- Guestpost by Patrick –
The Anchorage Daily News, as mentioned in my previous guestpost here on Palingates, seem to have a monopolistic status in Alaska, as no serious competition in the print sector in Alaska is apparent.
Furthermore, the ADN has a proud history. Wikipedia tells us: “The newspaper has won the Pulitzer Price twice in the "Public Service" category, in 1976 and 1989. No other Alaska newspaper has ever won a Pulitzer.“
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
But times for newspapers are hard these days. The virtual world is taking over. The ADN clearly took a beating recently, as the paper admitted in a recent story titled “ADN announces staff, pay cuts”, and reported:
“The Daily News will cut its work force and reduce wages as part of a major nationwide effort by its owner, the McClatchy Co., to cut $110 million in expenses to offset declining advertising revenue, Patrick Doyle, the newspaper's publisher, told employees in a letter Thursday.
This will be the third round of staff reductions at the newspaper in 10 months and is symptomatic of an industry-wide crisis threatening to sink newspapers across the country.
Staffing at the Daily News will drop by 45 people, or about 17 percent, through a combination of buyouts, layoffs and the elimination of vacant positions, Doyle said. Seven of the jobs eliminated were the result of new, more efficient production equipment.”
Link: http://www.adn.com/money/
These developments did not go unnoticed. As we learned from the email exchange between Sarah Palin and ADN editor Pat Dougherty concerning the “investigations” into the “babygate rumors”, clever Sarah had a fine nose for the current situation and remarked:
“Sarah Palin:
Thank you for your patience in awaiting my response. I do hope for nothing but the best for our local newspaper in these trying economic times that have hit your parent company.”
Pat Dougherty in return gave a curious response to this remark:
“Pat Dougherty:
As you suggest, these are tough times for newspapers. Having a bunch of conspiracy nuts denouncing the Daily News for hiding your secret just adds to the overall happy ambience.”
See here:
http://community.adn.com/adn/
So...what’s the deal here?
We decided to look a bit deeper into this.
What we found was quite surprising, to say the least, although I am not sure whether Pat Dougherty would share this view. But judge for yourself:
The State of Alaska makes no secret of its expenses. Therefore, according to the golden rule “follow the money”, we thought it would do no harm to check whether the ADN might be in a “mutually beneficial relationship” with the people they are supposed to have a “watchful eye” on – the administration and government of the State of Alaska.
The result of our research astounded us.
For example, between July 1, 2007 and August 31, 2008, the ADN received the following payments from the State of Alaska:
a. $ 427,386 for “Advertising”
b. $ 250,768 for “Print/Copy/Graphics”
In total, the ADN received more than $ 681,086 for “Advertising, Print/Copy/Graphics and Subscriptions” from the State of Alaska during this period, and the Governor’s office alone advertised with the ADN for the amount of $35,339.
This is certainly not pocket money that we are talking about here.
This report (“checkbook online”) can be downloaded here:
http://fin.admin.state.ak.us/
The main competitor of the ADN, the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer, received a considerably lower amount during this period: Around $ 147,407.
In the following financial year, from July 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009, the payments for the ADN were only slightly less and amounted to more than $ 640,349 (including $ 20,783 from the Governor’s office).
Link: http://fin.admin.state.ak.us/
Government advertising in newspapers is of course common practice. However, around the world, government advertising is also recognized as a source of conflict between newspapers who are dependent on these revenues, and governments who use those funds to favor “friendly” media outlets or punish overly critical ones – for example in Canada, Latin America, Pakistan, Russia and even Bermuda.
The point I am trying to make here is that Palin in her New Year exchange with Pat Dougherty specifically seems to want to remind him that his parent company is in trouble; the implication being that they need all the money that they can get from advertising etc. She does so in an exchange which she initiated when she wrote to him complaining about the way in which she was portrayed in the ADN and the fact that the ADN had initiated an investigation into Trig's birth. Does that seem wrong to you? It does to me.
Therefore, the question seems justified: How independent can a newspaper be when in incredibly difficult economic times the State of Alaska is such a major customer, probably even their largest advertiser? What thinking process might be initiated in an editor’s mind when the Governor drops such a hint in an email conversation? Will this increase his willingness to pursue the “persistent rumors” about the Governor’s alleged faked pregancy?
I think not.
