ESP wonder; newspapers channel Bush
(Note: Welcome all new-comers from Atrios, Pandagon, DKos and beyond. Read through to at least Update IV -- you won't be disappointed. And feel free to read more about us.)
What do this newspaper editorial, this one, this one, and this one all have in common?
All of them are unsigned editorials, which makes it look like they're original opinion pieces for each paper. (The Colorado Springs Gazette even says it's "our view.")
And they all happen to say exactly the same thing, beginning with this paragraph:
UPDATE: As one commenter points out,all of most of (see Update II below) the papers involved are owned by Freedom Communications, Inc. (although, oddly enough, they all list different owners on their websites, with variations on the "Freedom" theme). It's still a no-no for papers to run these as if they're house editorials -- and therefore somehow the result of a spontaneous convergence of editorial opinion across the country, as opposed to just being reprints.
UPDATE II: This paper in Indiana also ran it, and they're not owned by Freedom Com (they're Knight Ridder). And they attribute it to "The Lima News, Ohio." Confusion (?) reigns.
UPDATE III: A belated welcome to Echatoners and Pandagonians -- feel free to look around and make yourself at home. More examples of papers running the unsigned Op Ed -- both Freedom Communications-owned and not -- are here and here.
UPDATE IV: Quick, check out the comments -- the author of the editorial is here! His name is Sean Paige, editorial page editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette and a man with a rich history in right-wing politics. On his resume: "Staff Assistant for Communications, White House," personal aide to John Sununu (Chief of Staff to Bush I), and "Press Secretary: Keyes for Senate" (ouch). More on his history here.
And here's the best part: just this month, none other than Sean Paige penned an editorial slamming MoveOn.org members for sending "astroturf" letters to newspapers. Here's a choice passage:
UPDATE V: Just a little context -- the anonymous "house" editorials penned by a GOP operative in Colorado sprung up in newspapers nationally just as Democrats had forced a House vote on a bill to overturn Bush's repeal of Davis-Bacon. 37 Republicans had recently signed a letter saying they wanted Davis-Bacon reinstated.
UPDATE VI (the last?): The great Pam Spaulding points to a piece from 2002 that shows this is likely part of a controversial move by Freedom Communications to have their papers run "joint content" -- stuff that appears local but really isn't:
What do this newspaper editorial, this one, this one, and this one all have in common?
All of them are unsigned editorials, which makes it look like they're original opinion pieces for each paper. (The Colorado Springs Gazette even says it's "our view.")
And they all happen to say exactly the same thing, beginning with this paragraph:
One of the smartest things President Bush did to reduce recovery costs in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita was to suspend Davis-Bacon Act rules in the hardest hit states. But Congress is frantically trying to overrule the president, which would add billions of dollars to the already staggering recovery costs.Amazing that newspapers from California, Colorado, and North Carolina could be channeling, simultaneously and in complete harmony, the Bush administration line for cutting wages for workers rebuilding the Gulf Coast.
UPDATE: As one commenter points out,
UPDATE II: This paper in Indiana also ran it, and they're not owned by Freedom Com (they're Knight Ridder). And they attribute it to "The Lima News, Ohio." Confusion (?) reigns.
UPDATE III: A belated welcome to Echatoners and Pandagonians -- feel free to look around and make yourself at home. More examples of papers running the unsigned Op Ed -- both Freedom Communications-owned and not -- are here and here.
UPDATE IV: Quick, check out the comments -- the author of the editorial is here! His name is Sean Paige, editorial page editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette and a man with a rich history in right-wing politics. On his resume: "Staff Assistant for Communications, White House," personal aide to John Sununu (Chief of Staff to Bush I), and "Press Secretary: Keyes for Senate" (ouch). More on his history here.
And here's the best part: just this month, none other than Sean Paige penned an editorial slamming MoveOn.org members for sending "astroturf" letters to newspapers. Here's a choice passage:
I began noticing patterns in the e-mails — the same rote phrases or analogies that betray an orchestrated letter writing campaign, rather than a spontaneous outpouring of thoughts and feelings.How COULD they?!
UPDATE V: Just a little context -- the anonymous "house" editorials penned by a GOP operative in Colorado sprung up in newspapers nationally just as Democrats had forced a House vote on a bill to overturn Bush's repeal of Davis-Bacon. 37 Republicans had recently signed a letter saying they wanted Davis-Bacon reinstated.
UPDATE VI (the last?): The great Pam Spaulding points to a piece from 2002 that shows this is likely part of a controversial move by Freedom Communications to have their papers run "joint content" -- stuff that appears local but really isn't:
... let's take a look at how The Gazette is pretending that some of its writers, who work in other states, are actually on staff and crafting their prose from the home office at 30 S. Prospect.Read the rest. It's one thing to do this for, say, film reviews. But house editorials that supposedly are the opinion of the local paper's editorial board? Kind of puts a damper on the "spontaneous outpouring of thoughts and feelings," don't you think?
In a widely criticized move earlier this year, The Gazette's owner, Freedom Communications, based in Orange County, Calif., launched an exercise in what it calls "joint content." Essentially, the suits upstairs decided that film reviewing, travel and food were pretty much the same wherever you go.
