Newspaper Asks Public to Identify Local Blogger
A Florida newspaper appears to have hit an all-time low in the relationship between bloggers and the media. The St. Augustine Record is asking the public to help expose the identity of a local blogger who recently started a site critical of county politicians. This evening, the paper's home page has a grainy surveillance photo of a man accompanied by this text:
Who is this man?
Believed to be connected to a politically charged but anonymously-run Web site targeting the character of members of the St. Johns County Commission. Help us determine his identity. Start by watching these four movies featuring footage from surveillance cameras.
The Record published video taken inside and outside its offices March 1 that show a man dropping something off at the front desk. There's no explanation of what he's doing, making it look like some kind of threat was delivered, but I found the details on the paper's message board. He was at the newspaper buying an ad.
The ad, which the paper ran, criticized County Commissioner Ben Rich for comments he made during a televised meeting:
Unbelievably, Rich went on to say that he was angered by the police officer first responding to the Columbine school tragedy in Colorado. He actually remarked in the televised meeting that watching the police officer who was outside the school awaiting the SWAT team made him "want to go down there and shoot the cop and go in".
Mr. Rich, you should resign as an elected official, you do not deserve to serve. All of us know that in reality Rich is mad because the firefighters union supported candidates in the last election that Mr. Rich did not support. Rich has been trying to take his revenge against the firefighters publicly for months. Mr. Rich, we will not allow you to play
politics with our local safety any longer.
The blogger's site, LocalSafety.org, is offline but I fished several pages from Google's cache. Allegations made by blogger Lee Padgett, as he's identified in the site's whois record and messages on the paper's message board, are backed up by the Record: Rich really did make the "shoot the cop" remark and disparage firefighters, drawing an angry response. This week, Rich filed for re-election early, hoping it would cause the site to be judged an excessive campaign contribution by local election officials and shut down.
"I find cowardice in any form repugnant," [Rich] said. "But in the political arena, where cowardice has become socially acceptable, I find it doubly repugnant." ...
"It's obvious to me that my political opponents have declared war and are using the unfair advantage of not registering as a political action committee," Rich said.
"Through the declaration of my candidacy, they'll no longer be able to operate in the shadows of anonymity. They will be forced into the open where they'll have their names and faces known to those they attack."
I don't know Padgett, but he has the right to speak his mind on the web without intimidation by politicians and the press, whether or not he's writing under his real name.
I've been reading the Record for a decade. I can't recall a single time where it conducted an effort to catch a rapist, robber or murderer anywhere near the scope of this manhunt for a blogger.
Comments
Hell hath no fury like a local politician being exposed doing something stupid.
I'm now working on a legal case involving a deeply corrupt local government whose activities were aided and abetted by a local paper. The paper was so steeped in the local culture of corruption, that they actually felt they were doing a community service in defending the illegal activities. In fact, at a critical time in my early investigation, the paper felt a need to reveal my own identity (which I had been trying to keep secret, for safety reasons).
Papers like our local Hoboken Reporter, the culprit here, and yoour Record, simply find it easier to 'go along and get along' than to search out the truth. Like your paper, ours (in one of the most notoriously corrupt areas of the country) has NEVER uncovered a scandal. Never. They will report an arrested politician or an investigation, but otherwise, they simply do not wish to 'get involved'.
Fortunately, local papers have yearly events at which they give each other awards for their fine reporting. No one has to feel bad, except perhaps the public.
So, I can relate.
I would bet that if a sufficient number of St. Augustine's citizens called in with false tips, they could torpedo this sleazy effort.
How about a call to arms?
"I don't know Padgett, but he has the right to speak his mind on the web without intimidation by politicians and the press, whether or not he's writing under his real name."
Of course, if it turns out that the blogger IS actually working for a political opponent (and isn't merely an honest, concerned, independent citizen) he's violating election laws, in a big way, and risking fines and jail time -- and any politician, no matter how unpopular or how poor his judgment, would have a perfect right to expose him.
MYCROFT says "Of course, if it turns out that the blogger IS actually working for a political opponent (and isn't merely an honest, concerned, independent citizen) he's violating election laws, in a big way, and risking fines and jail time -- and any politician, no matter how unpopular or how poor his judgment, would have a perfect right to expose him."
So what you're saying is that anyone EXCEPT someone working for a political candidate has the power to tell the TRUTH?
Remember, his allegations are indeed backed up by the paper and as stand are true, so no matter who he works for he is HONEST and CONCERNED. And unless he is in this country illegally I'll assume he is also a citizen.
What happened to the truth shall set you free? Why would anyone feel that it is write to 'expose' someone for telling the truth, no matter WHY they are telling the truth? Think about that one.
