Monday, August 3, 2009

Not So Cozy

Al Diamon brings us the news that Naomi Schalit has resigned as opinion page editor of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.

Collins Watch readers may remember Schalit for her willingness, repeatedly during the recent Senate race, to publish pro-Collins letters penned by Maine GOP pols and bigwigs--without identifying the writer by title.

(Then, mysteriously, as the election approached, the KJ felt it necessary to strictly limit discussion of the Senate race on its letters page.)

We'll also remember Schalit's tenure for this editorial, one of our earliest hints that the relationship between the junior senator and the Maine media might be a bit cozier than we'd been used to.

That said: With Schalit and Jeannine Guttman out of the picture, and three of Maine's most prominent papers criticizing Maine's senators--rather than offering them political cover--the relationship between the state's media and its political establishment seems a lot healthier than it did a few days ago.

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