Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Why Are They Leaving Wisconsin?

A recurring theme for our favorite MSJ columnist/blogger/squawker is that there is a brain drain going on in Wisconsin. McIlheran keeps stating that this is because of the poor economic incentives, the high taxes, or some such nonsense.

Now, let's re-enter the world of reality. Bruce Murphy, of Milwaukee Magazine, has a column highlighting the homophobic tendencies of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in the way they chose to cover the passing of Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus. MSJ was the only paper in the entire state not to mention that Governor Dreyfus did a lot to promote gay rights.

This story is an interesting read in itself. However, in the comments thread, we see two people who respond to this story, and coincidently steal some of McIlheran's thunder:

>> posted by Jay on 1/15/2008 12:11:22 PM

Hmmm. A homophobic paper in a homophobic city in a homophobic state. Hard to imagine. WI and MKE used to be able to call themselves progressive. Now we're just another embarrassing hate-state opposed to personal freedom. Count me as one of the MANY young, educated people here who are looking to leave, and leave this place to all the biggots.

Good riddance Milwaukee.

>> posted by Jake on 1/15/2008 2:18:27 PM

Hate to echo the pessimism, but I agree with Jay. I grew up here and, needless to say, Milwaukee ain't what it used to be. I'm outta here, too.


On a sidenote, a third commenter, and a friend of Whallah!'s, adds something that calls for further investigation:

>> posted by Michael Horne on 1/15/2008 2:59:56 PM

I am the only person who wrote regularly for the Sentinel who was openly gay, and I never found another from the Journal or the merged papers. I've been gone from there over 15 years and have yet to see another gay writer on the paper. Also note that now that Dr. Terry Boughner is dead, the paper has no go-to source on gay issues. They'd call on him 100 per cent of the time. Two of the largest gay sporting events in the United States -- one bowling, the other softball -- have taken place in this city for decades without a mention in the paper.
Michael Horne
milwaukeeworld com
P.S. You're pointing your finger in the right direction.

1 comment:

  1. It's well known that the editor and managing editor at the paper hate gays. Look how whenever lightning strikes and there is a story about gay issues, there's always a needless comment from someone opposed to gays. It's pathological. The paper doesn't care about human rights, except to mock them.

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