Why is Mycroft afraid of speech?
Linked to your story: here maybe it will help get the word out and stop this nonsense (doubtful)
Good article.
Our local paper, AC-T, is also complicit with the local politicos, and refused to carry stories about state corruption until indictments were handed down. Calls to the news tip line about the case would result in a dial tone.
"Of course, if it turns out that the blogger IS actually working for a political opponent (and isn't merely an honest, concerned, independent citizen) he's violating election laws, in a big way"
True, which is only to say that election laws violate the 1st amendment, in a big way. And the media are eager to crush the 1st amendment rights of everyone outside their own ranks, because in the resulting silence they expect to have more influence.
On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with the accuser having to stand tall in the sunlight as well. Sniping from the weeds, unless the accuser fears for his life, strikes me as somewhat cowardly.
The traditional media is scared.
With the white cap, looks like it could be Whitey "FBI 10 Most Wanted" Bulger from Boston, except plumper and younger!!!
www.miaminewtimes.com
www.boston.com
I hope everyone will visit the discussions on this topic at the Free Speech Forums (http://tott.myfreeforum.org) where The Record has no influence.
Comments on the newspaper's own forum like this one:
Originally posted by speak2me:
Wake up people of St. Augustine. The name Lee Padgett is a ficticious name made up by a representative of the firefighters union.
Force my reply where I post under the nic "Stinky";
This is without a doubt the most irrelevant comment in the entire discussion yet it seems to be a few participants' obsession.
Are firefighters not entitled to protect themselves by calling attention to comments by members of their elected county commission? I think so, especially if those comments propose to put their lives and safety at risk. Arguably, if Mr. Padgett is a member or representative of members of the firefighter's union, he is very legitimately motivated to do so.
As to his name, it doesn't matter whether he calls himself "Lee Padgett" or "John Doe" or "Santa Claus" - he is a citizen repeating the words of an elected official and calling attention to comments made by the chairman of the board that make him look like he belongs in a loony bin .... hum, maybe loonyBEN.com is available?
And, by the way speak2me, is "speak2me" your real name? How about stjohnsvoice, or bullgatorlady? Are those YOUR real names? I know that "Stinky" isn't MY real name but it sure reflects my opinion of The Record this morning and the political cronies that are feeding from the county trough - thanks to their connections to Ben Rich.
They are using their energies on county time, while on the county payroll, at taxpayer's expense, to advance this ridiculous witch hunt to protect their benefactor.
The Record ran an editorial calling on Rich to resign as Chair of the Commission. It wouldn't appear they're interested in squashing his opponents. I think they just want to solve the mystery of who the guy is. Rich is the one trying to limit free speech and he calls himself a libertarian. Power corrupts as Lord Acton said.
I sent the following email last evening to editor Peter Ellis at the St. Augustine Record's "tip line" ...
"On behalf of bloggers everywhere: Shame on you!
"Who are you to treat as criminals those who dare to speak out against
their elected leaders?
"And what exactly do you intend to do with the person behind this
"politically charged but anonymously-run Web site" when you do catch
up with him? Have him arrested for crimes against the state? Please.
"Consider this: If your paper were doing its job, perhaps bloggers
wouldn't have to do it for you."
I received the following reply from Mr. Ellis this morning:
"This has nothing to do with blogs or bloggers so whoever told you that has led you in the wrong direction."
Mr. Cadenhead, your thoughts?
The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of anonymous political speech -
straylight.law.cornell.edu
"Of course, the identity of the source is helpful in evaluating ideas. But `the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market' (Abrams v. United States, [250 U.S. 616, 630 (1919) (Holmes, J., dissenting)]). Don't underestimate the common man. People are intelligent enough to evaluate the source of an anonymous writing. They can see it is anonymous. They know it is anonymous. They can evaluate its anonymity along with its message, as long as they are permitted, as they must be, to read that message. And then, once they have done so, it is for them to decide what is `responsible', what is valuable, and what is truth." New York v. Duryea, 76 Misc. 2d 948, 966-967, 351 N. Y. S. 2d 978, 996 (1974
Mr. Cadenhead, your thoughts?
I don't understand his comment any more than I understand the paper's reasoning for trying to hunt the guy down. You can't get through J school without learning about this country's rich tradition of anonymous pamphleteering. The notion that you don't have the right to speak your mind without completely identifying yourself is bogus.
Many of you are confusing a blogger with a political action committee.
Lee Padgett is a fictitious person; he does not exist. The web site under his name was set up by a political action committee. The goal is to find out what that political action committee is.