95 Comments:
Anybody know the source of these things? That's terrible that they are putting something like that out unsigned like it was their own work.
Are they all owned by the same company, e.g. Scripps, Tribune?
Mission Statement from Jacksonville paper:
The Daily News is dedicated to furnishing information to our readers so they can better promote and preserve their own freedom and encourage others to see its blessings.
Only when man is free to control himself and all he produces can he develop to his utmost abilities. We believe that freedom is a gift of God and not a political grant from any government.
Freedom is neither license nor anarchy. It is control and sovereignty of oneself — no more, no less. It is thus consistent with the coveting commandment.
I think that says it all about this organization.
power5483 -
They are, in fact, all owned by the same company:
http://www.freedom.com
Freedom Communications, Inc. I would assume that this idea was handed down by the publisher and the local paper was told to put it into their own words or something.
Freedom Communications seems to have a libertarian/conservative slant.
"Tibor Machan
Tibor R. Machan is Freedom Communications’ libertarian adviser. He writes a column in the company magazine, Freedom Family, and conducts workshops on libertarian ideals for the company.
Machan is also a Hoover Institution research fellow and Distinguished Fellow and professor in the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship & Business Ethics at the Argyros School of Business and Economics, Chapman University, in Orange, Calif. He is also Professor Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at Auburn University, Alabama."
CanWest Global does this with its newspapers in Canada, having them run "national editorials". However, CanWest is open about this policy, and it caused some controversy when it was first announced. Thing is, at least they openly declared such a policy.
What this company is doing could be considered a sin of omission--not mentioning that these "local" papers are running an editorial written by another source and presenting it as the editorial board's own view.
Nice that these "libertarian/conservatives" believe in openness and honesty.
Its true, you know. Considering the thought Bush has put into other actions it was one of the smarter things he has done. Compared to, say, making Brown head of FEMA, putting the fix in for big business and fucking over the working class at the same time is an epiphany. Its all relative.
-John Gillnitz
Ah, conservative libertarians. So naive, so absolutely wrong. "The market fixes everything as it should be." Right.
Jacksonville, NC is the home of Camp Lejeune. I was stationed there for 3 years, and the Daily News never publishes anything that wouldn't pass muster with the Commanding General and Jerry Falwell.
<Homer Simpson voice>
Flanders!
</Homer Simpson voice>
Jeez, right-wing reactionary propaganda coming out of Orange County, CA. Who'd a thunk it?
Somebody who's not at work please call this guy:
Joseph Calderon, Editor, {Yuba City) Appeal-Democrat, (530) 749-4718
Apparently the "Freedom" of "libertarian/conservatives" involves deception, along with conformity, obedience and centralized command of editorial speech.
I feel so free just reading about it.
Having worked once upon a time at two Freedom papers, I can tell you this isn't common, but it also isn't unprecedented.
In any case, no editorial should be labeled "Our Views" (i.e., the views of the local staff) when it originated elsewhere. That's misleading the reader, pure and simple.
They run that crap all the time here in Colorado Springs: they're for every WalMart, against every school board, and think unions and liberals are the cause of the rest of our problems.
If only they would look at their front page sometimes. (Yes, it usually is fair and balanced. GAG)
Great work.
This is what blogging does best.
Yeah I used to work at a Freedom paper, the OC Register. They're like that, this doesn't surprise me at all and not only will they see nothing wrong with it, they will also humbly claim to be reinventing journalism at the same time. The staffers who worked there called it The Death Star. This ain't so bad for them... In one of their editorials a few years ago, they openely wondered "why give our greenbacks to wetbacks?"
The Lima paper is also a Freedom Communications Inc. paper, and stuff from the Lima paper often shows up in the Fort Wayne news. For the record, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel is actually pretty good at times, unlike the Lima paper which is consistently crap. (I didn't realize until today that they were owned by an out-of-state, super conservative entity, but it doesn't suprise me).
If anyone in Fort Wayne is reading this - I'd suggest writing a concerned citizen letter to the News-Sentinel with copies of all of these editorials from around the nation and ask them why they're a part of this astroturf. I'd suggest making a printout of the Freedom Communications page showing all of the papers they own and highlighting the ones that are running this editorial with the bits that were taken word for word.
This is really sloppy astroturfing, and I'd be suprised if the folks in Fort Wayne wouldn't be embarrassed by getting caught in it.
Marysville-Yuba City, California Appeal-Democrat
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/2005/10/21/columnists/editorial/view1.txt
Nony -- Good point on the Lima paper. Your point on astroturfing is also good, although don't we need a new word? This isn't just letter-writing wingnuts sending in talking points, it's a newspaper-wide decision. Ed-Board-Turfing? Someone help me here.
Are the owners of the companies also committed to reducing their salaries because of the staggering cost? What about the congresspeople who voted for it?
Astroturfing is a good word for this. With these local papers, most folks assume that the "editorials" are coming from locals - even if they're local reporters, they're still supposedly closer to their own way of thinking that some reporter in New York, LA, or Chicago.
This is an attempt to make it look like this kind of sentiment is popular among average folks, which is basically what astro-turfing is (i.e. fake grass roots support).
