In the late ’90s, CJR bestowed the paper the title “Worst Newspaper in America,” and Oklahoman columnists have also taken CJR to task.
Now CJR is criticizing The Oke’s profile of its soon-to-be new owner, Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, who is acquiring all of OPUBCO this month.
In a Sept. 27 piece titled “How not to cover your paper’s new owner,” CJR states that the paper’s Sept. 18 profile of Anschutz was handled with kid gloves (such as “Anschutz’s preference for personal privacy” rather than “doesn’t talk to journalists”), refused to provide critical context of Anschutz’s pouring of money into several high-profile conservative causes and disabled reader comments on stories having to do with the new owner at NewsOK.
“It’s an inauspicious start to a new era for the paper,” the article stated.
Ouch. Given the past relationship between the two entities, it could be that OPUBCO is ignoring the CJR article.
But if CFN were the betting kind — and we most certainly are, just ask our sponsor at Gamblers Anonymous — we would put our money on the scenario of hiring a bounty hunter to find the author of this CJR piece, capturing him and freezing him in carbonite.
