Farm Bill Update: The SF Chronicle's Coverage

I must say, as someone who often complains about the Chronicle, they have provided outstanding coverage of the 2007 Farm Bill. Here is Carolyn Lockhead's story on final passage of the bill in the Senate yesterday. She has provided consistent, thorough reporting on the slow movement of the bill and on the various attempts to reform the bill.

I also want to note the poor coverage in the NYT and other national newspapers--not to mention TV news. The Chronicle published stories on the bill every day this week, and yet the NYT failed to publish a single exclusive story about the bill (there is, however, a good story today by Carl Hulse on how the Senate Republicans have thrown a wrench in the Democratic efforts to pass legislation this year). The fact that the NYT regards action on the Farm Bill as unnewsworthy is a sign of either the national ignorance about the importance of the bill or the lack of interest in changing such a complex piece of legislation. We have a lot of work to do if there's any chance of reforming the bill in 2012.