Eau Claire Leader Telegram

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 1:30pm on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

In the article "The Hardest Vote," from the October 13, 2008 issue of The New Yorker magazine, George Packer quotes Tom Giffey, the editorial page editor of the Leader-Telegram, on the declining role of newspapers in the political process:

"In the old days, there were Republican or Democratic newspapers, but there was more of a level playing field and both sides had to argue from the same facts. Now we're in an age when you can simply reinforce your own viewpoints. And it's hard to have a discussion of the facts when you're dealing with two separate sets of facts - two sets of talking points that came down from on high."