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| ==Bias and Controversies== | ==Bias and Controversies== | ||
| Recently, questions have been raised as to the accuracy and political leanings of the paper, which frequently professes to be "neither liberal nor conservative" in a statement by company official James Howard Gibbons that appears annually on its editorial page. Despite this claim, conservatives in the Houston area have accused the paper of bias and targetted it for a ]. The paper's editorial page is often a target for ] and derision in Houston political circles for what critics perceive as an overbearing habit of promoting ] transit and an equally obsessive practice of attacking Congressman ] over nearly weekly political differences. | Recently, questions have been raised as to the accuracy and political leanings of the paper, which frequently professes to be "neither liberal nor conservative" in a statement by company official James Howard Gibbons that appears annually on its editorial page. Despite this claim, conservatives in the Houston area have accused the paper of bias and targetted it for a ]. The paper's editorial page is often a target for ] and derision in Houston political circles for what critics perceive as an overbearing habit of promoting ] transit and an equally obsessive practice of attacking Congressman ] over nearly weekly political differences, some of them said to be quite petty. | ||
| Though recent evidence has come to light showing that their criticism of Delay may not have been too far off the mark. The Chronicle's reporting has revealed that Congressman Delay paid over $500,000 to his wife and daughter out of his campaign fund for their work on his various campaigns. | |||
| Furthermore, Delay is having difficulties during the Spring of 2005 explaining why it was necessary for him to fly to Scotland to play golf at St. Andrew's on a lobbyist’s dime. | |||
| ===Light Rail Memorandum Scandal=== | ===Light Rail Memorandum Scandal=== | ||
Revision as of 15:24, 18 April 2005
The Houston Chronicle is a daily newspaper in Houston, Texas. It is one of the 10 largest newspapers in the United States, with a circulation of more than 549,300, and with the demise of its long-time rival Houston Post, its nearest major competitors are located in Dallas-Fort Worth. It is owned and operated by the New York based Hearst Corporation.
History
The Houston Chronicle was founded in 1901 by a former reporter for the Houston Post who obtained financial success on an investment he made while covering the Spindletop oil well boom. The paper was once owned by Jesse H. Jones
Bias and Controversies
Recently, questions have been raised as to the accuracy and political leanings of the paper, which frequently professes to be "neither liberal nor conservative" in a statement by company official James Howard Gibbons that appears annually on its editorial page. Despite this claim, conservatives in the Houston area have accused the paper of bias and targetted it for a boycott. The paper's editorial page is often a target for satire and derision in Houston political circles for what critics perceive as an overbearing habit of promoting light rail transit and an equally obsessive practice of attacking Congressman Tom DeLay over nearly weekly political differences, some of them said to be quite petty.
Light Rail Memorandum Scandal
In late 2002 the newspaper became embroiled in a reporting scandal after Chronicle website managers accidentally posted an internal memorandum to reporters on its home site, HoustonChronicle.com. The memorandum outlined a draft agenda of coordinated news articles, editorials, and political commentaries to be published by the paper, seemingly to promote a hotly contested mass transit referendum to expand Houston's controversial METRORail system on the 2003 ballot. The memo's anonymous author, believed to be a paper executive or editorial board member, suggested in part:
- "I propose a series of editorials, editorial cartoons and Sounding Board columns leading up to the rail referendum, with this specific objective: Continuing our long standing efforts to make rail a permanent part of the transit mix here. The timing, language and approach of the paper's editorials would, of course, be the decision of the Editorial Board. But I suggest that they could be built upon and informed by a news-feature package with an equally specific focus"
The memorandum then proposed several "investigative" news stories and editorials designed to portray Rep. Tom DeLay and former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier in a negative light over their past opposition to light rail transit.
The document was online for only an hour, but long enough to be viewed by some readers. Two days later a conservative student publication called the Houston Review, which was among those who obtained the memorandum after the accidental posting, published its full text and an accompanying commentary that criticized the paper for bias. The memo's publication immediately launched the paper's critics and opponents of METROrail into a furor. Several other local weekly and monthly newspapers including the Houston Press and the Houston Forward Times seized on the scandal, as did local talk radio stations, bloggers, and the conservative Free Republic internet forum.
Surprisingly, the Chronicle did very little in response to the stir created by the memorandum. The paper's only official response appeared in its "corrections" section later that week:
- Document mistakenly posted to site
- An internal Houston Chronicle document was mistakenly posted to the editorial/opinion area of the Web site early Thursday morning. We apologize for any confusion it may have caused.
As the story unfolded the Houston Press tracked down Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen, who defended the memorandum and was adamantly unapologetic about the controversy it caused:
- "I make no apologies for having a thorough discussion of the issue. We have nothing to apologize for…There was an inadvertent posting of it to the Web site, and I'm sorry about that, but I make no apologies for the contents of it."
In subsequent weeks several Houston bloggers reported writing letters to the editor about the memorandum, though none were ever published. Beyond the correction statement and Cohen's comments, the newspaper maintained a policy of complete silence about the scandal or the allegations of bias it produced.
Further, in keeping with the indications of the memorandum, the Chronicle editorial page became a vocal public advocate of the METROrail referendum in late 2003. As the bond referendum approached rail critics argued that their fears of bias were confirmed by the paper, which they contend became a partisan participant in the campaign. Most notably, the Houston Chronicle's lawyers filed a criminal complaint with the Harris County, Texas District Attorney accusing Texans for True Mobility, the main organization opposing the bond, of fundraising improprieties. The Chronicle's complaint was later dismissed and found without merit.
Planned Parenthood Contributions
The newspaper's objectivity on the issue of abortion has also been called into question following revelations that the Chronicle makes several annual contributions to abortion provider Planned Parenthood
Iraq War Controversy
In early 2004 a bias scandal hit the Chronicle surrounding its coverage of the death of Leroy Sandoval, a soldier from Houston who was killed in Iraq. Chronicle reporter Lucas Wall visited the family of Sandoval for an interview about the loss of their loved one.
After the article appeared Sandoval's family members complained that a sentence alleging "President Bush's failure to find weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq misrepresented their views on the war and President George W. Bush (the Sandoval family was supportive of the war). The next day Sandoval's stepfather and sister called into Houston talk radio station KSEV and explained that Wall had pressured them for a quotation that criticized Bush and then included the line alleging Bush's "failure" against the wishes of the family.
A bitter on-air showdown ensued between Dan Patrick, the radio show host, and an assistant managing editor at the Chronicle, who defended his reporter's story. The incident prompted Patrick to join the call for a boycott of the paper. The story was also picked up by the local Houston television stations and, a week later, the O'Reilly Factor.
The issue cooled down when Chronicle publisher Jack Sweeney contacted the Sandoval family to apologize.
Critics
There are many critics of the newspaper on the left and right. The Houston Press, an alternative weekly paper that often takes a liberal perspective, frequently derides the Chronicle for alleged journalistic sloppyness and laziness in a column entitled "News Hostage."
On the right, the main critics are conservative talk radio stations including the home of Patrick's show KSEV and an affiliated weblog entitled Chronically Biased.