Wisconsin State Journal Flubs Own Pultizer News

Kudos to the Wisconsin State Journal's news staff for its nomination for breaking coverage of the people of Wisconsin petitioning their government last year.

Unfortunately, the State Journal decided to report the news of its being a Pulitzer finalist with the page one sub-headline this morning: "Its coverage of last year's chaos at the state Capitol is recognized."

Just couldn't resist pushing the GOP line that people exercising their right to assemble and petition our government is engaging in "chaos," a perverse view of the Wisconsin Constitution, Article I (section 4) and of what actually transpired last year:

The right of the people peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged.

The Pultizer board describes the State Journal's nomination for "Breaking News Reporting" as follows:

Staff of the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison

For its energetic coverage of 27 days of around-the-clock protests in the State Capitol over collective bargaining rights, using an array of journalistic tools to capture one breaking development after another.

Maybe if the State Journal's copy editors had stuck to the facts, the news staff might have won.