For over a century the
Charleston Gazette has stood at the fringes of respectable politics. This paper generally represents a left wing position somewhere to the wrong side of Vladimir Lenin and rarely sees a Republican it likes. Not for nothing did Governor Moore call it "The Morning Sick Call."
If the charges levied against it by the Department of Justice are correct, then this venerable bastion of loony lefties has found new lows. On May 7th, 2004 the
Gazette purchased Charleston's afternoon Republican newspaper the
Daily Mail. This in itself was not unique as morning papers had taken over afternoon publications around the country to help keep them afloat.
The Department of Justice, unfortunately for the
Gazette, does not consider halting solicitations for new
Daily Mail subscribers, allowing half of the reporters and staff to leave without replacing them, stopping all promotions and discounts, and cutting the newsroom budget to be helping the afternoon paper. A nineteen page report alleges that the
Gazette tried to strangle the
Daily Mail right out of existence. It only ceased these policies when the Justice Department launched its investigation.
Either the
Charleston Gazette tried to suffocate one of the last printed conservative voices in West Virginia, or it sought to create a monopolistic stranglehold over the metropolitan region around Charleston. The second possibility must particularly delight the
Gazette's enemies due to the enormous number of corporate greed sermons its editors launched over the years.
The internet means that even in the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, we can read news about state government from those directly at the sources. When the
Gazette choked off resources to the
Daily Mail it reduced the conservative paper's ability to cover events. Those seeking daily news about state government had to turn to the paper with one of the most shrilly liberal biases in the nation. Already the 2004 purchase has been voided. Hopefully the courts will force the
Gazette to pay damages to ensure a balance of coverage out of Charleston.
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