The Portland Mercury rocks

I learned a lot over the course of my campaign for City Council in 2005-6. Some things I would rather still be ignorant about, others I’m glad I know. One of the latter is newfound appreciation for the Portland Mercury weekly newspaper. If you’re like me – over 40, not hip, accustomed to reading newspapers that don’t print swear words – you may be unaware of the excellent news reporting buried in the print version amid the entertainment reviews and “adult” ads.

This may not be a particularly good moment to suggest you try the on-line version, as an easy way to find the topics that interest you while skipping the offensive parts. Their lead story today starts right in with the S word, then below that is a sex survey, and then a music review with the H word in its subtitle. Young People, it is not necessary to use swear words to make your point or be amusing!

But persevere. Scroll down the page to the NEWS section (or just click on that link, and skip the main page for today, so you can see the News section by itself). I check Scott Moore’s “Hall Monitor” every Thursday. Today’s focus is a demonstration at City Hall this past Monday, protesting the City’s purchasing of materials made in sweatshops. I didn’t see coverage of this event in either the Oregonian or the Tribune – maybe I missed it. But what I especially appreciate about the Mercury, is that reporters are given freedom to add their own opinion – straight up, not as subtle value-laden/biased wording choices. Scott writes, commenting on the official City position that slow response is because the purchasing and finance bureaus are still trying to determine the scope of such an ordinance, and how it would be enforced:
“So, the “too complicated!” excuse is bogus. If a politician wants a policy change, they can use their political strength to muscle it through—cost and complications be damned. So far, though, the sweat-free ordinance doesn’t have a champion to carry it past the bureaucratic hurdles, and the result is that it’s languishing in limbo. Meanwhile, the city and its contractors continue to buy products made by eight-year-old orphans.”

Now that’s telling it like it is! Or at least how the reporter sees it, which is the way I see it, too. More often than not, the Mercury‘s news reporting has me cheering, rather than reaching for my keyboard to write a blistering e-mail to the reporter, Letter to the Editor or blog post.

Similarly, read In Other News, carrying reports of the Save Madison South campaign event I previewed last week, the Schumacher fur store closure, and a new effort for neighborhood business improvements in Concordia (a Neighborhood Association with an awesome track record of influencing development in their area with positive results). Amy Jenniges has an impressive string of insightful articles on neighborhood issues to her credit, continued with today’s on graffiti. And Matt Davis (or whoever wrote the headline) not only for covers the issue of racial profiling today, but also tempers the article’s title to “Lies, lies, and statistics.” I believe there is a swear word in the original quote – such restraint!

See, Old People, it’s safe and good to read The Mercury‘s news section. Usually.