Newspaper chain astroturfs its ‘right-wing’ editorials

[meegbear]

When you read an editorial in your local newspaper, your natural assumption is that it expresses the views of that paper's staff and reflects local concerns. This, however, does not appear to be the case with the many small-town papers owned by Ogden Newspapers, Inc.

On March 31, an editorial headed "ACORN can't distract public from the truth" appeared in the Fairmont Sentinel, published in Fairmont, MN. It was bylined by Gary Andersen and Lee Smith, the paper's publisher and editor, and it slammed ACORN as a "front for liberal politicians" that has been involved in "illegal actions."

Over the next few days, the identical editorial started popping up elsewhere, with no byline and under a variety of headings. On April 3, it appeared in the Minot Daily News of Minot, ND under the heading, "Good riddance to ACORN." On April 5, it was in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette of Williamsport, PA, headed "ACORN victim of its own transgressions."

These papers have one thing in common. They are all owned by Ogden Newspapers of Wheeling, WV.

This is not the first time that Ogden has been accused of this kind of activity. In October 2008, for example, a blog sponsored by North Country Public Radio in Canton, NY reported, "The Adirondack Daily Enterprise, based in Saranac Lake, faces a controversy over Friday's endorsement of presidential candidate John McCain. ... The endorsement wasn't actually written locally. It was produced by a writer in West Virginia at Ogden Newspapers, Inc., the Enterprise's corporate headquarters. And yet the editorial includes this statement: '(W)e urge residents of our area to cast their ballots for John McCain, the leader Americans need.'"

"The Enterprise isn't alone," the entry concluded. "A nearly identical McCain endorsement, also penned in West Virginia, ran in the Gloversville Leader-Herald, also owned by the Odgen chain."

A comment left on this entry added an additional example:

"Ogden Newspapers did the same thing 4 years ago and required the Enterprise to endorse George Bush. The Enterprise at that particular time, and I believe still today, had made a very clear policy that they only do editorials and political endorsements on local and regional issues and politicians. ... Peter Crowley who was also the editor at that time called me to let me know that it wasn't their choice to run the endorsement but it was what they were told to do by their parent company. ... Ogden is notoriously ultra-conservative and so the McCain endorsement (and Bush endorsement 4 years ago) by the West Virginia home office should be no surprise."

Earlier this year, the Democrats were hit by a similar controversy when it was revealed that one Obama supporter had been sending identical pro-Obama letters to dozens of newspapers under a variety of names and had then disguised his identity by claiming to be a woman named "Ellie Light." That writer, however, was not tied either to the Obama administration or to any of the newspapers which published his letters.

<snip>

(Liberal Ohio blog) Irregular Times quickly determined that the paper's own staff had no obvious partisan leanings but focused instead on G. Ogden Nutting, patriarch of the family which owns both Ogden Newspapers and the largest interest in the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"Mr. Nutting is an entirely different story from the editorial staff of the Warren Tribune-Chronicle," the blogger wrote. "Federal Election Commission records show that he has donated $102,150, all to Republicans or Republican organizations, with the exception of the National Conservative Club, to which he has donated $12,000."

Since 2005, G. Ogden Nutting and his wife Betty Nutting have continued to donate generously to Republicans. In 2008, they both gave maximum donations to a dozen different Republican candidates. Just last December, Nutting donated $30,400 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

<snip>

http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0408/newspaper-chain-astroturfs-editorials/

[ck4829]

1. Crazy liberal media... oh wait.