I haven't seen any news coverage that provides evidence that the blog was created by a political action committee. I don't know what the ad in the Record cost, but the other expenses required to create localsafety.org seem trivial in my opinion -- a couple of hours' time to set up the software, $12 for the domain name and web hosting that's probably under $20 a month. Since the paper recommended its readers to visit the blogger's site on March 1 and sold him an ad before that, what changed?
Politics in the age of blogs is going to be a lot more complex.
Politics rapidly evolves to a winner take all confrontation and as such, as in love, all is fair. This war is eventually halted, hopefully, by an election and the public decides who to grant power to.
This sounds like an entrenched campaign between a politician and a labor union. The negotiations they have been involved with have created some real malice and the voters of the local area will now be "gamed" in an effort to win.
It would be nice for the "activist" to come clean ad disclose his connections to the union but it's also understandable that in this environment that act might serve as a political weapon to have him fired. When the war is being waged truth, fairness and justice are all compromised.
Blogs need to be positioned in the same context as "letters to the editor". Signing a letter "an angry citizen" is often acceptable but most papers would insist on the writer declaring himself before publishing an excessively critical missive.
I'd like to see this blog come out and let the voters follow the events that follow... closely. But, it's very easy for me to put someelse's career on the line becuase it costs me nothing. using anonymity in this case just serves to give the opponent leverage to label all the words as politically "out of bounds"... like a campaign of dirty tricks.
Hopefully, these areas of conflict will be opened, debated and regulated to a reasonable degree to put the potential for gaming at an acceptable level.
I think the politician should request the writer to disclose his identity but understand that legally he has no right to demand it... writing politically sensitive words in itself is NOT a crime. Even if a pseudonym is used. Libel, slander and defamation are all legally defined and potentially applicable in a civil court.
Why is a pac different then a person? We can't speak if we do it in groups? Isn't the freedom to assemble a constitutional right?
Maybe the Record's going for this year's Eason Jordan Award for Media Access.
I've had some interesting email correspondence today with Peter Ellis, editor of the Record.
You can find it here:
writingcompany.blogs.com
I'll update my site as the discussion proceeds.
Are environmental devastators hiding behind supposed Internet anonymity?
1. In 2003, 157 of 159 applications for rezoning were approved by the then-St. Johns County, Florida Commission. Locals called them a corrupt rubber-stamp for powerful economic interests who are ruining this beautify county with shoddy "developments" without adequate infrastructure, destroying our wildlife, wetlands and way of life.
2. In 2004, Ben Rich was elected to County Commission. Thank God.
A retired federal law enforcement official, he walked the county, heard our concerns and is against corruption and favoritism.
3. In 2006, two other populist skeptics were elected.
4. In 2007, did landraping, clearcutting overdevelopers" use a putative "blog" to attack St. Johns County, Florida Commission Chairman Ben Rich, retaliating for his courageous stands against destruction of our natural beauty and pleasures, our land, air, water?
5. Did those who want to destroy the reasons people love to visit and live here with tacky clear-cutting and metastasized "development" trash Ben Rich?
6. Thanks to the St. Augustine Record, we may know the answer.
7. I appreciate Mr. Rogers Cadenhead's concern about personal privacy.
www.cadenhead.org
8. Ironically, the local government and business carping harpies (I call them the "anonymice") who frequent the St. Augustine Record "Talk of the Town" website have hid behind anonymity for years, making ad hominem attacks on all persons who criticize government officials (including archaeology issues, St. Augustine's illegal dumping of the contents of the old city dump into the Old City Reservoir, race discrimination and refusal to fly the Gay Rainbow flags on our Bridge of Lions (leading to a federal court order that the flags fly June 7-13, 2005). See, e.g., www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.b
logspot.com
9. ToTTers' antics are a reflection of a control group that is losing its grip on St. Johns County. Last year, I was kicked off ToTT for supposedly "outing" ToTTers who already identified themselves.
10. Some "anonymice" ToTTers attacking my right to engage in First Amendment protected activity were local government officials, businesspeople and their spouses and entourages.
11. These "anonymice" have chilled free speech here for years on ToTT.
12. Likewise, the "anonymice" behind the www.localsafety.org have a (barely) hidden agenda.
13. The public has a right to know.
14. As Justice Louis Brandeis said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant."
15. While the right to anonymous posting on the Internet is protected by the First Amendment against government interference.
16. No "state action" is involved in the St. Augustine Record's effort to learn the true identity of the "anonymice" behind the www.localsafety.org website.
17. The identity of the "anonymice" behind www.localsafety.org is news.
18. Kudos to Morris Communications and the St. Augustine Record for exercising their God-given First Amendment right to identify those who contributed to www.localsafety.org.
