The RJ declares today that Republicans love Sharron Angle!

We'll start with the publisher today, because frankly, that's where most of the anti-Reid fervor begins.

We've had another whole weekend of Sharron Angle puffery in the Review-Journal.

But we expected that.

The fun began Saturday with coverage of Friday's Republican State Convention in Henderson. http://www.lvrj.com/news/rnc-leader-vows-to-bring-party-together--clarifies-afghanistan-remarks-98156014.html

Ben Spillman did his best to cover GOP Chairman Michael Steele, in light of Steele's insanely ignorant comments about the war in Afghanistan, but also didn't put his comments into proper perspective. Apparently, Nevada GOP Chairman Mark Amodei had no idea of the controversy. We learned that later from Spillman.

The Angle fun continued Sunday with Laura Myers' reporting on Day 2 of the state convention. http://www.lvrj.com/news/republicans-urge-clean-nevada-sweep-98190419.html

But here's the real problematic story -- Myers got a 10-minute interview with Angle -- and this is all she was able to wrestle out of her.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/gop-s-angle-rejects-political-makeover-98190384.html

Myers lets Angle say she's "not made over."

Puh-lease.

How about asking her why she's triangulating already if that's the story you're going to do?

Myers just asked her political questions, and so all she really got back was spin.

This is not exactly grown-up reporting. But we haven't come to expect the grown-ups to rule the day at the RJ.

**

On the grown-up front, it seems the Publisher of the Sun has a new beef with the Publisher of the RJ.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jul/11/motive-behind-despicable-dig-reid-senators-patriot/

We're not sure if Brian Greenspun really got to the "motive" behind Sherm Frederick's antics, but we're happy to have a "grown-up" thrown down.

**

The aforementioned-Spillman has a strange notebook item today in which he somehow suggests Brian Sandoval says more about the state's deficit with his non-speak than Rory Reid does with his.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/goodman-can-t-see-balancing-state-budget-without-tax-hike-98224004.html

For what it's worth, he also quotes Oscar Goodman to try to set things straight.

So, for "balance," the Review-Journal gives plenty of paragraphs in its President Obama coverage to opposition.

Except, the balance tips the scales way over.

First of all the paper does a complete sidebar focusing on remarks Sharron Angle made to a Libertarian convention in town. http://www.lvrj.com/news/angle-declares-nevada-and-nation--going-in-the-wrong-direction--under-current-leadership-98050024.html

And, no surprise here, Laura Myers' article about Angle contains just three graphs at the very end of the article to offset Angle's positions and statements.

By comparison, the article about Obama's event for Sen. Harry Reid had six graphs of direct opposition, not including the four graphs (from 4-8 high in the story) that detail Angle's new ad against Reid.  http://www.lvrj.com/news/obama-pledges-a--bright-future--for-las-vegas--state-at-reid-rally-98083019.html

Fairness is fine. A graph explaining the protest across the street and a second quoting a protester is fine.

But the RJ has shown its lack of fairness by putting protest from Angle high up in the story and giving her an entire free piece of her own. In fact, online, the story you see first is the Angle one.

For the record -- the Angle story has three graphs of "opposition." The Obama story has seven graphs of "opposition," the bulk of it before the jump.

The RJ also largely avoided the main political reason for the location, CityCenter. Myers didn't even mention the rousing intro speech by new pitbull, Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani.

We understand the RJ thinks it can cover the Senate race with just one reporter. Fine. It would've been better if Myers had done a straight piece saying Obama told thousands of Nevada supporters the country is moving in the right direction and Angle told 1,000 out-of-towners that the country's going in the wrong direction.

That's fairness. And it's what you'll never find in the RJ.

**

Also today there's a curious story about a new Rory Reid ad. Curious because there's no link to the ad online. http://www.lvrj.com/news/rory-reid-gets--tough-in-ads-on-state-education-98095384.html

When Ben Spillman does this lengthy story about the aggressive testosterone-fueled ad as a political departure it leaves the reader wanting to see it for his or herself. Of course the RJ doesn't understand the Internet enough to know that an online story about a video would be better if readers could also see the video.

Maybe they can't because Rory Reid is a Democrat and the paper doesn't want to showcase his bid for governor in any way.

The RJ didn't really spell out the heart of Obama's speech --- which was designed to say America is heading in the right direction after nearly a decade of failed economic policies that led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. That angle wasn't covered well by Myers.