Lima Ohio basis.
Lima Ohio, The Lima News
http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=18735
Love how the Indiana editorial calls Davis-Bacon a 'relic'. Yeah, anything that helps working people and the middle class is a 'relic' to the shiny new world order of these authoritarian clowns.
The closer we get to any election, the more 'planting' you'll notice in newspaper chains...it's a political thing.
We could save a lot of money in Katrina reconstruction by using slave labor!
Why pay wages at all? It's the Republican way!
Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
http://valleystar.com/articles/2005/10/20/opinions/opinion1.txt
I disagree Nony -- editorial page writers aren't just everyday "locals" like community letter-writers. They are leaders in the media who shape opinion, whose job is to project the newspaper's editorial line. It's more insidious than mere coordinated letter-writing, a la "astroturfing."
Muy lame.
Your point on astroturfing is also good, although don't we need a new word? This isn't just letter-writing wingnuts sending in talking points, it's a newspaper-wide decision. Ed-Board-Turfing? Someone help me here.
Sounds like a "manure-spreading" operation to me.
It can't be manure spreading.
That's a good thing. More like industrial grade herbicide -- spray it enough and you'll kill all of the grassroots.
Freedom Newspapers' flagship paper is the infamous "Orange County Register" one of the most conservative libertarian fish-wraps this side of Mellon-Scaifee rags back east.
The owners of Freedom and the eds at the Register are well connected within the Republican Party both here in Orange Co., CA, as well as nationally. It would not surprise me to learn that this was a direct RNC talking point transmitted directly from the national party to the ed writers.
Freedom requires absolute party loyalty and message discipline from the rest of their rags, but the "Register" is the one that calls the tune.
Their big supporter is Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-46) who, when he is not panicking about giant meteors hitting the earth and men marrying horses, is a ruthless opponent of all labor protections. He used to be a editorial writer for the Register, himself, before deciding to run for Congress in 1988.
mojo sends
Damn good catch. Thanks.
Damn good catch. Thanks.
Bill I think you're on to something ... Editorial Aerial Spraying?
**WARNING** Be careful where you tread here...you just may expose most of Matt Drudge's sources. Check out the Freedom Communications papers here and visit the papers, particularly the 'metro' papers and see how many headlines -- same wording -- show up on the Drudge Report.
The Gazette is part of a newspaper chain. We share content on the editorial pages, when it is appropriate, at the discretion of individual editorial page editors. The Davis-Bacon act editorial, which originated at this paper (I wrote it, with no guidance from Karl Rove), was simply picked up by other papers in a chain -- a tribute, I would like to think, of its brilliance, timeliness and relevance. So the dark plot some bloggers think they've uncovered has an innocent explanation.
Sean Paige
Editorial Page editor
Colorado Springs Gazette
These guys also own the Panama City NewsHerald, as well as a newspaper in Destin and I belive Pensacola.
They are in fact a Libertarian newspaper and used to have that in their masthead.
Regardless of who owns the papers...this is obviously another Bush-Republican illegal use of propaganda. Joe Stalin must be so pleased. Reagan supposedly, won the cold war and his little wannabe brother Bush and the Radical Renegade Republican Party made America Joe Stalin's dream come true.
I thought that one of the few remaining "standards" in journalism was attributing the writing of others as such - if Sean Paige, Editorial Page Editor at the Colorado Springs Gazette actually penned this article, where's his byline?
Reading the distortions, paranoia and lack of sophistication about the newspaper business reflected on this site makes me fear for the future of blogs - this one especially. I don't have time today to clear up all the innaccuracies, misunderstandings and absurdities I've seen posted here. But I don't get the sense that the people using this blog want a simple explanation, unless it conforms with their conspiratorial claptrap. Maybe you folks should move on to a more fruitful topic -- like who was shooting from the grassy knoll.
Sean Paige
Sean Paige certainly has a history of hating MoveOn.org but does he have to hate workers too?
If it really is his bone headed editorial:
Write to Paige c/o The Gazette, P.O. Box 1779, Colorado Springs, 80901, by fax at 636-0202, or by e-mail at
opinion@gazette.com
Sieg Heil!
Dear Keith Olberman,
Can you please do a piece on this story soon? Like right now? Propaganda from the WH is running rampant, I guess Ann Coulter had it right when she said that they "...have the media."
Please, please give it a #1 story status.
I see the author of the Op Ed, Sean Paige, has come to visit us -- twice! The first comment he sent to me as an email, and the second one seems to have come after I emailed him this:
* * *
Hi Sean,
Thanks for your message and explanation. I believe you that Karl Rove didn’t have a hand in it, I know he’s tied up.
A few quick follow-up questions, so I can relate accurate information to our readers:
1) Which chain exactly is The Gazette part of? The Gazette’s website only lists its owner as Freedom Colorado Information. [I knew the answer to this, just wanted to understand relationship of FCI to Freedom Com]
2) The piece also appeared in two Knight-Ridder papers, do you/the chain have some agreement with them as well?
3) Is it standard practice within the chain to place editorials that appear as "house" editorials (no byline) in multiple papers without attribution?
