Letter of the Day!

Isn't it amazing when truth and fact seem to interfere with the predisposed Right Wing meme of the day. Frustrating when the 'professionals' buy into it, but GREAT when they are called on it!

E-MAIL CONTROVERSY

Strib sinks to blog's level

The Star Tribune's Jan. 24 coverage of the e-mail seeking policy students from the Humphrey Institute to work with Al Franken was below the Star Tribune's standards. It was biased and misleading.

Its most outrageous claim is that Professor Sally Kenney was using "a taxpayer funded tool not available to competing campaigns. ... It crossed the line into clear advocacy." Not only are we, the students, tools available to competing campaigns, we welcome any relevant opportunities to do policy work regardless of partisan affiliation. If you have such an opportunity, contact Career Services in the Graduate Programs Office.

Additionally, the e-mail did not even approach "the line into clear advocacy."

From what I can tell, the Star Tribune essentially republished an existing story on a blog known for biased and shoddy reporting. If it attempted to gather actual facts related to the story, it failed.

As a blogger myself, I'm sorry to see the worst of print and online journalism combined in this manner.

CHRISTOPHER MITCHELL, ST. PAUL;

HUMPHREY INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS