Kansas City Star On Smoking

Journalism schools teach that news stories should be as balanced as possible, and that opinions belong on the editorial page or in clearly-identified broadcast editorials like this one.

Someone at The Kansas City Star must have skipped class that day. What else can explain the shameless blending of news and editorial content that has characterized the newspaper's crusade to ban smoking in public places?

There are examples almost daily. This past Wednesday, the paper printed an editorial on the subject, and reported separately on a smoking ban in North Kansas City and a proposed smoking ban in Raytown. The very next day, there was a front page story on a Kansas City, Kan., casino that has no plans to ban smoking.

If the editorial board of The Star opposes smoking in public places, the editorial page is the place to say so. The incredible number of news items on this one issue poses the question of whether the editorial opinion of the paper dictates what it covers and how much of it.