4) When were you a staff assistant for communications at the White House?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
* * *
Pretty nice, I thought. So far, no response.
This seems more insidious than astroturfing, as it is not some reader but the editorial board of the paper running it. I call it owner's box carpeting. Good catch on his previous editorial deploring MoveOn's urging members to write local papers and deploring it as astroturfing.
lack of sophistication about the newspaper business reflected on this site
Hahaha. Good one!
Yeah, liberals never do letter writing campaigns. Damned you would think with all the things you could write about the Bush Administration you chose the subject of a meaningless editorial? Idiots.
Just ask the creep how much he was PAID to write that crap.
you can add www.nwfdailynews.com to that list
Slightly off topic, but this reminds me of last October when the local Scripps-Howard paper (Knoxville News Sentinel) announced that Scripps was breaking with tradition and allowing the local editors to announce their own endorsements for president. (They went with Bush, of course.)
They said that in the past all the editors (or publishers, can't remember which) had gotten together at a meeting and voted on it and they all had to run the same endorsement.
Things would be a lot simpler and more efficient if News Corp./Fox just took over all print and broadcast media. Or better yet, Scotty McClellan.
Way to miss the point SoCalPundit, this isn't about a letter writing campaign, it's about an editorial writing campaign.
I haven't heard of anything like this being done before. It doesn't pass the smell test and I think Sean Paige knows it, which is why he's attempted to squash this story as fast as he can.
Scott (The CEO of Freedom) and Linda Flanders have a very interesting donation cycle. Linda donated to mostly Democrats, but then donated 1k to Bush 99.
Scott donates to all Dems. He donated to Kerry for Senate, and he donated 2k to Kerry for Pres in 2004- the year that Linda didn't donate to George.
I wonder what that sounded like at home.
I'd put all of this on the original editorial writer and the individual publications for not fessing up that it wasn't their own writing.
Generally, if I see something in the op/ed page of my city newspaper, I have to assume that it was written by local writers at the paper, unless it's specifically cited.
It's just not very honest for the papers to act this way.
Regardless of what Mr. Paige says, if an editorial is written in Colorado and it goes to another state and city to be in that paper, it should say "Special from the Colorado Turfnews." Or whatever.
"Freedom Communications" is obviously a cover for "French Communications"! These cheese-eating surrender monkeys are infiltrating the Fourth Estate! That's what this is about! Let's keep boycotting France to put the pressure on them!
When you say that they aren't all owned by the same company, I think you are not taking the broader view: These cretins in the press are all owned by the same scumbags who brought us George W Bush and the war in Iraq.
I can pretend to be Sean Paige too!
C'mon folks, stop whining and try being constructive:
Why not write a letter to the editors of these papers? Maybe you could even get them all to publish the same draft.
Sean: Alan Keyes? Whoa. Alan Keyes?
I've seen sections in the editorial pages of some Canuck papers, including CanWest papers, that are dedicated to printing editorial bits from other papers. The source papers are properly identified. That is being honest with readers.
Publishing another paper's editorial without attribution or any indication that the thoughts belong to someone else is dishonest.
So Sean, which higher-up told you to cover their butts here?
This is really funny.
The poster calling himself Sean Paige (who, I assume from his inability to spell, is the real Sean Paige) equates conspiracism with believing a shot was fired at JFK from the grassy knoll.
Who concluded that a shot was fired from the grassy knoll?
Um. The House Select Committee.
They don't make idiots as smart as they used to.
I suggest that you add a link to the Sourcewatch entry on the "Competitive Enterprise Institute", one of the right-wing places on Sean Paige's resume.
We need to alert people to the sort of PARTISAN stuff that place churns out.
Here's a link:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=Competitive_Enterprise_Institute .
Stupid fucking post. Who gives a rat's ass? If the issue is prevailing wage law raising the cost of government projects, that's not an original idea. Fuck the prevailing wage. Why should the rest of us have to pay a single fucking cent to rebuild Louisiana or the rest of the Gulf states anyway? Seems like a local issue to me.
Great Post... really good work here. If Sean is passing this practice off as ethical, how does he explain the permutations that fit the various local angles. The Ft. Wayne piece urging the Ohio congressional delegation to vote against restoring Davis Bacon etc... This clearly is plagarism (Merriam: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source) insofar as the local editor took Seans work, gussied it up to fit the local outlook and printed it. Should the editorial not be attributed to a self proclaimed nationally syndicated and obviously partisan writer? Unless Sean penned the various editorials to include the local angles, and forwarded them to the various papers this seems to be decietful at best. When I read a nationally syndicated columnist, they generally are included in the byline, and this leads me to understand where the column is coming from. Why the obfuscation in this matter Sean?
Poor Ben..... I think it is safe to say that every one of us has had to watch our tax dollars being spent for things we don't agree with, now it's your turn. Chin up!
As a Freedom [sic] employee, I can vouch for the fact that, (1) yes, it is common for an editorial written in one Freedom paper to be published in another, and (2) it is standard practice in the newspaper industry not to publish bylines for editorials.
I hate standing up for Sean Paige, but frankly, this is an apples-to-oranges issue. An editorial is not a letter. It is a column. Running an editorial in more than one paper is basically the same as running Molly Ivins' syndicated column in more than one paper. The fact that Molly doesn't actually live in your town is no issue at all.
