FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
"every political insider should be reading right now."

E-Mail Florida Politics

This is our Main Page
Our Sister Site
On FaceBook
Follow us on Twitter
Our Google+ Page
Contact [E-Mail Florida Politics]
Site Feed
...and other resources

 

Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

Older posts [back to 2002]

Previous Articles by Derek Newton: Ten Things Fox on Line 1 Stem Cells are Intelligent Design Katrina Spin No Can't Win Perhaps the Most Important Race Senate Outlook The Nelson Thing Deep, Dark Secret Smart Boy Bringing Guns to a Knife Fight Playing to our Strength  

The Blog for Thursday, October 06, 2005

Sentinel Flip Flops on Headline

    Yesterday, in "Massive 'Jeb!' Flip Flop" we linked to the Orlando Sentinel's excellent article with the following juicy - and perfectly accurate - headline:
    "Gov. Bush reverses on Gulf drilling"
    Curiously, the headline was changed to be more Bush-friendly:
    "Gov. Bush eases off on Gulf drilling"
    And the following subheading soft pedaled the issue even further:
    "Deal could protect Florida coast, he says"
    Hmmm. Isn't that a bit curious? Florida News asks: "Orlando Sentinel Changes Headline Under Pressure?

    Along these same lines, the Florida Times Union picked up the original Sentinel story, and has this update today:
    Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday strongly denied that he has backed off a longtime stance against oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

    A report in the Orlando Sentinel, published on the front page of Wednesday's Times-Union, spurred a flurry of e-mails, news releases and phone calls between Tallahassee and Washington, where Florida's congressional leaders are portraying a united front against drilling.
    "Bush denies easing stance on oil drilling in eastern gulf".

    It is clear that the Orlando Sentinel's original headline - "Gov. Bush reverses on Gulf drilling" - was altered; the new headline is much softer on "Jeb!". Did the Sentinel change the headline as a result if political pressure? [The Times Union piece makes plain that Bushco was furious with the suggestion that "Jeb!" has "reversed" himself.] If it was political pressure, the Sentinel's readers deserve an explanation, and, indeed, an apology. If it wasn't political pressure, what was the reason for the change?

<< Home