Front page rules: Commercial interests, not worker rights

Yesterday, the Grand Rapids Press ran a front-page story, complete with 3 photos, about the opening of a boat show at the Grand Rapids convention center.

The story was framed as a great opportunity for boat dealers, since they were offering big discounts on new boats. The story cited several boat dealers and even included a sidebar with the article giving price listings for some of the boat models. In many ways, once could argue that this was not a news story, rather it was advertising that looked like news.

In the same addition of the Press, there was a short story on page 9 headlined, Report: Conditions slip for farm workers. The story (no photos accompany this story) is based on a new report that makes the claim that working conditions for migrant workers is worse today than it was 40 years ago.

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission will be reviewing the 1,000-page report at a public meeting on March 22, according to the Press article. The article also stated that based on investigations from last summer civil rights investigators found serious violation.

“What they found were several instances where farmworkers were being forced to live in dangerous and unsanitary housing and being taken advantage of, or mistreated by unscrupulous employers, officials at the meeting said.”

While it is good that the Press ran this story, why did they choose to place it on page 9? What makes a boat show front-page news and worker conditions not front-page news? How many people in West Michigan can afford to buy a boat and how many people are working people? The answer to that should tell us something about who the Grand Rapids Press wants to buy their paper.