Freedom is truly Libertarian, not conservative. They're opposed to public education - though you usually need to get a few of drinks into a member of the editorial staff before he will actually own up to it - but they also advocate legalizing drugs.
Yeah Ben everything is a local issue. So why the fuck do the blue states subsidize you sub morons every year with our taxes. Take care of your own inbreds. You spend
half a trillion dollars blowing up the desert in Iraq, making sure that every Arab disenchanted with America is mobilized and organized into highly trained war hardened terrorists but you give a "rats ass" about your fellow countrymen whoses lives are turned upside down by a natural calamity. Besides being immoral and callous about humanity and terminally stupid your patriotism is nonexistent. You are a sociopath in the true sense of the word and I'm sure the kind of individual that this kind of right wing astro turfing is aimed at. Thanks for piping up and giving us demonstable example of the kind piggish thugs that are running this country (into the ground).
Running an editorial in more than one paper is basically the same as running Molly Ivins' syndicated column in more than one paper. The fact that Molly doesn't actually live in your town is no issue at all.
Uh, except that, uh, Molly Ivins signs her columns. And when they run in our local paper, they carry her byline. Plus, she's not afriad to stand by her words. Nor are the local columnists who write in the local paper, who sign their columns and who the editors may not like but at least attribute to the local columnist, lest there be any, uh, you know, like, confusion or someting.
Sorry, you creeps have been caught red-handed. Why not just own up? At least Tom DeLay smiled in his mug shot. Have you no dignity left at all?
Just wondering if Freedom Communications is somehow connected to Clear Channel Communications?
In other words, what Clear Channel has been trying to do to the publicly-owned radio airwaves (i.e., monopolize, promote Christian rock, have one person in a remote location broadcasting into multiple radio markets) sounds exactly like Freedom Communications set-up, but with a print media twist.
Conservative monopolists are all the same, whether Communist, Taliban, Christian Coalition, Clear Channel...and now apparently, Freedom Communications. Lying, cheating, stealing are just their modus operandi, which they always try to obscure with misleading language.
Typical conservatives. All the same. And a blight on any society with the misfortune of having them present and plying their nefarious anti-democratic trade. Don't trust a thing they say. Only look at their actions. What they promote. What they call to be censored. Typical conservatives. All the same. Always. A cancer that destroys one society after another. While they claim they are only doing what they are doing because they want to save that society. Typical conservatives. All the same. Always. Ego-mad.
This is the same Sean Paige who said the federal government and Endangered Species Act were responsible for the shark attacks in summer 2001, and that any actual fisheries expert or marine biologist who disagreed with his accusations was actually in on their vile conspiracy to help animals murder people. In all his articles he would put the word "expert" in quotes like that, as though they didn't know their own field any better than he did.
It seems to me that the tag of plagiarism really needs to be bandied about here. I mean plagiarism is just POISON to publications who wish to be taken seriously. This clearly fits the definition of plagiarism so lets call it that... And make these publications justify it. Plagiarism plagiarism plagiarism...
From Merriam-Webster online (see Sean, I attribute my source here in order to not be guilty of plagiarism...)
Main Entry: pla·gia·rism
Pronunciation: 'plA-j&-"ri-z&m also -jE-&-
Function: noun
1 : an act or instance of plagiarizing
pla·gia·rize
Pronunciation: 'plA-j&-"rIz also -jE-&-
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -rized; -riz·ing
Etymology: plagiary
transitive senses : to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source
intransitive senses : to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.
Plagiarism?
I'm not so sure, mostly since I'm not sure who the "aggrieved party" is assumed to be, in a case of plagiarism.
"to steal AND pass off" indicates that the aggrieved party is the original author - not the duped readers.
And in this case, since the piece was freely given, not stolen, it wouldn't count as plagiarism.
We do need a new word, I think, for readerduping.
I think the aggrieved party here is the readership. To say that the creator of the editorials is not aggrieved is not to dismiss the charge. If the material is not stolen that does not somehow mean the rest of the definition of plagiarism is therefore null and void. (from Merriams): use (another's production) without crediting the source: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.
The issue then is not that there is an aggrieved writer, but that the reader is not informed of the true creator of the work. It really is a breach of trust to somehow portray this as the work of locals (by adding touches to the work of Sean that add a local flavor) when it is a coordinated national campaign. Thus the aggrieved party is the readership and the publications in question have plagarized this editorial.
Just before I head off to bed let me clarify one thing. I probably would not feel comfortable using the term plagiarism if the locals had not seen fit to change the editorial to add local flavor. If all the editorials had simply been word for word Seans creation, but simply did not carry his byline, thats unseemly to be sure. Yet they took his words and then added their own without attribution. I really think this is a clear cut case in my view. But I'll sure be interested in seeing if this view will gain traction on this board in the meantime.
FWIW ...
Who is Source Media, Inc.? Is the company still in existence? If so, what's its relationship to Freedom Communications? Where does Insight Communicatins enter the picture? Who owns what?
It's a small world.