But over on the edit page, we have the glorious headline: "Welcome back, Mr. President Your Economic Policies Suck." http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/welcome-back--mr--president-98095489.html

Whatever happened to the power of true discourse on the editorial page. The RJ proves its nasty tone carries the day once again.

**

Today there's another business story correction that shows once again how well the paper covers the worst economic crisis in Nevada history.

"A story in Wednesday's Business section incorrectly reported that Barcelone and Renaissance III shopping centers are in foreclosure or receivership."

Leave it to Hubble Smith to screw it up, again.

It seems the summer doldrums have set in over at the RJ.

There's lots of wire copy in the paper.  Just two local pieces in the main section.

The most interesting read in the piece is false on its face. Laura Myers suggests Sharron Angle's popularity could be tested at the Nevada GOP convention. Last we checked, the Clark GOP had been completely supplanted by the Tea Party and Angle has always had strong love up North.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/angle-s-reach-in-gop-tested-98008674.html

This is a classic set-up story. Myers makes these odd assumptions so that she can report later this weekend about the "unity" at the GOP convention.

Sickening really. The real story about the convention and unity is whether local Republicans will want to see Michael Steele's keynote or pony up the big bucks to have their picture taken with him.

Of course, Myers misses the political forest for the trees.

Jane Ann Morrison weighs in the investiture ceremony for new judge Gloria Navarro. In and of itself, it's pretty straightforward.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/federal-judge-s-appointment-reflects-her-abilities--reid-s-clout-98008664.html

But since the headline references "Reid's clout" we wonder whether Morrison will get in trouble for showing Nevada's senior senator in such a positive light.

And the column really begs an unasked question -- what kind of appointments would Sharron Angle make?

Lastly, it seems the crack GAs covering last week's wildfires weren't exactly up to snuff.

But there's either a technical glitch or an ominous new trend in the paper's reporting of corrections.

There is nothing online about it.

Here's today's printed clarification:

"Stories that appeared in the Saturday and Monday editions of the Las Vegas Review-Journal about a wildfire in Moapa Valley mistakenly referred to a man who witnessed the fire as a maintenance employee with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The man was contracted by the agency but was not directly employed by the agency, according to Fish and Wildlife officials."

The Saturday story was written by Mike Blasky. The Monday story was just a brief with no byline.

Interestingly, not only has the correction not run online, but the story with the error hasn't been amended.

We're not sure what kind of games the RJ is playing, but they're certainly games.

Laura Myers finally gets around to examining the voter turnout records from the June 8 primary.

She's only one month late.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/parties-firing-up-voters-97836039.html

Myers' other story is about Sharron Angle's little beef with the Harry Reid campaign over the re-posting of Angle's old website.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/angle-accuses-reid-s-campaign-of-dirty-tricks-over-old-website-97827114.html

Is this worth a story? Perhaps, given that Angle's re-imagineering became a story last week when she launched her new website.

But, generally speaking, it's just another chance for the RJ to give Angle free media in her fight against Reid.

There's also a pretty embarrassing Sports photo mishap corrected today.

"A military service member identified in a photo caption on page 2C in Monday's Review-Journal is an airman in the U.S. Air Force ."

The Review-Journal took no days off to be independence.

On Sunday, the paper kept railing against Sen. Harry Reid and President Barack Obama again as usual.

Sherm Frederick decided to re-launch old issues against Reid again on Sunday.  http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/reid-s-words-of-infamy-97758234.html

In fact, between his column Sunday, Jane Ann Morrison's column Monday http://www.lvrj.com/news/nevada-politicos--flood-of-words-often-lack-drop-of-reason-97788189.html and Laura Myers' section front article Monday http://www.lvrj.com/news/parties-playing--gotcha--games-97788209.html , the old Reid statements have been retread three times.

Sherm's off his rocker again just to bash Reid.

Morrison tried to do a "patriotic" column but once again she showed just how out-of-touch she is. She references an old book -- a book so old it contains not one of Reid's infamous statements, nor does it or her column address the two biggest political goofs of the past few years -- former Sen. George Allen's macaca moment and Sue Lowden's bartering for chickens statement that cost her the primary election.

She also informs the reader that it's important for a reporter to use a tape recorder.

I'm not sure if any reporters, beside Morrison, still use the antiquated device. A voice activated MP3 player, maybe.

But typically these days if you say it, it's on video, too. And that's the heart of Myers' story.