Pat Dougherty, as is his prerogative, might disagree, however, I would still be interested to hear his answer to my question.
I would like to conclude with two observations that readers of my previous guestpost here on Palingates have sent to me (to my email: patrick12344@yahoo.com).
A reader from Texas wrote:
“The wording of Pat Dougherty’s denial does not reassure me that the ADN has never been threatened to be sued by Governor Palin. Rather, all he is denying is that the ADN has never been threatened to be sued for something that ADN has never published. After all, if no story was published, of COURSE there would be no party with any standing to sue for something that is non-existent! He didn't deny that SP threatened to sue the paper IF it ran a story or stories about a possible faked pregnancy.”
A practising corporate attorney from Florida wrote:
“I agree that rumors are not facts. But Mr. Dougherty should also agree that his failure to pursue the answers to questions raised by hard factual evidence is mediocre journalism at best. Some might even suggest that such failure is a passive cover-up ("We don't want the answers, because they may well force us to change our preconceived viewpoint regarding Trig's parentage, which admittedly is not "evidence-based," but which is based solely upon a self-serving, unverified and an uncorroborated assertion by Sarah Palin.")
Does the Alaska Daily News publication really want to serve its customers with truthful and factual reporting, or is that merely lip-service? My prediction is the historical record will prove that is not a rhetorical question.”
Our investigation continues. As I said in a previous comment on Palingates, either Sarah Palin is exonerated after providing solid evidence, or she is guilty. At the moment she is neither, because the Alaskan media refuses to investigate a major political scandal which is lying in front of them. This doesn’t satisfy. A resolution is needed, and in my heart I know that Pat Dougherty is aware of this, too.
81 comments:
I thought this sounded odd
As you suggest, these are tough times for newspapers. Having a bunch of conspiracy nuts denouncing the Daily News for hiding your secret just adds to the overall happy ambience.”
..."for hiding your secret"....
That could of been worded so many other ways..
..."for not running with these silly rumors" ... ect..
But instead "for hiding your secret"...
I hope you sent this well-written piece to the ADN as a letter to the editor.
I visited the ADN site you linked to and read the mails in full as well as the previous mails (in which SP sounds quite angry) published on Jan. 12: http://community.adn.com/adn/node/136523
One of the readers’ comments there intrigued me:
IcyAlaskan wrote on 01/19/2009 03:02:19 PM:
...I would have been very interested in the Trig birth conspiracy story, as I had heard the rumour from a state employee last March. I gave it credibility due to its source...
Last March? From a "state employee"?
What is state advertising policy?
Are some things required to be advertised?
What is the criteria for advertising in the Fairbanks as opposed to the Anchorage paper?
Is there a Juneau paper?
Is there a paper of record?
Is all advertising paid for with legislative appropriation? Someone's discretion?
Are these expenses out of line with previous years?
great job. keep it up patrick. i appreciate all of your hard work!
Well done, Patrick! And good catches by Anon 11:34 and Anon 12:43. At least ADN should publish exactly what Lisa Demers came up with and the details of the aborted interview with CBJ and her lawyer.
Maybe Lesa Deimer should quit her job and write the real story. It would be worth a lot of money. she could become the Bob Woodward of Babygate. Audrey and Patrick could be the deep throat.
This is a serious suggestion. Part of the story is the failure of the MSM.
Well...keep in mind that the ADN used People.com as its source for the birth of its own governor's grandson Tripp. (People at least confirmed its story by speaking to a human - Palin's aunt in Washington.) But we can't just fault them: the New York Times, UPI and the BBC all cited People too.
After an email exchange with Lisa Demer, I can say that she is not inclined to write the real story. She referred to pictures of Palin looking pregnant as proof that she was. She also pointed out that the birth dates don't work out.
I also emailed with Michael Carey, and he said that Demer had conclusively proved, last year, that Palin was pregnant. As I'm sure many of you have as well, I went though every Demer article in the archives and the most conclusive thing I could find was Cathy Baldwin-Johnson's three weird quotes: "which is not active labor" (referring generally to contractions of 1-2 per hour), "Things were already settling down when she talked to me," and "I don't think it was unreasonable for her to continue to travel back."
