If A Columnist Falls From the Paper, Does Anyone Care?

Self-aggrandizing Moscow-Pullman Daily News columnist Chuck Pezeshki has created a bit of a firestorm over his latest throwaway paean to eco-terrorists published on August 16. In it, Chuck wrote:

Frank Bennett, that ostensible local communitarian, at my last check was living in Palm Springs.

Uh, there's a slight problem there. Frank Bennett does not, nor has he ever, lived in Palm Springs. But why let truth stand in the way of a good anarchist rant?

The problem for Chuck is that Mr. Bennett has many friends in the area. A letter to the editor appeared in the paper today correcting Chuck's lie.

The real question is, where was the editorial staff fact checking? Is Chuck just allowed to publish anything he wants? At a recent Palousitics lunch, Daily News Managing Editor Steve McClure told us that another columnist had been let go for promulgating false information.

We'll see where this goes.

"Wal-Mart offers no date for Pullman store "

Oops. It appears that the Daily News "broke" a non-story about Wal-Mart's groundbreaking plans yesterday.

I heard the same rumors and checked it out with Wal-Mart. I learned the same thing that the Lewiston Tribune reports in the article below: The status hasn't changed one bit. Don't despair though. Wal-Mart is still committed to Pullman.

In the meantime, To get the straight story on Wal-Mart in Pullman, first and most accurately, keep it locked on Palousitics.

From today's Lewiston Tribune:

PULLMAN - A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said Thursday the company has "zero timeline" and "zero information" about plans to break ground for a super center at Pullman by the end of the year.

"It would be our hope to do something this year, but I have absolutely nothing," said Jennifer Spall, Wal-Mart's Washington spokeswoman. "Nothing has changed."

Spall said plans for building a super center in Clarkston are more solid.

"We're actually much, much closer in Clarkston. But I don't have a date yet," Spall said about Clarkston plans. She said bids are out on that project.

"I could know within two months whether we're going to break ground, but right now I don't have any timeline either," she said of the Clarkston store.

Spall said she has been receiving a number of calls about erroneous reports that Wal-Mart might abandon Pullman in favor of Clarkston. She said there is no validity to the reports. "We are committed to both sites," she said.

The current Wal-Mart stores in both Lewiston and Moscow represent separate markets, Spall said, and there are no plans to close either store.

Technorati Tags: wal-mart walmart

Mmmmm, Malthusianism. Tastes Like the Easter Bunny

Lenna Harding's environmentalist wacko ramblings grow more bizarre with each new column.

Here are some quotes from her latest one in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

At what point is population growth no longer sustainable? Why are we so concerned with defining the family as a couple with children? Instead, should we not be applauding those who choose not to bear children?

Democrats: The party of "No Family" values.

We need to rethink our diet and look to better sources of protein than beef. I like beef and am not advocating abolishing it as a food source. I merely suggest that chicken and rabbits might be more resource-efficient sources. Sheep and goats also should be more in the mix.

Why not Soylent Green? Then we could kill two birds with one stone (so to speak.)

Who can take these people seriously?

Bias at the Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Moscow-Pullman Daily News publisher Nathan Alford has repeatedly extolled to me the virtues of free speech and the press. But is the press at the Daily News free of bias?

You read these examples and tell me:

In 2005, a letter to the editor from Ed Schweitzer endorsing Wal-Mart was sat on until the day after the Pullman City Council election in which a PARD member was running. The Daily Evergreen published the same letter two weeks before.

A reporter from the Daily News wanted to cover my visit to the Wal-Mart Home Office in April 2006, but an editor killed the story.

A BREO press release last year about a petition from a group of seniors in favor of Wal-Mart was never covered.

Libelous and defamatory comments from PARD members and sympathizers are allowed to be posted and remain posted at Dnews.com in the name of the "Safe Harbor."

So when a reader of this blog wrote a rebuttal to Chris Lupke's latest insane rant against me, what did the Daily News do? Bury it.

Oh, every letter to the editor trampling out the vintage where the sour grapes are stored from Lupke, Orlich, Damm, et. al. gets published. But here's the letter sent in a few weeks ago that you haven't seen in the Daily News:

I read with interest the letter from Christopher Lupke dated July 5, 2008. In the letter he claims the salary he makes is inaccurate. The information on salaries comes from http://lbloom.net/wsu07.html. The information on the web site is gathered from the Washington State Office of Financial Management and is for 2007. I checked both the salary for my husband and myself. According to the website, both were listed correctly. When the list first came out, I also discussed this site with friends who work at WSU and they agreed that the information was correct. Therefore my question is this…is your listed salary too high or too low, Mr. Lupke? Or is it that you are embarrassed to be earning that much money for only nine months of work? According to Mr. Forbes figures the average Pullman family earns $40,709 a year. It certainly makes it difficult to claim non-elite status when you are earning approximately 54% more for nine months of work than the average Pullmanite makes in a year.

As for the comment, “This pig needs to be removed from the trough.” It was written by a commentator to the blog, not Mr. Forbes personally. Many people can post to blogs. This is just a typical example of taking something out of context for your own personal end. Rather similar to what PARD did to Pullman for the last few years by their unseemly lawsuits and their claim of representing the common people of Pullman. At any rate, the comment was meant to show some professors are elitists and make far too much money for the work they do.

If you want the healing to begin, PARD should apologize for holding Pullman hostage and putting our tax base in jeopardy.

I expect this kind of crap from the puerile Watermelon. But a paper run by level-headed adults? I think we can find a better local newspaper.

"Compound fracture of fact"

The reason for the numerous PARD "compound fractures of fact" and the smear campaign they are currently waging which Terry Day referred to in a letter to the editor last Friday is obvious.

PARD desperately wants to distract public attention away from the outing of their three year long lie about not receiving any financial assistance from the UFCW. They fear, rightfully so, the wrath of Pullman citizens who have been cheated out of two million dollars in sales tax revenue and tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses as part of some futile nationwide union grudge match against Wal-Mart that has nothing to do with our town.

PARDner Chris Lupke, and PARD ally Matthew Root (remember, Root threatened to call the cops on Palousitics constributor Ray Lindquist for holding up a "Honk for Wal-Mart" sign downtown back in January 2006,) have been engaged in a systematic campaign of outrageous lies and distortions against Scotty ("The Seattle Transplant,") myself, and by inference, all who support Wal-Mart coming to Pullman in the printed pages of the Daily News and on Dnews.com.

For example, Lupke wrote in a unhinged rant published in the July 5-6 edition of the Daily News that, "Following it [this blog post made by me on June 29] are some comments, including this: 'This pig needs to be removed from the trough.'" That bordered on libel, as the clear implication was that I had made that statement. On Dnews.com, the online comments about this letter actually turned libelous, as I was accused by both Lupke and Root of having made it.

That is a complete and utter lie. If you look at the comments for this post, you can see it was Paul Zimmerman that wrote about the "pig," not me. What I said was this:

There was a story in the Daily News not too long ago stating that the average salary of professors at WSU was $92,000 a year.

Now, one can debate that number in terms of pay at other universities or whether the professors deserve such pay or not all day long.

What is not debatable, however, is the adolescent hippie fantasy that Lupke engages in that somehow the professors of PARD with their much-higher-than-average salaries (and education) represent the "working class" of Pullman. It's unseemly and it's silly.

My wife is a professor in the College of Liberal Arts. I have never impugned the pay of professors or the quality of professors in the College of Liberal Arts in general, only arrogant jerks in any college who suppress academic freedom and try to promote their own leftist agenda on the taxpayer's time or by pretending to be "experts" in things such as traffic, urban planning and economics.

I don't think Paul was making a broad statement aboout professors either, as he has been an instructor at WSU. He was just singling out Lupke. And I was merely rebutting Lupke's absurd assertion on Dnews.com that somehow only the "more wealthy people" in Pullman support Wal-Mart. I did this by using data available to those who pay his salary, the taxpayers of Washington,to show that members of prominent PARD households all make well above the average family income in Pullman. If Lupke doesn't like his pay being a matter of public record, he should move to a job in the private sector.

If any further letters or comments claiming that I said anything about "pigs in the trough" show up again anywhere, there will be legal consequences for all involved.

But false accusations and namecalling are nothing new to the tag team of Lupke and Root, both active members of the Whitman County Democrats. A few months back, after falsely accusing me of being the Dnews.com commenter "TJ Kong," Lupke said I was "homophobic" and "fascinated with Nazis." Root called "TJ Kong" a "suicide bomber."

From last Friday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Mark Twain spoke of lies and damned lies and labeled the aphorism that "Truth is mighty and will prevail" as "the most majestic compound fracture of fact which any of woman born has yet achieved ... a truth is not hard to kill, and ... a lie well told is immortal."

I take it this must be the bible of PARDites, who continue to spread lies about Pullman city officials regarding Wal-Mart's proposed Pullman super center. PARDites will take umbrage at this truth. They are unrestrained in misrepresenting the city's handling of the Wal-Mart application, but accuse those who criticize them of intimidation.

The only smear campaign in Pullman over Wal-Mart is being conducted by the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development or its supporters. They wage it against city officials who acted morally and legally and whose handling of the issues have repeatedly been upheld in the court of law. And that especially includes providing all citizens ample opportunity through public hearings to voice their concerns and opinions. Allegations to the contrary constitute a compound fracture of fact.

Terence L. Day, Pullman

Palunchitics Wrap-Up

Those of you who couldn't make it today missed a great Palunchitics. As Scotty mentioned previously, Moscow-Pullman Daily News managing editor Steve McClure was gracious enough to stop by the Hilltop this afternoon and chat with us over lunch about our local newspaper. We touched on many subjects, including:

- The new printing press
- The size of the paper and newsprint
- The economic issues facing the Daily News
- Fact checking, plagiarism and columnists
- The Washington Post's proposed "hyper-local" coverage
- The struggles of big city newspapers and the success of small town ones.
- The possibility of a Sunday edition
- The new Washington cell phone law
- The balance between Pullman and Moscow coverage
- The tricks sometimes required to confirm stories or getting to the facts (such as Hillary Hamm's exposing of the PARD serial lie about not receiving union support)
- Editorial consensus, or the lack thereof, on certain issues
- The Associated Press' heavyhanded attempts at copyright enforcement
- The future of the Daily News, both print and web versions

This is not the first time Steve has visited with us. He attended the first Palousitics blogfest back in December 2006.

