Mike Ciresi in State of Florida Archives


On Drugs: 2007: acknowledged past marijuana dabbling

In June 2007, Al Franken was punched by a story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about his drug use during his time on Saturday Night Live. The article was triggered by a 5-paragraph item on a Star Tribune political gossip blog called "The Big Question." A full-blown story in the newspaper bore the headline, "Candidates' Past Use of Illegal Substances Surfaces." It devoted more words to Franken's admitted drug use during his Saturday Night Live years than to Coleman's inhaling, [including] rehashed information to which Franken had years ago admitted, including cocaine and LSD use. How did that happen?

Star Tribune editors gulped, felt pressured to re-craft the web post into a "balanced" 15-paragraph story that incorporated historical information about Franken, with bows to Coleman's smoking past and Mike Ciresi's pot dabbling.

Source: This Is Not Florida, by Jay Weiner, p. 69-70 Sep 16, 2010

The above quotations are from State of Florida Politicians: Archives.
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