One of the Beneficial Owners of Source Media's (linked to Freedom Comm) stock is/was Insight Communications Company which is undergoing, according to SEC filing dated Sept. 28, 2005, http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084421/000104746905023556/a2163158zprer14a.htm#toc_de6550_1
a merger.
Poppy Bush's The Carlyle Group is involved in the deal:
"At the special meeting, you will be asked to consider and vote upon a proposal to adopt and approve the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of July 28, 2005, between Insight Communications Company, Inc. and Insight Acquisition Corp.
(an entity organized by certain affiliates of The Carlyle Group to effect the merger and related transactions discussed below). ~snip~
"As a result of the merger, Insight will be privately owned by Insight's senior management and the other designated exchanging stockholders, as well as by affiliates of Carlyle." ~snip~
"Acquisition's purpose for pursuing the merger is to cause Carlyle and the Continuing Investors, to become the sole owners of the capital stock of Insight. Carlyle, Sidney Knafel and Michael Willner decided to pursue the merger because they believe that Insight can be operated more effectively as a privately held company. ~snip~
That information was found by first searching the Securities & Exchange Commission (sec.gov) records for http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/900029/0000892569-98-003225.txt Freedom Communications. The only filing online for such company is one made in 1998, Form 13D.
A 13D is filed with the SEC to report positions by large shareholders, defined as any shareholder who owns more than 5% of the outstanding shares (a beneficial owner). This filing records stock ownership by David L. Kuykendall aka Freedom Communications of Irvine, CA, and records his title as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
More significantly, this filing notes that that Freedoms "company conformed name" is Source Media, Inc., with a business address of 5400 LBJ Freeway, Ste 680, Dallas, Tx 75231.
Source Media was formerly called HB Communications Acquisition Corporation.
A 2nd SEC search for "Source Media, Inc." found many normal SEC filings, including its last SEC filing (year 2000) of its annual http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/900029/000095013400009924/d81130ddef14a.txt proxy/report to stockholders, form SEC 14A, which details, for example, the members of its Board of Directors (listed further below).
Note that this info is 5 years old.
The last SEC filing was c.2002.
This SEC report indicates the annual stockholder meeting was held at http://www.hcny.com the Harvard Club] in NYC. :)
The 14A, also, indicates who are/were considered Beneficial Owners of Source Media's stock (5% or more)... these included Barry Rubenstein, Dr. Ernst Mueller-Moehl (of Zurich, Switzerland); and, a whopping 24% owned by http://www.insight-com.com Insight Communications Company, Inc. of NYC.
According to a goole hit, c.1998, tells of a http://www.wyca.com/complnts/sourccom.html lawsuit http://www.wyca.com/summary/sourcbiz.htm Source Media was involved in; and describes Source Media as a Delaware Corporation with its principle place of business in Dallas, Texas. The Company develops new media content and advertising services via newspapers and Yellow Pages directories. The Company also operates an interactive cable TV programming service and provides on-demand and interactive information, services and programming through Yellow Pages, newspapers, telephone and cable television. The Company operates through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including IT Network, Inc.; Interactive Channel, Inc.; and Interactive Channel Technologies, Inc.
Source Media Board of Directors indicating members affiliations:
James L. Greenwald, age 73, has served as our director since May 1996. Mr. Greenwald has served as chairman emeritus of Katz Media Corporation, a communications representative firm, since August 1995. Mr. Greenwald joined Katz
Media in 1956 and has held various positions, including President of the radio division from 1965 through 1970, Executive Vice President from 1970 through
1975, President from 1975 through 1982 and Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Executive Officer from 1975 through 1994. Mr. Greenwald is a director
of Granite Broadcasting Company, Paxson Communications Corporation and the Young Adult Institute, an honorary trustee of the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television and past president of the International Radio and
Television Foundation and the Station Representatives Association.
Michael J. Marocco, age 41, has served as our director since May 1996. Mr. Marocco is a Managing Director of Sandler Capital Management ("Sandler") and has
been associated with Sandler since April 1989. Prior to that, Mr. Marocco was a vice president at Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. where he was involved in raising capital and merger and acquisition transactions. Mr. Marocco serves as a director of Next Generation Network, Inc., Convergent Communications, Inc. and numerous private companies involved in cable television, advertising and
cellular telephone industries.
Stephen W. Palley, age 55, has served as our director since June 1999 and joined us in April 1999 as our President and Chief Executive Officer. From 1996
to 1999, Mr. Palley was a private investor and a consultant in the
telecommunications industry. Mr. Palley was Chief Operating Officer of King World Productions, Inc. from 1986 to 1996. Mr. Palley's background includes entertainment and securities law. He is a member of the New York State Bar and
the Museum of Radio and Television Council. Mr. Palley is a graduate of American University and the Columbia University School of Law.
Barry Rubenstein, age 56, has served as our director since September 1997. In 1994, Mr. Rubenstein co-founded the 21st Century Partnerships, of which he is presently a principal. In 1992, Mr. Rubenstein co-founded Applewood Associates, L.P., of which he is presently a principal. Prior to 1992, Mr. Rubenstein was a
founder of, or founding consultant to, Applied Digital Data Systems, Inc., Novell, Inc., and Cheyenne Software, Inc. From 1983 to 1987, Mr. Rubenstein held various positions with Cheyenne Software, Inc., including President, Chief
Executive Officer, Director and Chairman of the Board. Mr. Rubenstein is a director of, or advisor to, Infonautics Corporation, Millwood Press and several private technology companies.
