Troy

Steve McLaughlin has made a doozy of a campaign promise: If he's elected Rensselaer County executive next week, he will never talk to this newspaper.

"My comment, when we win this next Tuesday, for the next four years to the Times Union is going to be no comment," the Republican said Wednesday on Fred Dicker's radio program. "I'll talk to every other press outlet."

McLaughlin's words came as part of an extended fit of pique. He called the Times Union both a "useless rag" and a "worthless rag." He said we're "ridiculous" and "hacks." Oh, and "fake news" too.

Ouch. How do you really feel Steve?

Presumably, McLaughlin remains miffed about the Times Union's reporting on recordings in which he lashed an aide with nasty language. The context for his Talk 1300 diatribe was discussion about this newspaper's endorsement of his opponent, Democrat Andrea Smyth.

McLaughlin is entitled to his opinions, of course, and I won't waste my time trying to rebut the sillier things he said. Suffice to say, I don't believe I work for a useless rag.

If you're a subscriber, I'll assume you agree. If you're reading this for free online, I still hope you do. But I certainly know many of you agree with McLaughlin when he says the media is biased against conservatives.

I see comments to that effect frequently in my inbox, and I hear it from relatives. I've seen the polls — like the recent one from Gallup, which found that 77 percent of Republicans believe the media is not on their side.

Such polls are silly. Media are entirely too diverse for the question to have any meaning. How do you lump Us magazine in with the Wall Street Journal? They're different animals.

But the Republicans in that Gallup poll aren't wrong. Much of the media is biased against conservative views. That's especially true if you include Hollywood, but it's also true of too much of the news. To deny it is to deny the obvious.

Some of the bias is ideological. More of it, I think, is cultural. Either way, it isn't good for the media's financial health.

McLaughlin, 53, was right when he said on the air that Republicans are turning away from mainstream media outlets. "They want unbiased journalism," he said, "and they're just not getting it."

Understand, though, that "fake news" claims serve a potent purpose. Once a politician convinces supporters that the news is phony, that politician is inoculated against anything negative that's revealed.

Too much media criticism reflects our silos: If a news story says something unflattering about your tribe, it is fake and biased; if it is unflattering about the other, it must be 100 percent true.

To the point: Many of the people who claimed the McLaughlin tapes weren't newsworthy would celebrate if Gov. Andrew Cuomo or another Democrat were caught saying the same things. And yes, the Times Union would report on those tapes, too.

Just weeks ago, Smyth told me she wouldn't be making the McLaughlin recordings a focus of her campaign. Turns out, that wasn't true. They are heavily featured in her radio ads.

I'll be surprised if the strategy works, and I'll be shocked if McLaughlin loses Tuesday. And I'm not just saying that because he's a Red Sox fan who still speaks with hints of that wonderfully melodic Boston accent.

McLaughlin has devoted supporters who will come to the polls because, as one publication put it, he has long "been one of the Assembly's most outspoken voices, especially on official corruption."

More Information Contact columnist Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse

Who wrote those flattering words? Why, it was the Times Union editorial board when it endorsed McLaughlin in 2014!

I'll assume the newspaper wasn't a useless rag in McLaughlin's mind then.

I've written that McLaughlin's anti-establishment tone fits the times. He deserves particular credit for standing up to Cuomo — a bully who, it should be noted, is also contemptuous of the media — when the rest of the Republican Party seemed cowed by the governor.

When McLaughlin is at his best, he's feisty and brave. When he's not, his tone turns angry and strident, as it did during his talk with Dicker.

If McLaughlin wins as expected, we will see it all. We'll be in for a wild ride, whether he talks to the Times Union or not.

cchurchill@timesunion.com • 518-454-5442

• @chris_churchill