Hint: It’s brash, irreverent, and tons of fun. It can be argued that it arrives on your doorstep with the best headlines known to man. And as many are known to assert, it gives you the real news. The “it” is the New York Post – a daily newspaper with character as well as a conservative point of view. Buckle up, Californians, now you have your own version of the daily tabloid with the entrance of the California Post this week.
With journalism increasingly ghettoized into political camps, Rupert Murdoch’s family has taken up the challenge of providing the people of the Golden State with a left-coast version of the New York Post. Unabashedly conservative and committed to calling it as they see it, the paper enters into enemy territory with courage and typical tabloid flair, signifying its heritage. On the front page of its inaugural edition, Editor-in-Chief Nick Papps’ opening salvo was titled: “The California Post heralds a new era for the Golden State — we will fearlessly tell you the stories that really matter.” He went on to stipulate that the Cali Post “will inform you, entertain you, certainly surprise you.”
The New York Post is well known for its salacious Page Six, and the same will be true of the left-coast version, only it will likely be even more bawdy, with Hollywood in its line of fire. Murdoch’s tabloids offer spicy, gossipy coverage of the rich and famous, and it appears the California Post will not disappoint. It also plans to mimic the Eastern tabloid model, with a hefty sports section likely to be popular in the Golden State’s sports-laden cities.
As the Murdoch media empire grows, it cannot go unnoticed that the left is having a whale of a time trying to keep its Fourth Estate venues afloat. Such is the case with the recent announcement that the 200-year-old Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will be closing its doors this year. The paper boasts a long history dating back to 1786 as “the first newspaper west of the Allegheny Mountains,” with one of its first efforts being the “printing [of] the nation’s newly adopted Constitution in 1787,” according to the paper’s account of its own history.
In the 1800s, the Steel City newspaper was considered conservative and even “respected throughout the community for its instrumental role in organizing the Republican Party in Allegheny County and abetting Abraham Lincoln’s Election landslide.” However, the worm eventually turned, and the Gazette ultimately took a hard left, suffering a dwindling circulation as subscriptions fell. Owned by the Paul Block family, the paper wrote of its own demise, saying, “The Block family is proud of the service the Post-Gazette has provided to Pittsburgh for nearly a century and will exit with their dignity intact.” There’s hope that the city’s charitable community will try to resurrect the paper, but, at this point, it’s only talk.
In announcing the fall of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Liberty Nation’s Joe Schaeffer opined, “The root problem lies with an out-of-touch profession that still believes it wields vast influence over public opinion from its towering perch and will not accept the reality of its dismal standing among Americans today.” Such is the plight of the left-wing Fourth Estate – as conservative outlets multiply, the progressive outlets continue to contract — one wonders if and when they will get the message, or will they continue falling like dominoes.