While I certainly don't agree with the Daily News on every issue (anonymous commenting and lack of comments moderation on Dnews.com being my biggest gripe,) I think Steve is a good guy and that the Daily News is overall pretty centrist and does the best it can with very limited resources.

We are trying to line up a local elected official for the August Palunchitics. Stay tuned.

Shooting from the Hip

Tucked away within Murf's Biz Bits column is this gem:

How much longer is the water leak at Sixth and Rayburn streets in Moscow going to remain? The leak has been running for months. You would think such resource waste would not be the case in a town that purports to be conservative with its water use.

Michael O'Neal's New Website

My two favorite newspaper columnists are both named Michael: Our own Michael Costello, who has a Saturday column in the Lewiston Tribune, and Michael O'Neal, who has a column every other Tuesday in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Both have a very intelligent and clever way with words that tends to make our local moonbats start barking.

Michael O'Neal has started a webiste at thespeech-writer.com. I'm certainly going to check it out and you should too. I'm trying to get Michael to stop by here and share some of his wit and wisdom with us from time-to-time.

UPDATE: Michael has signed on as a Palousitics contributor as "The Speech Writer." Let's all welcome Michael!

Dead Tree Dinosaur Death Watch, Part II

The layoffs and cutbacks that have hit the New York Times, the Spokesman-Review, and the Seattle Times have now hit the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The Trib likely alienated many readers by having two very left-wing editorialists churning out columns daily. The Daily News, as I have repeatedly pointed out, allows for anonymous and unmoderated venomous comments on its online edition.

The City of Pullman's contract with the Daily News requires that they maintain a Pullman office. Now that that is gone, will they continue the contract? What will happen to the coverage of Pullman and WSU issues? God knows the Evergreen gave up on covering Pullman about a year ago.

UDPATE: From today's Daily News:

"We will continue to have an office in Pullman," Alford said. "Pullman and greater Whitman County are an essential part of our readership area. It will remain an essential part of our focus and a top priority for news coverage.

From today's Lewiston Tribune:

Tribune, Daily News announce cost-cutting measures

Drop in ad revenue, rise in cost of materials create financial strain; Trib
editorial writer Tom Henderson is leaving

The Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News are losing five positions as the newspapers face softening advertising revenue and increases in the cost of materials.

Changes that will be most visible involve the reduction of the Tribune's editorial writing staff from two to one with the loss of Tom Henderson and also the closure of the Daily News office in Pullman. Henderson will be moving to Oregon.

Other jobs being cut include the Tribune's newsroom librarian, a position in production at the Tribune, a clerical position at the Pullman office of the Daily News and a customer service and circulation position at the Daily News, said Wayne Hollingshead, chief operating officer of Tribune Publishing Company Holdings, which operates the two newspapers.

Management tried to choose reductions that would have the least impact on the papers' ability to gather news and sell its product, Hollingshead said.

But A.L. Alford Jr., editor and publisher of the Lewiston Tribune, said the choice to reduce staffing for the editorial page, which has had two full-time editorial writers since the 1970s, was "the most difficult" and fell short of the goal of not affecting the news product.

The Tribune is one of the few and possibly the only newspaper of its size in the country that has two full-time editorial writers, Hollingshead said.

Some of the cuts were made through early retirements and not filling positions that were vacant, Hollingshead said. The five positions represent a fraction of the 139 full-time and 59 part-time employees at the two newspapers.

One position that is not affected is that of the Tribune's political reporter. Dean Ferguson is leaving the Tribune to work as communications director for Larry LaRocco.

LaRocco is running for the U.S. Senate seat that is now held by Larry Craig, who is retiring. Ferguson's position will be filled later in the year.

The challenges that prompted the changes reflect the national downturn in the economy, Alford said.

The weakness didn't hit the Tribune and Daily News as early as the Spokane and Seattle areas, Alford said.

The Seattle Times announced it was cutting 200 jobs on Monday.

"Fortunately our nonmetropolitan newspapers have a more favorable situation and outlook than the metropolitan media," Alford said.

Radio and television are working through the same kinds of issues, Hollingshead said. "The first thing to cut is advertising. They cut that and then they start worrying about where is my business."

The cost for the paper that the newspaper is printed on, postage and mileage are all increasing, Hollingshead said. "Anything that we buy that is petroleum-based has just gone through the roof."

Those costs are rising at a time when the papers are paying for a new press and are in the final year of repaying a loan that helped buy the papers back from Kearns-Tribune Corp. in 1998.

"The one-time expenses here are not the issue," Hollingshead said. "It's really the ongoing things that caught us by surprise."

The decision to invest $12 million in a new production center was made in December 2006 and the newspapers wouldn't "be brave enough to proceed" with the plan if it were made today, Alford said.

The newspapers still stand to gain from the new press, which will be operational in June, Alford and Hollingshead said.

One of its advantages is that it will bring "terrific reproduction," Alford said.

The newspapers also expect it will help the bottom line by reducing waste and creating a new stream of revenue by printing specialty publications, Hollingshead said.

Downturns in the economy such as this are ones the papers have weathered about six times since 1968 when Alford became editor and publisher, with the most recent being in 2002, he said. "I have optimism about our region's middle and long-term economy."