Kim D. Kelly, age 44, has served as our director since November 1999. Ms. Kelly has been Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Insight Communications Company, Inc. and its predecessors ("Insight") since 1990. Ms. Kelly has also been Chief Operating Officer of Insight since January 1998. Prior to joining Insight, she served from 1982 to 1990 with Marine Midland Bank, becoming its Senior Vice President in 1988, with primary responsibility for
media lending activities. Ms. Kelly serves as a member of the National Cable Television Association Subcommittee for Telecommunications Policy, as well as the National Cable Television Association Subcommittee for Accounting. She is also a director of Insight and Bank of New York York Hamilton Funds, and serves on the boards of Cable in the
Classroom and Cable Advertising Bureau. Ms. Kelly is a graduate of George Washington University.
Sidney R. Knafel, age 69, has served as our director since November 1999. Mr. Knafel has been Chairman of the Board of Insight since 1985. He was the founder, Chairman and an equity holder of Vision Cable Communications, Inc.
("Vision Cable") from 1971 until its sale in 1981. Mr. Knafel is presently the managing partner of SRK Management Company, a private investment company, and also serves as Chairman of BioReliance Corporation, a biological testing
company. He is a director of NTL, Incorporated, General American Investors Company, Inc. and IGENE Biotechnology, Inc. as well as several private companies. Mr. Knafel is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Business
School.
Michael S. Willner, age 48, has served as our director since April 1998. Mr. Willner co-founded and has served as President of Insight since 1985. Mr. Willner served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Vision Cable from 1979 through 1985, Vice President of Marketing for Vision Cable from 1977 to 1979 and General Manager of Vision Cable's Bergen County, New Jersey
cable television system from 1975 to 1977. Currently, Mr. Willner is a director of Insight and NTL, Incorporated. He serves on the boards of C-SPAN and the National Cable Television Association where he is a member of the Executive
Committee and serves as Treasurer. Mr. Willner is a graduate of Boston
University's College of ommunication and serves on the school's Executive Committee.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084421/000104746905023556/a2163158zprer14a.htm#toc_cy6550_4 Board Members of Insight and their affiliations include:
Sidney R. Knafel has been Chairman of the Board since 1985. He was the founder, Chairman and an equity holder of Vision Cable Communications, Inc. from 1971 until its sale in 1981. Mr. Knafel is presently the managing partner of SRK Management Company, a private investment company. He is a director of General American Investors Company, Inc. and IGENE Biotechnology, Inc., as well as several private companies. Mr. Knafel is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School.
Michael S. Willner has served as Chief Executive Officer since 1985. Mr. Willner has also served as Vice Chairman since August 2002, served as President from 1985 to August 2002 and reassumed the position of President in August 2003. Mr. Willner served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Vision Cable from 1979 through 1985, Vice President of Marketing for Vision Cable from 1977 to 1979 and General Manager of Vision Cable's Bergen County, New Jersey cable television system from 1975 to 1977. He currently serves on the board of directors and Executive Committee of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. He also serves on the boards of C-SPAN, Women in Cable and Telecommunications, the Cable Center and the Walter Kaitz Foundation, as well as the Executive Committee of CableLabs. Mr. Willner is a graduate of Boston University's College of Communication and serves on the school's Executive Committee.
Dinni Jain has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since October 2003. He joined Insight Communications in January 2002 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. From 1994 through 2002, he served in a number of roles in sales, marketing, customer service, strategy, corporate development and general management at NTL Incorporated, one of Europe's leading cable and telecommunications companies. He ultimately served as Deputy Managing Director of NTL's Consumer Division, overseeing customer and new business growth, as well as the quality of customer satisfaction. He also managed the operations of NTL's Cable and Wireless Consumer Group from 2000 to 2001. He currently serves on the board of directors of The Cable & Telecommunication Association for Marketing Foundation. Mr. Jain attended Princeton University.
John Abbot has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since January 2004. From January 1995 to January 2004, Mr. Abbot served in a number of roles at Morgan Stanley, most recently as Managing Director in the Global Media and Communications Group of its Investment Banking Division. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Abbot worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co., and he also served six years as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Abbot received a bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, an ME in Industrial Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Elliot Brecher has served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel since January 2000. Previously, he was associated with the law firm Cooperman Levitt Winikoff Lester & Newman, P.C., which served as Insight's legal counsel until July 2000 when it merged with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, which continues to serve as Insight's legal counsel. He joined that firm in February 1994 and served as a partner from January 1996 until joining Insight Communications. Prior to that, he was an associate of the law firm Rosenman & Colin from October 1988. Mr. Brecher received his law degree from Fordham University.