19. Will the malefactors of great wealth who seek to skewer Ben Rich be hoist on their own petard?
20. Will landraping, clearcutting, uglifying foreign investment interests that seek to destroy our county (and turn it into South Florida) kindly identify themselves?
21. Why must they hide behind "private corporations?"
22. Are they ashamed of what they have done to the wetlands, wildlife, land and people of St. Johns County?
23. Do they reckon themselves above the public's right to know?
24. They have the "right to remain silent," but we wish they wouldn't.
25. By County Commission Chairman Ben Rich announcing his 2008 candidacy earlier this week, the www.localsafety.org crew knew that they would have to disclose their identity as a Political Action Committee (PAC).
26. That's why www.localsafety.org pulled the plug on their "blog" -- they can't stand scrutiny and have contempt for our democracy. As St. Augustine Record Editor Pete Ellis reportedly wrote another blogger, "There's a difference between a blogger and a political action committee." www.writingcompany.blogs.com As Pete Ellis wrote above, "Many of you are confusing a blogger with a political action committee. "Lee Padgett is a fictitious person; he does not exist. The web site under his name was set up by a political action committee. The goal is to find out what that political action committee is." I agree. Taking out a newspaper ad under a false name may also be a breach of contract, depending upon how the Record's ad rate card and contracts are written.
27. So, to solve the kerfuffle, will the www.localsafety.org funders kindly call the St. Augustine Record (or me) and identify yourselves?
28. Confession is good for the soul -- just as investigative reporting is good for the soul of a democracy.
29. Thank you, Pete Ellis and St. Augustine Record for working to disclose the identity of the "frontman" for developers, in order to expose who funded www.localsafety.org, which may involve possible state and federal crimes, including RICO and Hobbs Act. The wrecking crew of uglifying discredited overdevelopers, manipulators and controllers -- they can run, but they can't hide. See, e.g., www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.b
logspot.com
30. Cheers!
With kindest regards,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.b
logspot.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085
904-471-7023
904-471-9918 (fax)
I don't live anythwhere near St. Augustine and I don't know anything about local politics there. However, I watched the television footage of the police "response" at Columbine High School. My reaction to it was pretty much the same as that attributed to Councillor Ben Rich. If that makes me a loon, then there are lot of loons around.
Don't see the fuss. The Blog World was up in arms when corporations masked their blog work and then got "outed". Is there a double standard here? If a blogger had called this out would the response have been different?
We are protected if we we give our personal opinion and yet to make a fictitious post seems to beg for the answer to the Why and Who of the story.
Rule of thumb in such affairs: if politicians are involved, they are corrupt. Doesn't always work, just usually.
Eactly. Were two petty poltroonish clearcutter-coddling St. Johns County politicians involved in setting up the website to trash Ben Rich, working with PR firms and developers? Does the public have a right to know? Should a newspaper grant secrecy to someone who buys an ad under a false, assumed name? Are "anonymice" who support destruction of wetlands, wildlife and scenic beauty privileged characters? Is investigative reporting supposed to back off when a malefactor of great wealth uses a blog to spread propaganda?
What do you reckon?
With kindest regards,
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.b
logspot.com
No one questions that developers are behind www.localsafety.org
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.b
logspot.com
The web site at LocalSafety.org was rudimentary. I don't know what the ad in the paper cost, but all other expenses had to be minor. If this was a calculated PR campaign by some entity, it wasn't a very sophisticated one.
Just because it doesn't look sophisticated, doesn't mean that the developers aren't behind it.
No one ever accused Northeast Florida developers of being suave and sophisticated. They vote pre-Cambrian and act Neanderthal, electing candidates like ex-Commissioners Marc Jacalone (defeated by Ben Rich in the 2004 Republican Primary) and ex-Commissioners Karen Stern and Bruce Maguire (defeated by Ron Sanchez and Tom Manuel in the 2006 Republican Primary).
The closest clear-cutting, wetland-destroying, wildlife-killing overdevelopers have to "sophisticated" is their lawyer, George McClure, who's very intelligent, but far more oleaginous than sophisticated.
Your typical Northeast Florida developer mouthpiece is more like someone out of a Karl Hiassen or Patricia Behnke novel than someone from a New York PR firm.
Look at the people they hire here locally (one with a radio show that unsuccessfully touted developer candidates last year).
They're actually about as sharp as a mashed potato sandwich with the crust cut off.
Likewise, Karl Rove's attacks on the late Texas Governor Ann Richards weren't very "sophisticated" either, but they worked. In 1994, Karl Rove allegedly had lugubrious goobers make phone calls in East Texas calling Richards a Lesbian.