But we have to set aside visions of Woodward and Bernstein (who, by the way, had editorial support and well-funded newspaper employing them). It's a different time in the industry. Demer is a busy reporter with a lot on her plate and an editor who doesn't want to pursue this story. She's not going to go out an investigate this further for free against her employer's wishes. Hard to imagine her quitting her job just to pursue this story.
Some national publication has to be convinced that this is a timely story, and every thinks Palin is a sinking ship. I think the angle is not Palin so much as the downfall of the MSM in America. The bombshell is not so much that Palin covered up her pregnancy, but the failure of the media to properly investigate.
Yeah, "hiding your secret" is peculiar wording and could be read two ways: simply as an iteration of the "conspiracy nuts" beliefs, or more interestingly, as a tacit admission that Sarah has a secret that needs keeping.
And it seems pretty obvious that no matter what the reading, the subject was creating friction in the newsroom.
Very interesting, Patrick.
You're right: the ADN failed its readers, as did every other newspaper and TV station in Alaska. The colder this "case" gets, the harder it becomes to prove. They could have cleared it up in a snap back in April 08.
I'm sure we'll be told that people are so "scared" of Scary Sarah. In my opinion, she's made the image of "rugged, tough" Alaskans a joke. What are these people so afraid of? That might be a good topic for another piece, if anyone feels up to it: who has suffered from Sarah, and how. Are we talking arrests? Physical violence? Job loss? A dark grave in the woods? What's up with all that?
Jolly good, Patrick!
I saw 4 veiled threats in Palin’s email to Dougherty:
Sarah said: I acknowledge that you own the ink.
Sarah meant: (but I pay for it)
Sarah said: With such limited amounts of hard news in your recently streamlined paper, I believe it's more important than ever to make sure what you print is truthful and accurate.
Sarah meant: (If you want to be able to buy more ink, make sure you print what I say is the truth.)
Sarah said: But having said that, I again acknowledge that it is your paper and you own the ink, and we evidently are agreeing to disagree on the need for the corrections/clarifications I requested.
Sarah meant: (How many times do I need to remind you that I pay for that ink!!)
Sarah said: I do hope for nothing but the best for our local newspaper in these trying economic times that have hit your parent company.
Sarah meant: (Your salary depends on how much funding my position as Governor can funnel to your paper)
What's really odd is that Pat D is an editor, and wrote the email like that with no quotation marks?
In order to mean what Sarah Palin wants it to mean, it needs to read "your secrets", as in, we're quoting the conspiracy nuts. If it's written as it is here, then Pat is saying "times are tough and we're keeping our deal not to print yo0ur secrets, but you need to give up some more money because this story could have carried us far."
If this were written by anyone but an editor, I'd think it was a typical typo, but in this case....
it's VERY interesting.
And Palin might think she's a subtle mobster, but why reference "troubling financial times" at all? Obviously a threat, given the amount of money she spent there.
It would be interesting to know how large their overall ad budget was, how much the gov/state contributed percentage wise.
I think the questions that Anon @ 12:52 poses are really good ones.
Also, what were the advertising costs of the years before SP got into office for the ADN & FDN? Are they in line with these costs here? What is the cost from the Governor's office b4 SP, too?
I think these questions need to be answered to see if there's any hanky panky going on.
I think this is not a case of the ADN covering for SP in any way or form, but more they just don't care for whatever reason that could be. As is the case with the rest of the country, journalists have 'dropped the ball' on many recent scandals and problems. The good ones are few and far between.
Good job Patrick, keep their feet to the fire.
I agree that the phrase "keeping your secret" sounds like he's referencing not the theories of "conspiriacy nuts" but an actual secret. Perhaps he's been given a background story that supposedly explains why she won't show the birth certificate and maybe the story is true and maybe it's not. It could be that it's something embarassing for Sarah so that he doesn't want to be the one to reveal it (such as birth timing showing Todd is not the father?) and Pat D believes there really is a birth certificate. This would explain his appeal to her to show the certificate. And she rattles his chains as a response to his request. it seems like it would be a very like her to have variations of the story crafted for different people depending on what she needs to accomplish with that person. Might be fun to throw a private party just for people who have some bits of inside information and get them talking to each other!
@Anon 16:36
I think it's nothing more than SP's usual jumble of a 'word salad' trying to make herself sound smarter than she is.
(I'd love to see her on 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader...')
But Sunshine, it was the editor who wrote "your secrets" without quotation marks...