Thomas L. Kempner has served as a director of Insight since July 1999. Mr. Kempner serves as Chairman of the compensation and stock option committees and as a member of the audit and nominating committees. Mr. Kempner has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Loeb Partners Corporation, investment bankers, and its predecessors since February 1978. He is currently a director of CCC Information Services Group Inc., FuelCell Energy, Inc., IGENE Biotechnology, Inc., Intermagnetics General Corporation, Northwest Airlines, Inc. (Emeritus), Dyax Corp. and Intersections Inc. Mr. Kempner is a graduate of Yale University.
Geraldine B. Laybourne has served as a director of Insight since February 2004. Ms. Layborne serves as a member of the compensation and nominating committees, as well as on the special committee formed to review and consider the merger. In 1998, Ms. Laybourne founded Oxygen Media, LLC, an independent cable television network with programming tailored to the interests of women, and has served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since its inception. She is most notably known for her work at Nickelodeon, a programming affiliate of MTV Networks, having served in a number of roles from 1980 to 1995, including as its President from 1989. From 1993 to 1995, she also served as the Vice Chairman of MTV Networks. From 1996 to 1998, she served as the President of Disney ABC Cable Networks. She currently serves on the boards of the National Cable & elecommunications Association and the National Council for Families and Television, and on the Advisory Board of New York Women in Film & Television. Ms. Laybourne received a bachelor's degree in Art History from Vassar College and serves on its board of trustees, and received an MS in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania.
David C. Lee has served as a director of Insight since July 2004. Mr. Lee serves as a member of the audit, compensation and nominating committees, as well as on the special committee formed to review and consider the Merger. Mr. Lee is a Managing Director of D.B. Zwirn & Co. L.P., a global alternative asset manager and merchant capital provider, which he joined in April 2005 in conjunction with its controlling interest in LLJ Capital, LLC, a specialty finance and advisory firm specializing in media, communications and technology, which Mr. Lee founded and served as its Senior Managing Director since January 2004. From December 2002 until December 2003, Mr. Lee was a private investor and consultant to the communications and technology industries. From April 2001 to December 2002, Mr. Lee was the Founding Managing Partner of Saturn Venture Partners LLC, a private investment firm focused on communications technology. Prior thereto, he was a Managing Director of Sandler Capital Management, a private investment and money management firm specializing in media, communications and technology, from January 1999 to April 2001. Prior thereto, he was a Managing Director of Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, an investment banking firm where he served in various capacities from March 1988 to October 1994 and from April 1996 to December 1998. He is a director of Young Broadcasting Inc.
James S. Marcus has been a director of Insight since July 1999. Mr. Marcus serves as Chairman of the audit committee and as a member of the compensation and nominating committees. Mr. Marcus is a retired partner of The Goldman Sachs Group, L.P. (predecessor of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.), investment bankers. He is currently a director of American Biltrite Inc. Mr. Marcus is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School.
click here for
http://www.freedom.com/company/directors.html|Freedom Communications Board of Directors
An anecdote:
A couple of years ago, at the prompting of (probably) a moveon email I wrote a letter to the Colorado Springs Gazette critical of the MSM's role in the whole WMD! blahblahblah. To my mild surprise, they did publish it.
Don't think any other papers picked it up though ;)
How could anyone that claims to believe in the concept of democracy encourage the practice of excluding others from expression of their own developed views. Sean Paige is immature, under developed, and dangerous to any attempt at instituting and maintaining a democratic process in this country (thus it's easy for him to suggest others dont understand the "newspaper business) ...not to mention the unforgivable attempt to short change our own labor constituency after unilaterally agreeing to such an egregious fraud such as that foisted on the american people by Cheney & company (Halliburton et al)and the stove pipe liars at the Office of "special plans". People are sick to death of eating your yellow cake lies Sean. You might have to resort to any way the wind blows (Alan Keyes! OMG!) and that's your right but as Shakespeare said ' A man must subdue his passion' ..please keep your pollution to yourself. The rest of us are trying to remember a country. A country with some self-respect and international credibility.
Izzy Asper and Canwest tried to do that up here in Canada with a bunch of newspapers - syndicating editorials from home office in support of the PM. They got their ass smacked down for it, and news of their attempt was published in every paper they didn't own.
Perhaps it would be worth your while to tip off other newspapers about this and try to embarrass them?
This post is right but doesn't do anything to convince me that the Act is helping and not hurting.
They have really high minimum wages in Germany and they have very high unemployment. People would like to give other people jobs but the government forces them to pay wages they can't afford.
Can someone please address the real issue here and explain why my 2nd paragraph is wrong?
This isn't just a matter of other newspapers in a chain "picking up" the editorial - it is not authored by the local editorial board and the lack of authorship attribution is in itself a deliberate deception to the public.
When a company chooses to do this, it has abrogated its mission to be a community newspaper. The complaints about this should be loud and constant until the people in those communities are aware that their local newspaper is nothing more than an orchestrated propaganda rag.
hey, where is the welcome for sideshow readers?
(wink)
Chris, as long as Sean Paige is glossing over the fact that Bush declared a national emergency in 41 states, not just TX-LA-MS, and exempted all Fed-funded projects from prevailing wages, not just hurricane disaster relief, and since the Gazette is a Freedom con receiving Federal monies to publish, then shouldn't Bush exempt Sean from receiving his normal salary, and outsource his editorial job to India?