bias against White Sox at nwitimes.com

[CubKiller]

I apologize in advance if this belongs in the parking lot.

Also, I realize bias in this respect is by no means uncommon, so please spare me the teal 'you mean there is bias against the Sox in one of our local papers?' remarks...thanks.

I sent a letter to the editors at nwitimes.com complaining about what I believe to be a severe lack of balance in their baseball coverage that favors the you-know-whos.

In case anyone is interested, here it is:

**********

Times,

I've been a resident of Lansing, IL for the past 15 years and enjoy visiting nwitimes.com (http://www.nwitimes.com) three or four times per week. I grew up in Dolton, IL, and my parents used to subscribe to The Hammond Times.

I especially like the easy-to-use and versatile Archives section, which I use if I've been away for a few days or want to relocate an older article.

However, I am nauseated by the lack of balance that favors the Cubs over the White Sox in your Sports section.

Today in the Sports section, an important Sox win over division-rival Cleveland was the TENTH link in the Pro Sports article list, and the TWENTY-EIGHTH link on the Sports page overall.

This absolutely can not be justified.

This absolutely could not be justified even if the Sox were NOT currently in a legitimate race for a division title and playoff birth.

Meanwhile, it's easy to locate Cub material. Today, another story about Sammy sneezing is right near the top, even though it happened three days ago.

Even if the Cubs are presently the overall main baseball interest in Chicagoland and NW Indiana, you must know that it is an absolute myth that Chicago White Sox fans do not exist.

Your newspaper claims to provide "depth and flavor of a hometown newspaper". Yet here you are seemingly catering to the North Side and CubNation while disservicing the loyal fans of the South Siders.

There is already far too much bias in our neck of the woods, largely stemming from the unmistakable, incestuous love triangle that consists of the Chicago Tribune, WGN and the Chicago Cubs.

Please don't stoop to that level.

Sincerely,
Mike

**********

[Hangar18]

Good letter man ......

[DaveIsHere]

Nice.....now there will be four articles in there about how we are jealous and the game results will still be at the bottom :)

[tebman]

Originally posted by CubKiller
I apologize in advance if this belongs in the parking lot.

Also, I realize bias in this respect is by no means uncommon, so please spare me the teal 'you mean there is bias against the Sox in one of our local papers?' remarks...thanks.

I sent a letter to the editors at nwitimes.com complaining about what I believe to be a severe lack of balance in their baseball coverage that favors the you-know-whos.


The Hammond Times fancies itself as a Great Metropolitan Newspaper,
so if there's a Cub bias now, it's probably because they have
editors who are not from the area. NW Indiana (a.k.a. "The Region")
has historically been overwhelmingly Sox country. I grew up
there, so I can speak from experience.

Dan McNeil is from The Region and used to be a sportswriter
at the Hammond Times. Maybe you should send a copy of your
letter to him too. Worth a shot.

- tebman

[woodenleg]

Originally posted by DaveIsHere
Nice.....now there will be four articles in there about how we are jealous and the game results will still be at the bottom :)

Not in the Calumet Region, they won't. They can't get away with that crap down there.

:D:

[leon1973]

I grew up in NW Indiana as well and there definitely is a strong Sox fan base. I would say I grew up with more Sox fans -- except the women tend to like the Cubs a little more. Maybe its changed some due to the recent run by the Cubs last year. I haven't read the Times in a while except when I visit my folks -- I do remember that they had strong Sox coverage when the Sox made runs in the early 90's. Maybe they are just riding the wave of popularity the Cubs have from their strong postseason last year and renewed hopes for this year. Nice letter though -- Go Sox.

[Frankfan4life]

Great letter Cubkiller. Writing letters of complaint do make a difference. Thanks for making the effort.

[tebman]

Originally posted by leon1973
I grew up in NW Indiana as well and there definitely is a strong Sox fan base. I would say I grew up with more Sox fans -- except the women tend to like the Cubs a little more. Maybe its changed some due to the recent run by the Cubs last year. I haven't read the Times in a while except when I visit my folks -- I do remember that they had strong Sox coverage when the Sox made runs in the early 90's. Maybe they are just riding the wave of popularity the Cubs have from their strong postseason last year and renewed hopes for this year. Nice letter though -- Go Sox.

So true -- and it's been true for a long time. The writer Jean
Shepherd ("A Christmas Story") grew up in Hammond and based
many of his stories (including Ralphie) on his own Region
childhood. He was a big Sox fan, and as sardonic and wary
as all of us are now, 50 years later.

Go to this link on the WSI audio page and listen to "Balls" by Jean Shepherd.
He recorded this in the fifties, talking about the Sox
he knew in the '30s and '40s. The Calumet Region is definitely
Sox country.

http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/SoxSounds.htm

- tebman

[CubKiller]

Originally posted by Frankfan4life
Great letter Cubkiller. Writing letters of complaint do make a difference. Thanks for making the effort.

Thank you.

I was feeling exceptionally vigilant today, not to mention a little inspired by Hangar. I can't help but admire the way he battles for our side.

I've already received replies from a couple of the numerous editors I sent the letter to.

One editor shares my "concerns about the presentation of Sox stories compared to Cubs stories" and cautiously guesses that "the imbalance that you an I perceive is a result of the personal loyalties of staff members combined with their sense that there are not as many Sox fans as Cub fans".

The other reply basically defended the paper while separating it from the web site and dodging the exception I took to the Sox recap being burried under Soccer and Women's basketball as the 28th link on the Sports page.