Argus on Frist

Yesterday, The New York Times, the Washington Post, the national AP, FOX, C-Span, yada, yada, yada all sent reporters to write about the big Frist visit. Seems like a big story, eh? It didn't make the front page of the Argus today (but a story about college loans did). It's on page B1. It's didn't even make the top of the fold. This story has no context to most Argus readers because the paper has systematically avoided reporting on examples of obstructionism in the Senate, which is why Frist isn't happy with Daschle. On Frist's trip, Argus reporter Mike Madden said "few South Dakotans seemed to pay it much attention." Um, yeah, that's because the Argus hasn't explained obstructionism, filibusters, cloture, and all the nasty things that Daschle's Senate has been mired in for months. Madden also didn't report, like The New York Times did, that Daschle was "annoyed" and "irked" (the Washington Post said Frist had "bruised some feelings") and just generally miffed that Frist was campaigning in his home state. Also, all the national newspapers noted that Frist said it was rare to have a party leader "not be very strongly supported by people in their home state." Now that, by any measure, is a newsworthy zinger, which is why it ended up in all the national newspaper stories. Madden didn't report it. He also didn't report on the new unmanned aircraft that Frist promoted for Ellsworth Air Force Base. He also didn't report on Frist's lengthy comments about how much the new Medicare prescription drug cards will help South Dakotans. And, most important of all, he still hasn't reported on this HUGE STORY from last week. The Argus knows about it because I emailed the editors/reporters. I'm going to do so again, because this is a MAJOR story. Oh, and by the way, the Argus endorsed Democratic Congressional candidate Stephanie Herseth today for the June 1 election. For the record, the Argus has endorsed Tom Daschle every time he has run for office.