An irreverent approach to journalism hasn’t limited the appeal of The Stranger, Seattle’s alternative weekly newspaper, to its audience.
But I wonder if it’s going too far, by selling an ownership stake to one of Seattle’s most powerful political organizations.
MLK Labor, a coalition of more than 150 unions, recently agreed to invest in Noisy Creek, parent company of The Stranger and The Portland Mercury.
The deal isn’t complete yet. But both sides seem enthused about the prospect and unconcerned about how the newspaper’s credibility will be affected if it’s co-owned by a titan of Seattle’s political establishment.
Maybe I’m a dinosaur. Hyperpartisan media are growing as local news outlets fade.
The Stranger’s also not the best case to argue for traditional media standards. It has long been far left and echoed progressive labor’s narratives.
But I still think it’s a problem when political kingmakers become co-owners of a local newspaper. It erodes trust in news media, feeds suspicions about bias and makes it even harder for people to figure out what’s truly independent, fact-driven journalism.
Brady Walkinshaw, Noisy Creek’s majority owner, said MLK Labor is one of around a dozen investors he’s working with on a financing round to fund the company’s growth.
“I’m really thrilled to bring on actually a really diverse group of supporters that want to come in and make this happen,” he said. “It’s actually great to me that working people represented by unions are going to be a part of this.”
Negotiations are underway, Katie Garrow, MLK Labor’s executive secretary-treasurer, said via email on Wednesday.
“We’re really excited to look at ways we can support local journalism at a time when it’s vital for democracy,” she said in a prepared statement.
Walkinshaw, a former Democratic politician, has yet to disclose the 20 initial investors who helped him buy The Stranger a year ago and wouldn’t disclose the potential new investors.
The infusion of cash and new leadership has reinvigorated The Stranger. It resumed printing — monthly for now — and Walkinshaw said Noisy Creek now employs 60 people, up from 38 last year.
That’s great and competition is needed.
Still, I’ve wondered since the sale whether The Stranger would become less of an independent newspaper and more of a political megaphone.
Being co-owned by MLK Labor may create that appearance. I’d feel the same if it was a group that lobbies on behalf of business.
Walkinshaw said the business side of the company is separate from the editorial side, so investors won’t influence coverage.
“I’m really not concerned about it,” he said, adding that the $50,000 investment being considered is a relatively small stake.
I would be.
Lines between news outlets and political interests are being blurred more often as traditional outlets and standards fade. In their wake “pink slime” publications, masquerading as legacy media, have emerged as political vehicles for the left and the right.
Partisanship is also affecting perceptions of storied publications and decisions by their new owners.
“This is more important than ever, in light of the fact that owners who were in an earlier time, not very long ago, not putting their thumb on the scale have begun to do so,” said Tom Rosenstiel, a University of Maryland journalism professor and co-author of “The Elements of Journalism.”
Rosenstiel said the best-known examples are the decisions to kill presidential endorsements of Kamala Harris, by The Washington Post’s owner Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong at the Los Angeles Times.
Similar concerns have arisen with nonprofits that get most of their funding from a few major donors, potentially giving them influence comparable to an ownership stake.
“The question, though, is why did they buy it?” Rosenstiel said. “Did they buy it because they want to support independent journalism, or did they buy it because they wanted to have a vehicle for pressing their political agenda?”
Both, judging from MLK Labor’s resolution authorizing the investment.
It said The Stranger and Mercury are now “controlled by people with strong progressive credentials.”
It also said it’s in MLK Labor’s interest “to help ensure the continued existence and growth of The Stranger as an independent, progressive media entity that also retains its focus on issues of particular importance to the labor movement.”
In its pitch to MLK Labor, Noisy Creek said there’s a “total firewall between the business side of Noisy Creek and the news side,” said Joe Mizrahi, one of MLK Labor’s trustees who approved the investment. He doesn’t think it will influence coverage.
“Frankly, the labor council would have liked it if it was that way, if the investment meant more say over the editorial decision-making,” he said.
Mizrahi is secretary-treasurer of UFCW 3000, a union representing grocery, retail and other workers. He’s also a political candidate, running to retain a Seattle Public Schools board seat to which he was appointed last year.
The Stranger interviewed him as part of its endorsement process and the ownership stake “didn’t come up,” he said.
If the goal is primarily to support independent media, MLK Labor should make a donation instead of becoming a co-owner.
Newspapers all over, including this one, have programs to receive donations from individuals and organizations that want to sustain independent journalism.
If papers are transparent and have policies to prevent donors from influencing coverage, this supports their public-service mission and preserves independence. It doesn’t give supporters a seat in the board room.
The Stranger also needs to be more transparent about its owners.
At least MLK Labor revealed the deal on its website.
Last year I used public records to discover one of the initial Noisy Creek investors through public records: The wife of Amazon’s top lawyer and senior vice president.
That raises questions about another section of MLK Labor’s resolution, which said it’s investing in The Stranger because of its independence from big corporations like Amazon.
The passage said:
“Whereas, The Stranger is one of the most important sources of news to a large number of people in the King County area that is not controlled by or substantially influenced by traditional corporate interests in our region such as the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, and Seattle King County REALTORS …”
That’s a Trump-grade smear of the press, larded with innuendo. None of those “corporate interests” control or substantially influence any of King County’s important news sources, unless you count Microsoft’s Bing.
Arguably, the closest news source to Amazon is now The Stranger, which ought to make for some interesting ownership meetings.