The Tribune and Daily News are going to be fine, Hollingshead said. "We're going to do everything we can to continue to produce great newspapers."

Moscow-Pullman Daily News to Start Blog Sites

Dale Courtney over at Right Mind noticed that Dave Oliveria posted this at Huckleberries Online:

Editor Steve McClure of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News called this morning to ask about newspaper blogs. Seems the Moscow-based paper is going to dip its toe into the blogosphere and Steve was interested re: what we're doing up here. He blurks at Huckleberries Online occasionally. Good guy.

Here is the comment I left on Dale's blog:

Agreed. The Trib blogs are really bad, unless you're an American Idol fan. Total fluff. It has its place, but let's have some hard news too.

The Spokesman does it up right. Dave is a good guy. I urged Nathan Alford to pursue blogs at Dnews.com two years ago as a way for the reporters to provide more coverage and insight on local issues.

It is interesting to note that the Spokesman does NOT allow comments on its online version, only through the blogs. And HBO DOES moderate offensive/spam comments and bans users after being warned (as do you and I, Dale).

I'm guessing based on the open sewer the Dnews.com online comments section has become (which I also warned Nathan about), Steve is looking at better (and perhaps more legally defensible) alternatives to remain competitive with us in the New Media.

Good luck with the blogs, Steve. But unless you get the trolls under control, you'll still have the same problems.

Computer Error?

Is that like a "wardrobe malfunction?" I pointed out that the comment that Chris Lupke made on Dnews.com where he used my name to falsely identify me as an anonymous commenter was suddenly removed from the website. So I contacted publisher Nathan Alford again about removing Lupke's "homophobic joke" comment, as obviously the Dnews.com forum is being moderated if comments are being removed. You'll absolutely LOVE his response:

Greetings Tom.

Your note was received.

As I've mentioned before, the comment section is not moderated and remains unmoderated. The comment was not deleted. A computer error removed it from the thread. We are correcting the error.

Regards, Nathan.

Tom Forbes wrote:
>
> Nathan,
>
> I see that this comment:
>
> /lupke wrote: on 3/20/2008 11:07 am:/
>
> /Yes, Tom, we all know about your habitual resorting to name calling
> when you've run out of cogent responses (which is pretty quick). I
> think the only one "raging" is you. Even your sidekick Lobo seems
> embarrassed by you at times, though not enough in my opinion. When
> people disagree with you, you panic, call them names, threaten their
> tenured status. You're not much of a neighbor and you really seem to
> hate collegetowns. If you're unhappy here, consider moving. Just a
> suggestion. I won't resort to calling for you to be run out of town,
> as you have us -- in a fit of rage./
>
> /Yes, you always claim to speak for "the rest of us" (another
> fallacy), but your pathetic attempt at garnering a pro-Wal-Mart
> petition resulted in fewer signatories than we gathered in any one
> hour of gathering signatures locally. You may have forgotten, but we
> gathered OVER TEN THOUSAND asking Wal-Mart not to build. All locally. /
>
> ...has been deleted from Dnews.com. Whether you decided to do it or
> Chris Lupke requested it, thank you! In any case, it is obviously no
> longer an "unmoderated forum." Accordingly, I ask again that the
> comment referring to "homophobic joke" please be deleted. Lupke has a
> long history of associating me with "tjkong" and his other comments in
> this thread are obviously addressed to me (e.g. "trying to claim I'm
> related to some guy named Chad Lupke," referring to a comment made
> only on my blog some 2 1/2 years ago) regardless of whether he uses my
> name or not.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Tom Forbes

"Computer error," eh? Funny that was the only comment that got removed. Of course, if the forum is moderated, that would make the Daily News legally liable for any comments being posted there. Oops.

The Homophobic Nazi Suicide Bomber

Below is my letter to the editor published in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News about Chris Lupke mistakenly identifying me as an anonymous commenter on Dnews.com and accusing me of making "homophobic jokes" and being "fascinated" with Nazis.

I know several of you here disagree with my philosophy. But for those of you that endorse anonymous/unmoderated comments at Dnews.com as a way of instantly responding to news stories/opinion, protecting "whistleblowers," or making arguments based on merit not the person, I ask you two simple questions: Is it your name and reputation being affected by these online comments? Does your family have to answer questions about things you did not say?

At what point does the First Amendment become a letter of marque to go after your enemies with no consequences? A newspaper is not a blog. Everyone in the community reads it. They don't go there expecting to read personal attacks, lies, and unsubstantiated claims (or maybe they do, possibly explaining why Nathan Alford insists on keeping the comments turned on.) People go to a newspaper website expecting the truth, in the form of news.

If Chris Lupke hates me so much, as he obviously does, then why doesn't he start his own blog? www.tomforbesistheantichrist.com. The answer is that he won't. He's getting a free ride without putting in any work other than thinking up some pithy putdown. It's much more effective to lob grenades at me at a website he knows gets thousands of hits a day to inflict maximum damage on me. And I pay money every month for this privilege.

Rather than "encouraging a constructive community dialogue," these comments chill it considerably. Most people do not have the thick skin that I do. And what can I do to get my good name back? The onus is all on me to go after Lupke by putting down thousands on a retainer for an attorney. The Daily News provides this platform for Lupke and then just says "sucks to be you buddy." It doesn't matter to them how untrue or damaging any of his garbage is.

