Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Our neighborhood BookClub recently completed a book, This Tender Land by author William Kent Krueger, which received a thumbs up from all 10+ members. This entertaining and sometimes heart-wrenching book spun tales that incorporated facts of its time, and in the ending, wrapped up characters together in a satisfying way, as does the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Like the main character, Odie (short for Odysseus) MJS is the narrator of our local family stories; MJS scribes events and our journey-sometimes joyful, tender, but bitter too—offering to teach, enrich, share sorrow-a touchstone of the familiar. As we collectively long for the days when everything was local and familiar, times change; life has become bigger, broader and more global. Despite the new distance, I for one am appreciative of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinels ability to write stories that provide a sense of home-like a friend. Like family.

You are doing a great job. Love the expertise of your reporters on most things. The thing that you are weakest on is letting an old guy talk (so called “policy expert”)about early education and phonics. He has never taught young children and is way out of his league in research. Reading is a complicated process. Phonics is an important part, but needs to be addressed with meaning and there are so many strategies that go into this process. Children need to be engaged in the joy of reading if we want success. Let the experts who have devoted their lives to “real research” and have been successful with children lead. Consult with WSRA; do not spread misinformation. Our children’s future is too important!!

60+ years ago I was a paperboy for the WSJ and later the Milwaukee Journal. I still remember the Sunday editions around the holidays reaching upwards of 600 pages! Those mornings sometimes required at least 2 trips to our distributor’s office to refill my bike basket. Other times my mother would get up early and drive me around my route (what a relief on some cold mornings!). I also remember the news coverage back then was pretty straightforward- readers got the who, what, where, when, how of a story along with other potentially informative facts. In general we were then allowed to think for ourselves, discuss with others and form our own opinions. Important topics that might be controversial could be found on the Editorial or Opinion Page. These writers expressed their thoughts on a topic that often provided insight that helped inform our point of view. Today’s Gannet/USA Today “news” with the MJS name bears little resemblance to the real Journalism of the past. To get today’s news accurately takes effort using other sources. Today’s Journal Sentinel “news coverage” is mostly a Groupthink take on a given topic- Beware if this (and related providers) are your only sources. MJS remains a very good source for Sports reporting and the only reason I still subscribe; and the only reason they get 2 stars in my ranking. Mike Price