I have commented on the Fargo Forum which is the largest newspaper in North Dakota and paper of of record in Fargo-Moorhead. It is a Pulitzer Prize winning paper with a sister prize winner in the Grand Fork Herald. WDAY in Fargo is part of the same company. Together, they are part of the Marcil family's media group in the state. The private company is its fifth generation. How much money does the family have? Hard to say but it would be within the realm that they are among the richest in the state. It is a Conservative newspaper but back in 2016, they did not endorse Trump. Like a lot of newspapers across North America, they began a withdrawal from endorsing in general. The Winnipeg Free Press also stopped political endorsements a few decades ago.
The Marcil family are associated with old school Republicans. At the moment the MAGA movement is trying to strip other Republicans of party status. It is as ugly as it comes. There are national and state level reverberations. The Forum columnists didn't shrink from them. They called out the cowardice of the North Dakota representatives on issues like trade that deeply hurt agriculture in the state. Senators, cabinet and the lone House of Representative were called out on this. The response in March was to tell columnists to stay away from national issues and politics and only comment on state stuff, There was even a call to do more people related stories that had less politics.
The columnists largely continued as they have and this week was the response: Three of them were fired and the paper is limiting opinion page material to two days a week instead of every day of publication. They will also limit national editorials. The reason that is given is that it will help curate a better balance. The changes will affect the whole of the operation of print publication for the Forum news including the Grand Forks Herald.
The reaction in Fargo has been one of surprise, mostly negative. Some Republicans are happy that a thorn in the side of the party is gone. However, as mentioned, there is a battle going on among MAGA and the party. The most recent convention was poorly attended because MAGA is trying to kick out non Trump loyalists. Even the Republican governor is incredulous. These battles are happening among Republicans in every state. However, the reaction in the editorial offices is to back into the bushes like Home Simpson. Has this been an owner dictate or something the editorial department has decided after countless letters and digital feedback fighting tooth and claw over left and right, but mostly left?
Now, don't get me wrong. I have credited Forum Communications with having amazing local news and sports coverage. Together, with their ABC affiliate WDAY in Fargo, they have fabulous coverage of local news, weather and top tier sports coverage. The WDAY station has six meteorologists! We don't have any based on TV or radio networks in Winnipeg. Both Fargo Forum and WDAY have healthy sized newsrooms. Their sports reporting on local school and university sports is better than the entire province of Manitoba. Hockey, football, basketball in both girls and boys sports is off the charts. In Winnipeg, we are an utter failure at it. I have noticed more school and junior sports coverage from Shaw/Rogers on their public access. It doesn't come close to North Dakota.
The Free Press in Winnipeg has been excellent in photo journalists working. The pro sports coverage for Jets and Bombers is well done. Business has dedicated writers. As far as arts coverage goes, the Free Press is superior and perhaps on CBC radio competes in that area. However, the Free Press is by far the most extensive for opinion coverage locally. The Sun, by contrast, has relied to heavily on Postmedia opinion although they have invested locally in recent years.
The Fargo Forum has had continuous and diverse opinion till now. They are limited it now to a few days a week. Their reasoning is not known. The result is though that Jim Shaw, Joan Bricker and Jack Zaleski all wrote their final opinion columns on Sunday. Some columnist remain but their platform has been shortened and their ability to write about national politicians even in their own state clipped. This shocking result has led to about 60 people of Fargo protesting outside the doors. I'd be surprised if that has ever happened in the paper's history.
The letters have been mostly negative with some saying that conservative columnists kept their jobs. Since there is only one newspaper in Fargo, the opinion pages tried, in the past, to have a variety of coverage. The amount of protests shows that not everyone will go gently into the night. The High Plains Reader is a monthly progressive publication but a publication that size can't possibly make up for the loss of weekly columns.
I hope we never see this happen in Winnipeg. Still, it is AI and search engines that is not paying for content that is the biggest issue that all content providers worry about more. Fargo is at a turning point for their new and opinion content. Winnipeg, by contrast, as two local owned news papers with s much opinin to chse from.
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