The Truth Behind the Tacoma Utility Vote
A critical look at how the Tacoma press ignored dissenters during the city's purchase of a water and light company.
Any intelligent person who read the Tacoma papers regularly must have concluded that the sentiment in favor of the purchase of the Tacoma Light and Water Company plant by the city was practically unanimous. The result of the election, however, shows that two-fifths of the entire voting population of the city were opposed to the purchase. It is, moreover, entirely probable that nine out of ten of the men who voted in favor of the purchase honestly believed that the price demanded was entirely too high. If the opponents of the purchase had been able to command any local newspaper support, or had received even fair treatment at the hands of the press of their own city, they would undoubtedly have defeated the purchase, which was carried by less than 100 votes.
“An independent newspaper cannot afford to suppress or distort facts to accomplish an end.”
This piece critiques 'manufacturing consent' and the lack of independent media representation for dissenters, a complaint that remains highly relevant as local news landscapes continue to shift and consolidate in Seattle and Tacoma.
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