Let’s go crazy, Star Tribune edition

Minneapolis’s Star Tribune illustrates how the major daily newspaper of a metropolitan area can contribute to its decline. The owner of the newspaper has a high tolerance for mediocrity and the local news reads like public relations for Minnesota’s DFL. Today’s case in point is Briana Bierschbach’s page-one story on the new abortion law Democrats rammed through the legislature in record time: “Gov. Tim Walz signs law strengthening abortion rights in Minnesota.” Subhead: “It’s the first in a series of bills that Democrats say will help guarantee access to the procedure for decades to come.” This is today’s page one above the fold, just beneath the Star Tribune logo.

The text of Bierschbach’s story reminds me of Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration.” Here is how the song goes: “This is your celebration / Celebrate good times, come on / Let’s celebrate /Celebrate good times, come on / Let’s celebrate / There’s a party going on right here / A celebration to last throughout the years.” It’s the unmistakable subtext of Bierschbach’s story.

One problem with the story is its failure to explain what the bill actually accomplishes. Even readers who are inclined to agree, as most undoubtedly do, won’t get it.

NRO mitigates this particular deficiency in the subhead of John McCormack’s paywall protected story “Abortion Extremism on the March in Minnesota.” The subhead on McCormack’s story accurately explains: “A new law declaring a ‘fundamental right to abortion’ contains no limitations based on how developed the child is and whether the child could survive outside the womb.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you can see why Bierschbach’s long story obscures and conceals this point. It might moderate the celebration slightly.

McCormack’s story embeds the Alpha News tweet below. Bierschbach doesn’t mention any particular proposed amendment. McCormack also links to Alpha News editor Anthonhy Gockowski’s story “Walz signs abortion-until-birth bill into law.” Compare and contrast.

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