Newspaper Publisher Tries to Thwart First Amendment

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Newspaper Publisher Tries to Thwart First Amendment

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UPDATE: "Rally Galvanizes Santa Barbara News-Press Journalists"
and Laura Schlessinger again rants and raves for the News-Press about blogs, anonymous and children to be tried as adults (“There is no question that a juvenile’s brain is not as developed as an adult"). Another example of her care for children.

Schlessinger is behind a paywall if you want to pay the price. In columns # 1 and # 2 she disdains anonymity, by # 3 she is using anonymity AGAIN for her purposes. You can read her blog through her website.

1. The cowardice of anonymity 3/11/07

2. Boycotting 'mean and stupid' 3/15/07

3. District attorney's decision is right 3/25/07

In the year 2000 when the New York Times sold the Santa Barbara News-Press to animal-activist-vegan-mega-millioniare, Wendy McCaw, the 21st century was full of promise. McCaw had managed to bury most of her past up to her contentious Seattle, Washington divorce from Craig McCaw and she was known for her good deeds in the animal kingdom, they gave millions to "Free Willy," return Keiko, the orca star of to the wild. She was convincing when she told the Times:

“I will not have any role in the news-gathering or reporting process, I would hope that no friend or acquaintance of mine asks me to intercede with the paper, but if they did, I would tell them what I just told you.”

Unknown to News-Press readers, the problems started between McCaw and the newsroom since she purchashed the paper. Like a festering toxic tooth, her rancor started to pour out in July 2006 when Jerry Roberts, editor and six of his colleagues left the newsroom. At least, 150 newspapers around the world have kept on the paper's story since July.

In this nightmare Mr. Toad's wild ride, there have been more twists and turns than have yet to be chronicled. The following Electronic Frontier Foundation article is one more small chapter in McCaws management style and her response to humanity in the digital world. Since January 18, 2007 new developements are emerging. Google has received a subpoena requesting the IP address for an anonymous blogger.

“Wendy McCaw is treading down a very dangerous path for a publisher.” said Lincoln Bandlow, a First Amendment attorney and USC professor at the Annenberg School of Journalism.

Electronic Frontier Foundation January 18, 2007:
"The Santa Barbara News-Press needs a lesson in the First Amendment. Insisting that an anonymous comment posted for a few hours on a news blog skewed a labor unionization vote, the publisher of the newspaper is demanding that Google disclose the blogger's account information. It all started last September. Three months after several editors walked off the job amid allegations that News-Press owner and co-publisher Wendy McCaw had improperly interfered in editorial decisions, the employees that remained were struggling to form a union to negotiate with McCaw."