Let me give you some examples of this "constructive dialogue" that Lupke and his toadie Matthew Root have indulged in, all in response to a story that did not concern me in response to a commenter who is not me:

tj -- calling yourself "reasonable and responsible" should elicit guffaws from even the most dotrinaire of observants. Your "reason" reminds me more of that employed by the nazis for whom you hold such a prurient fascination, as illustrated by your obsessive discussion of them on these pages.

Yes, Tom, we all know about your habitual resorting to name calling when you've run out of cogent responses (which is pretty quick). I think the only one "raging" is you. Even your sidekick Lobo seems embarrassed by you at times, though not enough in my opinion. When people disagree with you, you panic, call them names, threaten their tenured status. You're not much of a neighbor and you really seem to hate collegetowns. If you're unhappy here, consider moving. Just a suggestion. I won't resort to calling for you to be run out of town, as you have us -- in a fit of rage.

Yes, you always claim to speak for "the rest of us" (another fallacy), but your pathetic attempt at garnering a pro-Wal-Mart petition resulted in fewer signatories than we gathered in any one hour of gathering signatures locally. You may have forgotten, but we gathered OVER TEN THOUSAND asking Wal-Mart not to build. All locally. [This comment appears to have been deleted from the Daily News website, making Alford's claim to me that Dnews.com is an "unmoderated forum" de facto (and likely de jure) untrue. But any reasonably intelligent onlooker can tell from Lupke's non-deleted comments that he is referring specifically to me.]

Hi Chris, yes he resorts to name calling again; its all he’s got. I suggest we just let him ride the bomb to his own self-destruction, like his fake namesake. I find it funny that the fictional T J Kong was a suicide bomber.

I also basically agree with you about tj. I knew he would be a waste of time the first time I heard of him trying to claim I'm related to some guy named Chad Lupke and that therefore I'm not a permanent resident of Pullman. He has a small palette of rhetorical techniques that consist mainly of blathering his point of view (fine, who cares); if that doesn't work, insulting his interlocutors with vicious, slanderous names; lies about other people in the community; threats such as running people out of town; and rather pathetic attempts at self-arrogation mixed with a real envy of the academic life. I'm not sure what trauma occurred in his academic life, but it clearly left him scarred. In all his blather, I have never once gotten the impression that he wanted to persuade his adversaries of anything and am confident he never has.

It is remarkable, though, that in his frustration his only recourse is a homophobic joke. What was it last week -- nooses? Disgusting. Never ends.

tj -- your lies never end. I never said I hated you and, as a Christian, I don't. That doesn't mean I approve of your unsavory tactics. But there is hope for everyone. Even Lee Atwater, for example, who is the modern inventor of the style of character assasination and dirty tricks methods you employ, repented on his death bed, writing many apologies to those whom he verbally assaulted. I therefore hold out hope that anyone can reflect on the rotten things they inflict on others and change. I would hope they would come sooner than they did for Atwater.

My wife's friends and co-workers read this bullshit and she has to deal with it. Think about if you would want your family to be subjected to that.

Here is my letter:

Daily News publisher Nathan Alford insists on running an anonymous, unmoderated online forum, despite the legal and moral risks this poses.

Authors of letters to the editor and opinion page columnists are required to divulge their identities before being published. Why should online commenters be held to a different standard? Libel laws apply equally to online editions as to print ones.

Even though there are numerous blogs and message boards not owned by newspapers that allow anonymous, unmoderated comments, that doesn't mean our community newspaper should. Newspapers, especially in small towns, have a special responsibility to their readers to encourage constructive discussion and debate. MIT Professor of Sociology of Science Dr. Sherry Turkle has conducted research into "identity and multiplicity" online and postulated that the quality of online forums is inversely proportional to the anonymity of its participants.

Several months ago, the Daily News took steps to eliminate "sock puppet" accounts. While a good first step, the anonymity and unmoderated nature of the online comments still allows for reprehensible, irresponsible, and destructive comments. For example, in responding to recent posts from a regular commenter known as "tjkong," Chris Lupke mistakenly assumed that it was me and leveled accusations that I made a "homophobic joke" and showed a "prurient fascination" with Nazis. It is Lupke's constitutional right to have an opinion about my public stance on various issues (as I do about him). However, he is not entitled to associate me with controversial comments that I did not make without prior and incontrovertible evidence concerning my identity. The Daily News refused to delete those comments.

I encourage you to contact Nathan Alford (alford@dnews.com) and urge him to restore decency to our community newspaper and hold it to a higher standard by eliminating the anonymous unmoderated online comments.

Tom Forbes, Pullman

Technorati Tags: wal-mart walmart

Anything You Don't Say Can and Will Be Used Against You

If you are contemplating taking a public stand on a controversial issue, take my advice: Don't. The local media-academic complex will knock you down.

For example, our "community paper," the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, has abrogated its moral and legal responsibilities, turning the comments section in the online version of the newspaper into a fetid cesspool of libel, lies, gossip, rumor, and innuendo.

This is an e-mail exchange between Daily News publisher Nathan Alford and myself:

Date: Friday, March 21, 2008 11:03 AM
From: Nathan Alford
To: Tom Forbes
Subject: Re: Libelous Comment
Size: 4 KB

Tom,

Your note was received. Thank you.