It's not horrible. She actually quoted someone who isn't involved with either campaign -- a nationally-known political analyst.

And she gives proper treatment to both Lowden's insane statements and the macaca moment.

Essentially, Myers got to this broad treatment as a way of skirting the accusations against the paper's darling Sharron Angle.

Angle's numerous statements about policy and about politics have certainly been fueling lots of blogosphere hand-wringing. At the very least, Myers is watching the Internets -- which is more than we can say about Old School Morrison.

Also today, Ben Spillman has an interesting look at the silence of the governor's race on the state's most pressing issue -- the massive $3.5 billion deficit.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/gubernatorial-candidates-steer-clear-of-economics-97788224.html

Spillman soft treads it without holding either Brian Sandoval or Rory Reid to task for their unworkable statements on revenue. But he also does the smart thing and quotes the sharpest fiscal analyst in the state -- Jeremy Aguero. Thank goodness he went with Aguero and not the paper's think tank, NPRI.

Mostly the weekend editions were snoozefests, with so little local copy that there was only one correction. This one ran Saturday and is a rare miss from John L. Smith. (The bad punctuation is the RJ's error in the correction."

"Some versions of John L. Smith's Friday column incorrectly described Don Logan's status with the Las Vegas 51s. He was recently given a demotion".

Before we leave, a brief look at how the letters to the editor have been diversifying -- thanks in no small effort to the paper's constant conservative slant that has angered so many on the left.

Today, there's a backhanded vote for Harry Reid by Las Vegan Jim Graham. http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/failed-government-promise--who-could-have-guessed--97788289.html

On Sunday, they printed Laura Cox arguing against the RJ's insane editorial position on the DISCLOSE Act.

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/power-hungry-feds-trying-to-force-social-change-with--green--policies-97758289.html

But the winner of the best letter to the editor in a long, long time goes to John Esperian who wrote this on Saturday:

"You've got to wonder at the motives of the Review-Journal editorial board. Is the idea to raise the curtain on a new generation of conservative Republicans in public office or simply to do everything possible to make the president look bad?"

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/does-rory-really-need-just-one-name--97723904.html

Esperian closes: "And finally, the question of questions: Why is it that Mr. Frederick and other conservative voices are never heard criticizing the ongoing perpetual failures, astronomical costs, and deaths of U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan? Is it because American voters believe that the missions there are just, or because they were authored by the darlings of the right, President Bush and his close adviser, Vice President Dick Cheney?"

We could not have said it better ourselves, John.

There's another good letter that ran Saturday, from Eugene Paslov of Carson City. It's in the same link as Esperian's.

The lies of Sharron Angle get a tiny bit of scrutiny, finally, in the RJ.

Today, Laura Myers looks at the "makeover" of Angle's website. It's a damn good thing the Harry Reid campaign saved the old one online at http://www.therealsharronangle.com to give Myers and the rest of the mainstream media an easier time of comparing the two.

Frankly, we're surprised Myers actually gave her readers the Reid campaign site's url. Then again, since all that site does is showcase Angle, the paper probably felt it was a just link.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/angle-gets-a-makeover-with-website-97652059.html

What's missing from this story is context. Where is the political expert who has examined scrubbed websites or issue make-overs?

Where's the Republican voice who says this helps or hurts her?

Nope. It's just more horserace reporting. Had Myers been following the remodel thread all week, she probably could have gotten away with briefing this story.

**

Southern Nevada is on fire and the RJ is throwing its resources that way. Today, two reporters, three photographers and three actual pictures in the paper.

Here's the link to the coverage. http://www.lvrj.com/news/fire-on-mt--charleston-brings-campground-evacuation-97607099.html

We'll see how the paper continues to cover this important story with its holiday-thin staffing.

**

The editorial today complains about Elena Kagan as someone who'd be a "hyperliberal" judge.

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/the-kagan-hearings-97652254.html

It's amazing really how this argument goes.

Our sister org is struggling with selling Kagan as a progressive given her lack of hyperliberal background.

In fact, to hear some of our members tell it, Kagan is as bad as Scalia.

This is the kind of argument that turns a centrist like Hillary Clinton into a demon. It's the kind of argument that turns the milquetoast Democrat Harry Reid in to the scorn of the conservative nation.

But that's how the editorial page has presented the issues.

Frankly, we wish Kagan were hyperliberal. We wish sometimes Reid was the Democratic demon he's made out to be.

