It’s a disappointing time for Montana’s Fourth Estate because the bylines of Chuck Johnson and Mike Dennison will no longer appear in Lee newspapers. With their years of experienced and insightful coverage of Montana’s Capitol, Dennison and Johnson held elected officials and government accountable, and held watch over our democracy.
We get it that traditional newspapers struggle to keep up with Internet competition. Lee Enterprises stock is down 16 percent year to date. Lee newspapers and other hallmarks of the Fourth Estate have had to adapt. Sadly, adaptation has meant cutting loose exceptional journalists, and closing up shop – leaving the public with more information noise and less journalism. The medium of the “new media” is not the message. The message comes from substantive journalism and skilled journalists like Johnson and Dennison.
It’s been reported that the two were given a steep pay cut option. According to proxy statements, Lee Enterprises Chief Executive Officer Mary Junck makes nearly $3 million a year in salary, bonus, stock and more. Wonder if she and other Lee brass will step forward to take pay cuts? Wonder if they’ll close their corner offices along with the Montana bureau? Wonder if they realize they’re destroying the very foundation of democracy by selling out Montana’s Fourth Estate and chipping away at its fair and free press.
Montanans could always count on Dennison and Johnson for thorough, objective and ethical coverage of Capitol politics. These veteran journalists documented history as they wrote about our lives. We will miss them, and our lives will be less without their work.
Rep. Mary Ann Dunwell
Helena