As for SP trying to sound smarter than she is, you're right, that's a given...but I've heard that she uses her word salad to avoid culpability for what she's saying...and this is a case where that suggestion seems accurate.
For instance, if you go through her statements to the press even way back, you can't pin her down to much, because she contradicts herself so much. She basically says nothing, but the overall effect of her message resonates with those who know what she's talking about.
her message here was "I pay, you play".
Reading the full (?) email correspondence between Dougherty and Palin at the ADN website I can’t help feeling that there is some kind of subtext going on here.
Her initial email is intimidating in a weirdly dominatrixy sort of way.
My gut instinct is not so much that the ADN failed to report – but that the editor was actually being as brave as he dared to be by even bringing these emails to public attention. And it really angered her.
I wonder whether it had financial repercussions in the following months (overall advertising costs for the year appear to have fallen slightly, though a lot was probably agreed in advance -- so the fallout maybe came later).
EMAILS:
SP: “Please, say it aint so: did you really allow a story to run in your paper today claiming Levi Johnston is a high school drop out?”
Translation: How dare you tell the truth!
SP: “Did I read that right?”
Translation: You know you weren't supposed to report that: there will be consequences!
SP: “You are stripping me [note the subliminal wink there] of even a shred of faith in your reporting.”
Translation: Don’t bite the hand that feeds you!
SP: “Would you shed some light on what you’re thinking?”
Translation: You didn't seriously believe you’d get away with this?
Editor: “I would be happy to meet with you one on one, as would Pat Doyle, or as part of any group of editors and publisher you would like.”
Translation: Uh-uh. Can we please talk this over in private? On your terms.
Editor: “ Based on our experience, I do not think it would be constructive to include Bill McAllister, but that's up to you.”
Translation: ??? No idea. Any helpers???
We've all tried to play that fun game that made the international rounds in 2008 - PARSING SARAH PALIN.
The scoring portion of the game is what's so confusing. It's difficult to say with certainty who wins.
Levi Johnston is twittering a one way conversation on twitter with someone called sarah.
Evidently someone in his past said, mess with me and I'll crush you. To which he aswered a few hours later to the effect whose laughing now, sarah.
Levi comments on his mother, the person should look after the kids, the person not shooting any moose, giving that person plenty of new material for the book, with a lot of old English explatives in code.
If Levi is taunting sarah with picadors pricks, he better have a large red cape, and a sword hidden behind the cape, to finish the job.
It could be he knows something really big. Why not go to someone who can do something instead of twittering.
So far she seems to be mum about the Vanity Fair article.
Last year, I think in Oct. a blogger "Cajun Boy" had a teaser about babygate. He claimed to have a "source"
It came out his source was someone at the ADN.
I suspect it was Lisa Demer.
Then his source backed down? That is when all the "angry letters" to Pat Dougerty were sent, people were sure he was covering up.
We all thought it was going to be "the October surprise" lol. It was discussed on PD as well as Gryphens blogs.
It is also interesting that PatD says "hide your secret's"?
I would expect him to say "people think the paper is covering up for you" our something like that, but the word "Secret's" meaning more than one....????
I agree with the person who said Lisa D should quit and write a book...?
OK I found part of this it was discussed on PD and
http://cajunboyinthecity.blogspot.com/2008/10/is-major-us-news-publication-sitting-on.html
http://www.palindeception.com/blog/2008/10/more-from-cajun-boy.html
Everyone believe it to be the ADN FWIW.
Translation re: Bill McAllister.
Do you remember the two photos that Audrey called the three amigos and the only one of palin looking pregnant during an interview with Andrea Gusty. the surfaced on August 30th from out of no where and were allegedly on pregnant Sarah just before she allegedly gave birth in April. Caption under the three amigos picture said, Myself (Dan Carpenter) Governor Palin and PRESS SECRETARY Bill McAllister. Well guess WHAT. Bill didn't become press secretary until mid July! Bill McAllister is up tyo his armpits in the cover up.
After reading Patrick's two posts I have come to the conclusion that the biggest SCANDAL is the cover up by the press. In particular the ADN, but all the rest as well. What would have happened if Woodward and Berstein had been stifled?
Newspapers deserve to go the way of the dinosaurs when they fail to do their job. Hooray for curious citizens. The times they are a changing.
