It is rare when KSTP decides to take an editorial position.
…
…it is the opinion of the owners of KSTP that we owe a debt of gratitude to all the police officers on duty during the Republican National Convention.
Metroblogging chimes in on it:
Personally, I think the police were necessary, did a good job, and in some instances exasperated a bad situation. I do find the KSTP editorial to be little weird,out of place, and oddly contrived. Even my wife commented on how it seemed unusual.
MinnPost talks about the KSTP-RNC links:
However, two things are worth noting — one of which KSTP had a duty to disclose, and the other a bit of valuable context.
First, the context: KSTP was the only major Twin Cities TV station that didn’t have a staff member arrested covering the demonstrations, according to an assignment desk staffer this afternoon. That might’ve altered the Channel 5 staff’s perspective.
Second, the must-do: KSTP’s owner, Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., was an RNC Host Committee sponsor and HBI patriarch Stanley Hubbard is on the Host Committee’s executive board.
Minnesota Independent adds more:
On top of that, [Hubbard] lent the use of his 125-foot yacht during the RNC.
“I hope they make good use of it,” he told the paper, which added that it came with ground rules: “No smoking and no unfriendly shoes.”
The “good use” was apparently an invitation-only soiree dubbed the “Coleman for Senate Donor Appreciation Cruise.”
Hubbard is a huge contributor to Coleman’s campaign and KSTP’s Tom Houser recently “moderated” a Coleman event for business owners.
I think it is a great thing to commend officers in uniform for the incredibly hard work they do but for KSTP to take a “rare” editorial position in this situation without disclosing the blatant connections is a bit out of bounds, in my opinion.
It is also a joke for KSTP to say that this is a “rare” editorial position. There is no other station in town that shows its biases so clearly and so consistently.