You and I have visited about the positives and negatives of unmoderated public forums on the Web. One negative is that often times those engaged in public debate get poked, or become the subject of loose and unpleasant accusations.

Remember, we're not editing or filtering these comments. We view each individual as responsible for their comments. That's per our written policy, "Individuals posting libelous statements may be held individually responsible."

In this case, it sounds like that's Chris Lupke. I'd encourage you to discuss the matter further with Chris.

Regards, Nathan.

Tom Forbes wrote:

Nathan,

Chris Lupke has left a comment on the Daily News website that states:

"It is remarkable, though, that in his frustration his only recourse is a homophobic joke. What was it last week -- nooses? Disgusting. Never ends."

If you read the entire comment thread on the "TOWN CRIER III: Lessons from the Hawkins development settlement" column, you will see that Lupke mistakenly labels the "tjkong" commentor as me. He has done this on numerous occasions and in the past I have ignored it. But this time, claiming that I am "homophobic" or tell "homophobic" jokes is libelous and injurious to my reputation (much less the Nazi allegations he also made.) I warned you about the dangers of anonymous
commenting when we had lunch several months ago. I continue to urge you to associate real names with online commentors. If you take this measure, this type of behavior will stop. This has nothing to do with either a "constructive community dialog" or the First Amendment.

I demand the "homophobic" comment be immediately deleted and Mr. Lupke notified that I am not "tjkong" and that his comments about me are way out of line. If this is not done right away, I will have no choice but to seek legal remedies to protect my name and standing in the community.

I await your prompt reply.

Best regards,

Tom Forbes

--
*Nathan H. Alford*
Moscow-Pullman Daily News Editor & Publisher
(208) 882-5561 ext. 247
alford@dnews.com

Visit us on the web at:
DNews.com NWmarket.com
lmtribune.com

Alford's logic might apply if I had been involved in the discusssion online at Dnews.com, but I HAVE NOT BEEN. The column in question and all of the previous comments had nothing to do with me, and yet Lupke manages to drag me into it anyway. So Lupke is now free to continue to claim that I am someone that I am not and libel me with accusations of making "homophobic jokes" and a "prurient fascination" with Nazis.

I certainly intend to bring this matter to Lupke's attention, but not before making a public records request to see if he used his WSU account to post these comments.

And the Daily News' defense of unmoderated comments will not hold water, in my opinion, when subscribers have to pay with a credit card to access the online edition and when the identity of every poster is known to them.

I encourage you to drop Nathan Alford a line and let him know how you feel.

The Hit-Job Mentality

Howard Kurtz, media reporter for the Washington Post has had enough:

Memo to political reporters: Enough already.

Is it really necessary to allow operatives from one campaign to attack another candidate without their names attached? These strategists are paid to slam the other contenders. Why should they be able to hide behind a curtain of anonymity? Do you really want to be aiding and abetting that sort of cheap-shot politics?

Exactly. And do we want our community newspaper to aid and abet cheap-shot politics by providing a curtain of anonymity?

"Online Anonymity: The Ring of Gyges Made Real"

Paul Zimmerman has a great post on online anonymity over at his blog.

Now compare with Paul and I have to say about online anonymity with this paper from the Cato Institute.

The writer, Jonathan Wallace, concludes:

Anonymous and pseudonymous speech on the Internet forms a part of the rich tradition of such speech in prior media, including print, and is entitled to the same First Amendment protections. Legislation against anonymity threatens to end that rich tradition and should be opposed. If such legislation is passed, we can be confident that the Supreme Court will again find it inconsistent with our Constitution and our history.

Wallace cites several examples of anonymity and pseudonymity from American history and how the Supreme Court has consistently upheld anonymity as "a shield from the tyranny of the majority."

I generally agree with these sentiments and Oliver Wendell Holmes belief that: “The ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas. . . . The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market." However, the Republic is not in danger if commenters must reveal their identities on the Daily News website. It is not whistleblowing that goes on over there, but mean-spirited accusations meant to discredit and defame individuals who have identified themselves publicly. And there is a legal tradition going back to Roman days that guarantees an individual the right to face his or her accusers.

Also, to have a truly open debate and a free marketplace of ideas, one must be able to judge all the merits of the argument. A person's identity has much to do with their credibility and veracity. You wouldn't buy a car without knowing the make and model. Why should you buy an idea without knowing its source?

Victor Davis Hanson, as usual, has it right:

Anonymity on rare occasions may have a place in protecting whistleblowers or honest journalistic sources fearful of retaliation. But lately it is being misused in a variety of different contexts to destroy people and institutions — and as a way for authors of all sorts to avoid responsibility for what they write...

Anonymity is a vicious but seductive Siren that lures its heedless listeners to shipwreck on the shoals.