Regina - I am honored with a guest post today by a gentleman attempting to win the bidding for Sarah Palin on Ebay - I think all of your readers will enjoy it:
http://breepalin.blogspot.com/2009/09/we-have-bidder.html
Bree your site is doing crazy things to my computer now that I have gone over to read the current post. Had to run clean up everything on my computer....
Sorry Patrick! I'm rewriting it clean!
Living outside of Alaska, I was like many other people who had never heard of Sarah Palin before her selection by John McCain. Troopergate was already in full bloom, and there was little available to read, so I tried reading about it in the ADN.
I was surprised to see a big box in the on-line edition featuring photos of "Our Governor." Every day, there was a regular homage to Sarah and her family, making her into governor-celebrity-and-
VP nominee all rolled into one.
After she lost, the box remained, asking readers to send in their pictures of Sarah. Non stop adoration. That box alone made me realize that they would not be writing any editorials critical of her, nor covering her in any kind of objective way.
I live in a state where the local papers do not print a daily fan column for our politicians. I have seen copies of major dailies, such as New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, LA Times - no special "I Love the Governor" feature. ADN showed its bias on its front page.
That wasn't me, Bree! It was an Anon! ;-)
I cannot see that there is anything wrong with your site...maybe some people need to clean their PC...??
I live in the Chicago area, and by now, many have heard of our famous ex-governor who was impeached. Among the conversations caught in the wire taps were threats to the Chicago Tribune to print editorials favorable to him OR ELSE! The threat involved the Chicago Cubs, who are (were - they are for sale) owned by the Tribune Corporation. Some state money or rulings involved with the Cubs was being used as the ransom or threat.
Some newspapers cave and play ball (sorry, the Cubs can use all the help that they can get). The Trib's editorial reputation has always be Republican-leaning. But, this was an example where the heavy handed governor tried telling the paper what to do and he didn't get his way. It did him in, instead.
OT - I went to that Little Green Footballs site for the 1st time to see what they had to say about RSM (frankly, I'm surprised he's not harassing/stalking Patrick again following these two guest posts). Anyway, Morgan was way right in her assessment of those two as "evil." And you'd think he'd be flattered by that; rather, he feigns indignant. Anyway, I think LGF is a site I will visit some more. They seem to have pretty even keeled and respective discourse going on over there. I often like to read many sides of an issue. Hell, I like them just for the fact that they pulled RSM's pants down :)
Patrick and Regina, keep up the good work. We can really feel the "heat" on this blog. After having followed this story for many months, for some reason I now feel like the efforts being made are actually going in a fruitful direction.
Peace,
Susan in MD
Patrick, thank you, keep it up and don't give up until we have the truth! I agree with the other poster who said it would be interesting to see the money given to ADN for prior years to see if it had significantly gone up. If it has, it is telling. If not, I don't know. I had no idea that our state government financed local papers. I can see some advertising dollars but the rest? It also would be interesting to compare to other states.
I remember reading this interchange on the day it took place and I could not believe the amount of BS, ass kissing and subtle manipulation going on. At minimum, lisa's findings should have been printed. But to call everyone nuts when rumors had been flying about Bristol being pregnant and out of school before the VP nomination? They definitely have failed to settle the questions by many. And we are not nuts-The stories simply do not add up!
Midnight Cajun: I've also wondered what Sarah could do that was so scary, think it involves her narcissism. I was married to one who would break things of mine, or make things difficult for me, if I did something against his wishes.
In Wasilla, it could be job loss, filthy rumors, sending cops for a drug bust, pitting neighbors against you, whatever. In essence, making life more difficult than it was.
Thanks Anon 18:55. That’s very interesting.
(And thanks to crystalwolf aka caligrl for the cajunboy reminder).
Anon 19:38 is spot on with the comparison to Blago and the press.
Now PLEASE all of you just go to the ADN website and read the FULL email exchange VERY carefully.
(There’s a link on the right to the previous day’s published emails)
Anon 17:12 – you misread me: this is not the “parsing” parlour-game:
This is a tentative attempt at an “outing” by the editor.
His hands are tied. He’s sitting on information.
SP is threatening him – and he’s letting the world know.
Well doubly sorry then Patrick ;)
In any event - I rewrote the whole post clean - I believe it had some legacy formatting in, it but I don't think anything else is amiss!
Thanks guys!