PR firms and flaks have been known to use "Astroturf" groups to simulate grassroots citizen concerns. There are multiple floors of recent college and law school graduates in Washington, D.C., calling citizens to whip up letters to Senators and Congressmen. Whether they're auto dealers or farmers or whatever, they're coached on what to say.
Does anyone doubt that foreign-funded landrapers are Machiavellian?
Does anyone doubt that localsafety.org is Astroturf?
Does anyone question that there's waste in local law enforcement, starting with multiple non-working helicopters and deputies who get to drive their sheriff's cars while off-duty?
Does anyone believe that two fire trucks at an ATM machine at A1A & 312 is a good use of tax dollars?
Does anyone believe that law enforcement spending should be off-limits to public debate?
With kindest regards,
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.b
logspot.com
Ed Slavin is right, as usual.
The localsafety.org site is purely an electioneering machination supported by the pro-development community hiding behind the local firefighters. Only problem is the firefighters seem to have left the fight.
If Lee Padgett is so concerned about his right to free speech, why is he not concerned about his right to vote? He's not registered in St. Johns County and has never voted in any county election.
Supervisor of Elections Penny Halyburton made it very clear when she said that the web site, in its original format, violated political advertisment rules because of its anonymous attacks against one particular candidate.
In addition, the Record only ran that surveillance tape after running an editorial advocating Ben Rich's resignation and infuriating the community.
My beef with fire engines being away from the fire house on other then emrgency runs is that we as taxpayers and residents of St.Johns county is that someone spent a lot of money to centralize the firehoses for the best coverage of emergencies. Being away from the engine house (by 7 miles north, ATM) could mean the difference between life and death for people in the southern end of A1A. Plus the extra fuel costs to drive up to Publix for meals.
Funny is as funny does
Nov 8, 2007 7:00PM -- the St Augustine Yacht club--
I really wasn't paying attention until awaken by a diatribe from the State Committeewoman informing the attendees that she would not take on particular task. I'd missed the main message but in part it was about summarizing the information contained in the McCain-Feingold law and how it affected the REC (Republican Executive Committee). Because of the sideways glances that were going around the room, it was apparent that the harangue was offending.
Although fun to watch, the State Committeewoman was only the preview. The main show was Chairman Kira. In a prepared statement the attendees were treated to a heart rending edition of "No Body Likes Me, Every body Hates Me, Think I'll Eat Some Worms", Included in the program was an indictment of unnamed persons who attended a football game instead of a belatedly and badly scheduled political event. The sketch ended with a childlike ultimatum which I call the "if you won't play my way I'll take my ball and go home" threat.
The room was divided. Those who where afraid that they would have to take the Chairman's job, (made visible by fawning and accolades in an attempt to get the Kira resignation retracted) and persons with a genuine attachment to the personality of Kira forming one faction. The other formed by those who recognized the power play and didn't like it.
It seemed to this observer that there is a lot of room for improvement in the Republican Executive Committee in St Johns Co. Kira seems to want a top down structure with a "party headquarters". His detractors say there's no money or man power to staff it and it will end up being a "private office" for Kira. Kira says it should be in the population center and already has a place picked out near SR210. All and all it's a big deal to Kira and he will resign if he doesn't get it. I'm a registered Republican Party voter and I say "let him go".
the pen of
H Greeley
Mr. Cadenhead:
I have posted a link to this article on the local discussion forum at - http://plazabum.com
My comments are simply to warn voters about the type of people that were behind this assault on my identity.
Thank you.
Assault on his identity? What is that supposed to mean? Like the "anonymice" who formerly abused dissenters on the now-defunct St. Augustine Record website, Talk of the Town, he expects to trash good people and be undetected and unquestioned about it. Sounds like the KKK with hoods and robes to me.
I would not think that LocalSafety.org or it's content would even qualify as a blog.
Simply not newsworthy or blog worthy. I am surprised it was given a second thought.
-OT
Can the com. that is accused of taking a bribe get a fair trial in st johns co.
This is not a free speech issue.
Lee Padgett (he created the fake name) is hooked up some how with the Firefighters Union. He is also from the plazabum.com site. This plazabum.com site is a bunch of terrorists. I have no respect for people that post only to destroy others lives while wanting no accountability. They are a Political Action Committee that uses the site to sway public opinion. They create hate using deception.
The plazabum.com is a site that needs to be held accountable
PlazaBum is a message board for locals to discuss issues involving the community. The suggestions that it's either a PAC or a "bunch of terrorists" are the funniest thing I've read in a while. This weblog is a message board too. Are you a terrorist for expressing your opinion here without using your name to be accountable?
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