The End to Sockpuppetry at the Daily News

An end to sockpuppetry at the Daily News? Yep. Managing Editor Steve McClure announced yesterday measures that the Daily News is going to take to cut down on the fraud and abuse regarding online comments. I generally applaud these measures, but still think they don't go far enough. As long as people hide behind anonymity to launch irresponsible, vicious attacks on people who have the courage of their convictions to take a public stance on an issue, I will continue to advocate for an end to anonymity, for I agree with technology writer Mark Minasi:

Instead, I suggest that administrators who run Web sites that host forums and reviews require that their contributors identify themselves. I'm not suggesting censoring any conversation—just cutting out the masked men. Sure, this approach has problems. For instance, what constitutes "identify" and what about sites that cover topics where anonymity is necessary; no question, those are issues that would need discussion. But removing the anonymous from most online forums and review sites would, I think, lead to more information and less flaming. Ad hominem attacks and vicious public spleen-venting accomplish nothing and drive many people away from our online community.

I don't think asking contributors for a real name and perhaps country of origin, no more than that, is asking too much, particularly if it makes Internet conversation the property of us all, rather than the property of the loudest, angriest, and most uncivil.

I will share my views with Daily News publisher Nathan Alford tomorrow when we have lunch and then plead the case to a the Daily News readers.

From yesterday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

COMMENTARY: Screen names and sock puppets collide with online changes

I always thought a sock puppet was just that - an old tube sock on your hand given voice and personality to entertain someone younger than age 8.

Ah, but the Internet has opened a new avenue of opportunity for socks and the puppets they became.

"Sock puppetry" apparently refers to those people who comment online and then respond to their own comment under another name.

I discovered that about a month ago after a meeting with our new group of Town Criers. They had asked about participating in the debate that can occur under their columns in the comment section at DNews.com. Our suggestion was that those can be great conversations, particularly if they use their own name.

Given that our Web site allows for people to make comments without their real name, I also encouraged them not to go in under multiple names to comment on their own work.

One of the Criers shot me an e-mail a few days later to tell me they'd tracked down the phrase for that at wordspy.com.

That's where I discovered sock puppets had evolved.

With changes coming to the comments section of our Web site, they'll likely change again.

One of the changes that will become obvious to those who participate in the comment section is the requirement that online users select a single screen name. Once it's picked, our system (which records comments by username) will attach that screen name that person's postings in the comment section.

Our hope is that it will resolve one of the problems we've noticed since we launched the comment section in March - namely, people participating in the comments forum under multiple names and personalities.

The unmoderated nature of the comment section has led to some wide-open discussions - both online and in our newsroom.

We expect some of the coming changes will allow the debate to continue but provide a greater degree of accountability and give online readers more options to improve the tone.

Another significant addition will be a reader-moderating tool that gives folks on DNews.com the chance to vote up or vote down specific comments. There will be a "thumbs up" and a "thumbs down" icon attached to each comment.

If the cumulative total of "thumbs down" hits six, the comment will minimize and disappear from the main thread of comments. Readers can still go find the comment and, if they decide to, give it a "thumbs up" to vote it back into the discussion thread.

Each user will be able to vote once on each comment.

Participants also will be able to comment on specific comments of another person. That allows users to address the author of a comment while maintaining the general thread of comments on a news article or opinion piece.

The plan is for these changes to take place in the coming week.

Once everything is in place, our hope is that it will allow for a constructive exchange of opinions from the wide variety of people who participate in that forum.

An End to Sockpuppetry at the Daily News?

Sock-puppeting - the act of creating a fake online identity to praise, defend or create the illusion of support for one’s self, allies or company.

- The New York Times, July 16, 2007

April writes:

The LMT has a new feature. My user name is locked in and there is a reader poll for each entry. We will see how it goes...

The change to the on-line comments is no longer active, but I am guessing that the LMT was testing the new system last night Hopefully, they will follow through and extend it to the Daily News. At least it would cut down on the sock puppets.

Indeed. New online subscribers to the Daily News now see the following screen:


Making this retroactive to thousands of existing users might be tricky.

The reader poll for each comment is similar to what I have seen on other newspaper websites. The idea is that after a comment gets x number of negative flags, it is moved into a special negative comments section that you have to click on to view. This might be useful if each user only got one vote. At least the user would have to choose to see all the slime.

These enhancements do not go as far as I would like (if you have to give your name for a letter to the editor, why not for a comment that is published on the newspaper website just like a letter?), it would be a good start. As it stands now, the commenting system on the Daily News website is completely subject to fraud and abuse and has absolutely no legitimacy, since anyone can post as anyone else as many times as they like.

"Silent majority speaks out"

Thanks Lauri Sue! I'm keeping a record of all the comments for my own personal amusement. I plan to pull them out and use them after the Wal-Mart is built and Armageddon passes.

For example, there is yet another comment on the Daily News website from an anonymous Wal-Mart hater that reads:

If you are going to act uncivil it should actually be over something that matters. Some one tell me why whether or not we have a NEW Super Walmart will matter all that much, that any part of this is issue is worth this level of uncivility.

"Something that matters?" This in response to a column in which Lupke basically admits he's been obsessed with Wal-Mart for the past three years because he thinks it is destroying the world? "Uncivility?" The PARDners have defined it, and their comments aimed at me and others prove it.

And another:

What arrogance to assign mean or insulting labels to people you don't even know. Stick to the issues, and quit libeling others out of your own spite.

Indeed! *LOL*

From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

I publicly would like to thank Tom Forbes for advocating for our Pullman Wal-Mart Supercenter. The recent letters to the editor from the owner of Pullman Radio Shack and Tom Forbes are prime examples of why the silent majority of Pullman residents stay silent. The responses to those letters on the Daily News Web site have been brutal.

