinkers lining up to defend Miss Wasilla.

“Karl Maden: No. 1 at being No. 2″

COMMENT: The paper writes a small tribute in praise of Karl Maden, an ‘edge of the spotlight’ actor who died recently. I don’t have many associations with the actor besides these commercials from the 1980s for American Express.

The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas

“Singer’s death leaves many open questions” (Link not available)

COMMENT: The Morning News chimes in about Michael Jackson’s death with nothing but a rehash. Apparently, he died recently.

The Northwest Arkansas Times

“The Hill: UA in the news as Gearhart celebrates first year on the job”

COMMENT: This editorial praises University of Arkansas chancellor David Gearhart for a year of accomplishments and sites specific examples. Word on the street among my friends and neighbors is positive as well about Gearhart. Students seem to really respond to him.

I think this paragraph from the editorial sums up the man’s character quite well.

A handful of observers criticized him for trying to seem like an “average Joe.” We don’t know about you, but we’ll take a campus chief who goes out of his way to be a friend over a chancellor who can’t be bothered to assist the same people who make his job possible.

Fayetteville’s been fortunate with good leadership of late and it’s worthwhile to pause and reflect, as the Northwest Arkansas Times has recently in editorials, on the guidance provided by Gearhart and Mayor Lioneld Jordan.

Ink by the Byte is an ‘almost daily’ media criticism and editorial roundup column focused on three newspapers in Northwest Arkansas, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas and the Northwest Arkansas Times. All comments reflect the opinion of Christopher Spencer, publisher of Ozarks Unbound.

SIMILAR POSTS

• Sunday, July 26, 2009 | Ink By the Byte at 10:30 PM on July 26, 2009
• Saturday, July 25, 2009 | Ink By the Byte at 9:42 PM on July 26, 2009
• July 9, 2009 | Ink By the Byte at 12:34 PM on July 9, 2009
• Monday, July 13, 2009 | Ink By the Byte at 2:07 PM on July 13, 2009
• July 4, 2009 (‘Happy Birthday, America’ edition) | Ink By the Byte at 12:34 PM on July 4, 2009