Anon 18:58
Thanks a lot, that's of course a great compliment.
By the way, this was certainly not my last guestpost on Palingates! ;-)
Knowing that Sarah Palin hasn't given birth to Trig, there is no way that we won't give up until the truth is finally out there in the open.
And we are certainly not afraid of anything or anybody.
I am still waiting for the letter from Van Flein...where is it...? We are actually waiting for it about a year now. Bill McAllister wrote to PETA to complain about an online game where people could throw snowballs at Sarah Palin, Van Flein went beserk when he read Gryphen's "Splitsville" post and had no hesitation to try to intimidate Shannyn Moore...but regarding babygate, all we had regarding the last 12 months is silence....silence...silence...yaaawwwnnn (falling asleep)..................(sleeping now).
A note to Patrick,
It is wonderful to read your guest posts here and see that you still have a voice in this community.
In recent posts, people weighed in with their suggestions to make the PD story go main stream, or at least get more recognition for it. How about you, Patrick? You seem to have a good deal of the material. You write in a clear and informed way. You certainly are familiar with the story. If it were to be a book, it might be a way to receive compensation for all of the research hours that you have put into the project. You might even coax Lisa D. (or others?) to collaborate with you if this is a story that she had been waiting to tell. Well, maybe one chapter.
Other readers at PD wrote that they were involved in the publishing business, seemed connected with NY publishing world, even the tabloid world. They may be able to offer ideas in getting a book off the ground
Or, it might be a really good article in MSM publication. The New Yorker did a good in depth study of Sarah when she was running for VP (not all that flattering). I know that they print Seymour Hirsh's articles when he has exposed serious flaws in the way our government handled prisoners from the Iraq war, for example. In addition to the Sarah Palin-gates, there was a lack of vetting that went into her selection, and McCain should be held accountable for that. At least please consider the idea, and please keep writing your wonderful articles. Thanks.
Sorry guys I am an legite anon. with a boyfriend IT person who gets annoyed at me when my computer goes hay wire after going to Palin info sites (which I am addicted to) 30 windows opened up and I did have to get my computer to clean them and reboot.(Like what used to happen regularly on Gyphen's site.) No harm intended!
SS
Hey anon@20:23,
Does palingates cause problems with your computer? I read stuff about other blogs, but so far I seem to be OK...
If anybody has problems here, please report.
Cheers
No It's good
Also I go to Bree's site a lot and it has never happened before which is why I may have jumped the gun.
Regina, I've never had any problems with your site, it works great! Bree, same with yours.
Patrick, SO GLAD you are able to continue work on this farce of Sarah Palin's! Please keep working for the truth. Thanks to you also, Regina, for sharing this space with him, much appreciated.
Patrick,
I suggested this before, but perhaps the best media outlet to report on the failure of the ADN (or worse, its deliberate cover-up) would be the Juneau or Fairbanks paper -- whichever is most competitive with the ADN.
Can we pitch them on the story? Send the contents of your post to the editors at these papers?
Seems to me that one of them would want to become "Alaska's paper" by discrediting the ADN.
Pat Dougherty is a coward.
Plain and simple.
Try the other Alaska papers.
A Pulitzer prize is out there for any journalist who wants to do the work to expose the greatest hoax in US political history.
My goodness: I think you all are on to a lot. I will have to slowly read all your posts this evening. The language in the emails between SP and the ADN is certainly interesting. And now I remember the Cajun Boy in the City's blogs last Fall and the feeling that a story re Palin was about to break. I think the links: Cajun Boy, Lisa Demer, maybe Gryphen - very interesting. And you are right: there is more than just rumors about SP. It is the coverup baby - especially ADN's role. People always say, follow the money! Keep on keeping on! I will faithfully be reading here.
Anonymous 18:55 - It's funny you say that you believe that Bill McAllister is in on the coverup. I have always thought that he was apart of Sarah's deception. Remember he is the one that stated that Sarah told him that it was not true about Bristol being pregnant back in Feb. 08. I think that he was promised a place on Sarah's staff for his silence. I also read somewhere a few months ago that he is dying from cancer. McAllister has much loyalty to Sarah. He even lied about being half black when Sarah was accused of not having African-Americans on her staff. He's definitely a kiss-ass.
