Memo from the Editor: No Political Commentary Until Nov. 5th

The editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune sent out an office Memo to staff requesting that all columnists stay away from Political Commentary until after the November 5th election. According to Media Matters, editor Nancy Barnes felt it would be best if journalists
"refrain[ed] from partisan political commentary in their columns ... at least until after the election." And that columnists would "'stand down' on the kind of column that's an overtly partisan take."

The office-wide memo came a day after newspaper columnist Katherine Kersten wrote a highly critical article about Al Franken, who is running for US Senate. Kersten's article claimed that Franken was anti-Christian, specifically anti-Catholic. This is Questionable considering Franken is Jewish, and less then 1% of the state shares his faith. In addition he has been married to a Catholic for over 30 years.

Even lower is the way Kresten tried to prove that he is anti-Catholic, by pulling bits and pieces from his decades long career as a comedian and a satirist. In fact the article itself was titled, "Vulgar mockery of Christians: Is this what we want in a U.S. senator?"

Kresten took his comedy out of context and the results were not very funny, essentially accusing him of hatred and intolerance.

What Media Matters is apt to point out is that dailies like the Star Tribune have a huge influence on the electorate, and words such as these could effect the election and the way people perceive the candidate.

Even more interesting is that in the past the paper has been accused of bias, according to Media Matters:

Like lots of major dailies, the Strib has been buffeted in recent years by staff cutbacks and accusations of a liberal bias. It seems that the effects of both are on display in the Franken/Coleman campaign.

Newsroom cutbacks make it more difficult to provide smart, in-depth election coverage. Perhaps more telling at the Strib, though, has been the long-running war conservatives have waged against the paper, led by bloggers such as Ed Morrissey, Hugh Hewitt, and those at Power Line.

Even more questionable is the ban of more editorials, according to Media Matters:

Adding to the irony (or the double standard; take your pick) was the fact that Please, people, no partisanship memo was distributed the very same day the Star Tribune printed a front-page article about GOP operative Jeff Larson, who found himself at the center of the Sarah Palin shopping spree scandal. (It was Larson's credit card that got burned up by Neiman Marcus to the tune of $75,000, courtesy of the Palin camp.)

Larson just happens to be one of the closest and most-connected Minnesota political allies of Franken's Republican opponent, Sen. Norm Coleman. But rather than present the story as an embarrassment to Coleman, the Strib's article about Larson was a valentine, complete with "Clark Kent" in the headline.

While this may have been the editor's decision to make, I think there are some questionable journalistic practices going on at this paper. How can you possibly say, no more editorials on the election, in such an important election cycle?