I hoped that after Justin Hinkley left that the new leadership of The Alpena News would reduce the amount of bias printed in The News. Alas, if anything, the amount of bias appears to have increased. The News relies on the left-wing Associated Press (AP) for its newsfeed and has shown no inclination for local editorial control or moderation.

The Monday, September 22, issue of The News was an example of the bias. Page A3 had two articles, one lamenting food stamp cuts for those that should be working, and one about financial institutions allegedly “profiting off the climate crisis.” The editorial page had a screed by Keith Raffel, “Everybody Counts, not just the MAGA faithful.” In it Raffel accuses the Trump administration of using Charlie Kirk’s assassination as a political weapon. Raffel downplays the recent shootings committed by people of the trans community as a nothingburger. He says people have died while being held by ICE but has no proof. He laments the drug traffickers taken out by the Navy while bringing drugs into the U.S. He blames Trump for killing Africans because he supposedly cut off medications for them. Apparently, the U.S. is responsible for the health of the entire planet.

Page B6 had an article blaming Israel for killing 40 people in Gaza in large headline font. The AP takes the word of Hamas for the number of deaths even though Hamas is known to inflate the death count as a propaganda talking point. Hamas purposely places its weapon stores and fighters in civilian areas and is to blame for any civilians caught up in the fighting.

Most of us would like our news untainted, but we’re not going to get it that way from the AP or from the Alpena News.

MIKE LEOW

Rogers City