But more than either of those, we wish the Review-Journal could be a real newspaper again.

Nevada really needs it.

Updated on July 12, 2010 to correct spelling error. The writer misspelled Tetreault in the original blog post.

Smarting from all that criticism of its banner-top-of-the-fold headline a week ago, the RJ softened today's coverage of jobless benefits today.

Today the paper went with: "Jobless benefits bill rejected" and put a picture of an unemployed painter from Las Vegas with the article.

It just goes to show what happens when the newspaper slips out of its conserva-mold to tell a story honestly (as it did when it correctly headed last Friday's paper with "Republicans kill jobless aid bill.")

The push back from readers used to the pablum was palpable, and included two incensed letters to the editor.

Today, both the headline and reporting were softened and presented in a way to showcase this as a failure of Sen. Harry Reid.

And interestingly, it's the first time the paper has referenced Sharron Angle's position on unemployment benefits. The only reason the paper knows her position is because she stated it so uneloquently Tuesday night in her first mainstream media interview since winning the primary. It's an interview the paper didn't cover, but one that obviously resulted in a greater understanding of Angle's position on jobless benefits.

All this comes from a paper that has sued six more websites to try to make money.

The RJ's partners at Righthaven LLC have sued six more websites for a running total of 56 suits.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jul/01/six-more-suits-filed-over-r-j-copyrights/

The Las Vegas Sun's Steve Green has been the lone chronicler of this heinous practice and deserves credit for following this important story so carefully.

Green reports on one of the websites sued -- a Boston woman's American Idol page -- and has some great quotes from the woman who runs it.

"This is a shock to me they would do something like that," Mary Santilli told Green.

"I'm not knowingly infringing on anybody," she added.

Santilli is being sued for giving the Review-Journal credit as she posted an American Idol story from the RJ on her site.

Santilli also told Green she has more than 5,000 Twitter followers and retweeted the RJ's coverage of American Idol contestants in Las Vegas, resulting in what she says was likely "millions of hits" on RJ stories.

We think her math is a little fuzzy, but her point is super accurate. The RJ is trying to bite the hands that actually circulate the paper's stories. At a real newspaper, blog hits, retweets, and traffic from outside websites are daily, trackable metrics. At the RJ they're evidence for a lawsuit.

**

Now on to another awful practice at the RJ -- screwing up basic facts.

Today there are FIVE corrections in the paper. Frankly we're surprised they ran them today and not Monday when the holiday will result in a lower circulation day.

The first error is just a simple bedrock fact. How this got messed up and how it wasn't caught is beyond me.

This is an error by the Washington correspondent, Steve Tetreault. Teteault's covered Yucca forever. We're not sure how that mistake happened.

Next we have another screw-up about the construction projects by Road Warrior Adrienne Packer.

"In Wednesday's Road Warrior column, the timing of construction on the Las Vegas Beltway in the northern Las Vegas Valley was incorrect. Work on the interchange with Interstate 15 won't begin for at least two years."

The next correction we simply can't track online.

"A story in Sunday's paper about a shooting near Maryland Parkway and Desert Inn Road mistakenly reported that the suspect was arrested Friday. The suspect was taken into custody Saturday."

We can't track it because there aren't stories online specifying those crossroads. The cop stories on Sunday were written by Antonio Planas, but we literally cannot find this one.

Then there's a mistake from the RJ-owned Business Press.

"An item in the list of Mechanical & Electrical Contractors that ran in the June 28 edition of the Business Press contained errors. Helix Electric's contact information is: 3078 E. Sunset Road No. 9. Its ZIP code is 89120. The company can be reached at 732-1188 or by fax at 732-4386. The company has 311 employees and was established in 2001. It has local annual sales of $74.5 million and its top local executive is Victor Fuchs, president."

Sucks to be Helix Electric.

Now the fuck-up listed as a clarification is pretty extreme.

"A story Monday about quagga mussels and New Zealand mudsnails mistakenly said mudsnails were found in Lake Tahoe. Mudsnails were found at a Lake Tahoe boat-inspection station on May 25 in the live-well of a boat from the San Francisco Bay Area. Water samples from the lake haven't turned up mudsnails, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."

This comes from a story by Keith Rogers with the appropriate subhed -- "A mollusk mismatch."

Rogers is guilty as charged.

That's a lot to update in the tally, but we'll get them all in there.