http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/7090928.htm

<<FOUR YEARS AGO, the Daily News endorsed Sam Katz over John Street in the race for mayor because we believed Katz had a pro-growth vision for Philadelphia that was compelling.

Katz still has that vision. But in the few years that he has been mayor, John Street has amassed a record of achievement in Philadelphia neighborhoods and in the lives of residents that is impressive, even inspiring.

Given that record, it is the Daily News' judgment that John Street deserves to be re-elected on Election Day, Nov. 4. He has this paper's enthusiastic endorsement. Look closely at the Philadelphia that Street has helped create and you can see why.

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This is meaningless, actually--the Daily News endorsed Katz in the past, yet that didn't lead to his victory. Perhaps this non-endorsement will work into Katz' favor! There are still a few others papers yet to endorse one of the candidates, and Katz has already picked up "Philadelphia Magazine".

Other than that rant, I think the endorsement was a very thoughtful one--tempering Streets' praise with his faults, keeping Katz's strengths at the table (and pointing out that Katz's plans bring important things this City desperately needs), and voicing their opinion of what really is in the Citizens' best interests.

Upon hearing the endorsement, I was ready to fire off an emotionally-ridden letter to the Editor, calling them insane and ludicrous, but I ended up sending the Editor a letter that simply disagreed with their endosement and pointed out why. Hopefully it will be published for everyone to read this weekend.

Wow -- pretty disappointing news, Jen.

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Interesting. Yes, it's a sober piece. But I'm struck by the faith the DN has in Street's willingness/ability to change bad behaviors in the second term. Being reelected is good because it means Street will finally get a chance to clean up all that corruption? I mean, come on, how stupid do you think we are?

Their observations on Street gel with what I've been noticing for a long time - it's all about what he's already done, not what he plans to do. John Street has articulated NO concrete plans for the future! The DN's endorsement is basically on the strength of the first term, assuming that he'll do some other good things in the next one. What those could be nobody knows, but they're confident he'll do something.

Well I'm not. Give Street the office he wants for the last time he's eligible to hold it, and you think somehow magically he'll be energized to do more for the city? That strikes me as at best naive.

It was interesting because of the fact that they spent more than a few sentences praising Katz. There's really nothing anyone can say bad about Katz, except that he's a member of the Republican party, and for whatever reason, that's bad in this city.

I think last time the Inky and DN endorsed Katz b/c they thought he would win. Now they think Street will win, so they're going to endorse Street. It amazes me that a news source which has spent so much time badmouthing the mayor over the past few months now all of a sudden endorses him.

The Daily News has to think about circulation because its readership is primarily black and they can't afford to have their circ. continue to slide. I can guarantee that 90% of the executives at the paper - editors/publisher/heads of circulation, promotion, etc - do not live in Philadelphia. They're all safe and clean out in Gladwyne or Haverford or Narberth or wherever they live so it really doesn't matter who is mayor here in the city as long as their pathetic circulation numbers go up (or at least don't fall any lower). Face it, they just don't care. If they did, they would live in the city that's printed on their masthead and take an active role in its revival.

You are absolutely right. They really don't care at all. They just want headlines that will sell papers.

Mary, that is a killer point, never thought of it in that light,

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I cannot imagine that black people would cease to read the DN if they endorsed Katz. Why do you think that? Is the Katz endorsement by Philadelphia magazine any more valid than the DN's endorsement of Street, given that most of their execs probably don't live in Philly either?

Hang on, newspapers do not endorse political candidates to boost their circulation - rather, it's quite the opposite.

The question before an editorial board, when making that decision, is who best would serve our readership and support the views of the people we serve? When you consider that the DN is an afternoon paper and circulates only via newsstand - no subs - the fact is the people who read that paper most often are working class people who take the train home from work at 3 every day and buy it on their way home. Democrats generally - generally, not always, but generally - represent working class, union values. Therefore, Street represents their readership.

Certainly, Katz doesn't.

I think the reason they're backing Street is because the city is in such a precarious position right now - better to support the guy you know rather than a sweeping change at a time when we face federal investigation. Their thinking was probably that, while change is great and all, right now that may be more like upheaval.

I used to run the editorial page of my campus daily newspper at Syracuse. And while it was small-time compared to Philly, it's the same process. When it came time to endorse a candidate, we had a rather rigorous test we put people through, invited them in for interviews withour editorial board, etc. Typically, papers do that - they bring them in in person to present their views. I'm not sure if that happend in this case or not, but typically they do.

I'm the first one to say that newspapers are in business to make money, etc., having worked in them for five years and being as near to the industry as I am now, but I highly doubt that the top editors at that paper in the fifth largest city in the country sat down in their offices last night and said "which candidate will boost our circulation numbers?" Any self-respecting editor who said that would likely be ostracized from the newsroom.

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* Name: Jennifer Kronstain
* Status on PhillyBlog.com: Co-Founder
* Job: Principal / Founder, KMG Worldwide Public Relations (http://www.kronstainmediagroup.com)
* Connect with Jennifer / KMG. Here's how: http://www.jenniferkronstain.com/contact.htm