I am one of the "poor ignorant slobs" (quote: from "Guest" posted on the Daily News Web site at 10:41 a.m. Nov. 28). I am also a lowly staff member at Washington State University (not recognized by "Christopher Lupke" as part of the hard-working WSU community, quote: "WSU is a great university, not an elite, exclusive country club. It is a place filled with hard-working teachers, researchers, students, and administrators," posted to Daily News Web site at 7:26 p.m., Nov, 29).

I look forward to not having to go to Moscow to shop. I look forward to not paying Idaho sales tax on my food (last shopping trip to Winco cost us an additional $10.41 in sales tax). I look forward to being able to buy affordable groceries in my own community, tax free. I know that is not much to some, but it adds up for us when trying to make ends meet, as does the high cost of gas and the increase in utilities. There are many other reasons I welcome Wal-Mart but listing them would be redundant.

In closing, I am sure the anti-Wal-Mart minority will be glad to hear that after I take my inevitable beating on the Daily News Web site, I will be rejoining the silent majority.

Lauri-Sue Torkelson, Pullman

Technorati Tags: wal-mart walmart

Alford Wanting to Test the Limits

I just received the following e-mail from Dale Courtney, a fellow blogger and friend who has also been the subject of much anonymous venom as a member of Christ Church in Moscow. Dale is also a former member of the Daily News' citizens advisory committee.

Tom,

I saw your post

Concerning anonymous comments on the Daily News website, this is what one of my sources within the DN tells me:

"The advisers, from both ends of the spectrum were voicing concern, but Nathan and company are wanting to test the limits."

And if you were to bring a suit against the Daily News: "And the main argument would be this... Unmoderated postings vs. moderated postings. The DN has assumed some moderating control. With that, they assume responsibility for all."

I've done quite a bit of research on this matter -- since Vision2020 is known as a slander/libel/hate site. Since the DN does have (and take) editorial control, they are liable for the comments.

best,
Dale

I think it might be time we let the Alford family and the Daily News what we think of this despicable practice of "testing the limits."

Bottom-Dwelling Scumbags: The Sequel

I wrote earlier this week about the serial libel posted about me on the Daily News website while i was away in Mexico (e.g. "Tom Forbes has an unnatural pyschological attachment to Wally World," "Forbes needs a pyschiatrist or something to bring him back to reality," "There's a lot of anger and violence pent up in this Forbes character," etc., etc.) That's fine. Bulletin board material.

But my wife saw this posted on the Daily News website today by an anonymous PARD scumbag:

Of course Tom Forbes is responding here. You know that, too. Just follow the nasty, offensive posts and you'll find forbes! Again, it is amazing to me that this is the issue that he has decided to waste his time on! I'm sure his children will be proud one day as they look back and say, "If it wasn't for Dad I wouldn't have the opportunity to buy all this cheap crap and to work at this minimum wage job with no benefits!"

Well, you don't mess with a woman's children. My wife responded as follows (using her real name):

How dare you bring my children into this!!! For the record, my kids and I are extremely proud of my husband for taking a public stance on an issue he feels strongly about. It's one thing for Tom to be insulted by people who lack the courage to use their real name the way he does, but it is repulsive that you drag innocent children into this discussion. Have you no shame?

This will be my one and only post to this thread, so I will take the opportunity now to dispel a myth that frequently appears on the Daily News website (see above from WSU Student). My husband, Tom Forbes, is not being paid by Wal-Mart. I wish he could be compensated for the numerous hours he has volunteered to bring this very important issue to light. However, Tom says the thanks he receives from local business owners and residents is more than enough.

To which "WSU Student" answered:

At least Mrs. Forbes had the guts to use her real name which Tom Forbes never does. I won't use my name either. Do you know why that is Mrs. Forbes, so proud of your wonderful husband and the community service he provides to Pullman? Because I don't want my face pasted on your husband's disgusting website with all sorts of lies and insults. I think he said himself not long ago that he sees his community service as pulling others into the pigstye with him. Nobody knows whether your husband is paid by Walmart or not but considering the pack of lies he spews on his website I guess with your blessing there is no reason to believe you. Yes, have you no shame is a question that many have for him. Glad to hear you are proud of that and you've programmed your kids to be too.

Bringing my children into this slime and then calling my wife a liar and says she "programs" our kids is beneath contempt, even for the bottom-dwelling, lowlife PARDners. I won't stand for it.

Wondering why the Daily News is in financial trouble, Nathan Alford? Get rid of that cesspool of anonymous comments at your newspaper for a start. Someone doesn't like what I have to say here? THEN DON'T EVER VISIT AGAIN. The Daily News, however is a NEWSPAPER to which people pay money to get local NEWS, not anonymous character assassination. People that read the news have no choice but to view all this nastiness, whether they want to or not. It's just the same as walking into a newsstand and seeing porno mags laying open all around.

This "WSU Student" also claims to have gone door-to-door for Nathan Weller. I just contacted Nathan and I'm sure he will denounce these comments as he has no desire to be associated with a wife-and-child attacking dirtbag like that.

UPDATE: I have identified "WSU Student." Once I get confirmation on his identity, I will be taking the appropriate actions.