Here is the complaint stating that McAllister was being identified as African American by Sarah's administration. This lady will do anything to cover her own ass.
http://americashotmusician.org/Sarah_Palin_Complaint.pdf
I think what bothers me the most about the Sarah Palin/ADN email exchange is that Sarah acts like the ADN should be able to read her mind. She brings up Levi not being a dropout, her ties to the Sherry Johnson bust, and Trig’s parentage. ADN was relying on AP as their source. So how is it that Sarah is outraged that ADN reports that facts as reported by the AP? It seems as if she wanted them to verify these facts independently of AP. She wanted ADN to retract/correct based on what she said and was not willing to provide any proof what-so-ever.
ADN tried to get factual information from Sarah and her family, regarding the parentage of Trig, but she nor her family would give them any information in order to prove that Sarah was indeed the bio mom of Trig. See the email exchange below:
SARAH: “And is your paper really still pursuing the sensational lie that I am not Trig's mother? Is it true you have a reporter still bothering my state office, my very busy doctor (who's already set the record straight for you), and the school district, in pursuit of your ridiculous conspiracy?”
PAT: “Lisa Demer started reporting. I don't believe she received any cooperation in her efforts from the parties who, in my judgment, stood to benefit most from the story, namely you and your family.”
“Even the birth of your grandson may not dissuade the Trig conspiracy theorists from their beliefs. It strikes me that if there is never a clear, contemporaneous public record of what transpired with Trig's birth that may actually ensure that the conspiracy theory never dies. Time will tell.”
“To date, there has been no response from the governor, or acknowledgement of any kind. I did receive a "return receipt" indicating that the email had been opened.”
It seems very suspicious that Sarah expected the ADN to correct their “mistakes” as she calls them, but she was not willing to provide any proof in order for them to do that!
I went to ADN's site. There's no section DEVOTED (pictures, blogs, etc.) to Governor Parnell.
Didn't the ADN scrub all the photos from Jan -April 08? I have been reading palinsdeceptions since the beginning, and I do remember that when they searched for photos of official events during that time, the photos were gone. Ditto video from the local TV news.
We need to find those examples and then ask them where the pictures are. THAT question might pose a problem.
I betcha if Sean was nominated for VP of the U-S of A that the ADN would put something up.
Thank you, Patrick, for following the money. When I first read the Palin-Dougherty e-mails (I think on Palin's Deceptions) it was remarked that SP appeared to be making a veiled threat, and you more or less unveiled it here.
It might be an interesting question whether this level of payment to the ADN was routine, or whether Palin directed a substantial amount of state money to the ADN with the understanding that she was buying favorable coverage. I believe it is worse than merely unethical for a state official to use public money for the purpose of promoting her political career. A timeline-link between a substantial increase in state money to the ADN and a substantial increase in flattering fluff might amount to "reasonable suspicion" warranting a criminal investigation of this relationship.
Kevin,
It seems strange that SP was so angry with Pat @ ADN in those emails. Seems she was not too happy with the "negative" press coverage even though she would not provide factual details in order to refute what Pat had written. Was she "expecting" favorable coverage? Was that why she was so shocked & angry when the coverage was "negative"? Hummmm!
Of course she expected favorable coverage! Remember the time when Sarah turned down all media interviews unless they could promise to be positive??? She just couldn't handle any negative criticism. I understand that because I don't do well with it either. She can't expect the world to change and she must accept her limitations. She would be a HORRIBLE president just as she was not a good governor. I just hope she realizes this but I don't think she does. She is a power seeking, money grubbing narcissist who does not belong in any kind of public office.
I am glad more and more is coming out. We must get the truth about babygate though! People have given her money based on this phony created persona. It's so deceitful. Patrick what do you suggest allof us should do besides sending letters, etc? Give it some thought!! Thx!!
Sarah had a talent for bullying people and getting them to back off. I remember that she failed miserably at her interviews with Charlie and Katy. At the next campaign appearance, in response to something called out from the audience, she dared them, "Do you want to play stump the candidate?" No one had the nerve to ask her a question (or else she brushed them aside).
She didn't answer questions directly, rather gave the answers that she chose to use. (Remember the so-called debate?) So, why would anyone at that paper expect her to supply documents that she failed to supply in the course of the campaign? Instead of Baracuda, she should have been called The Intimidator.
So, it seems the ADN received about $700,000 for the little favors they did for Palin... intriguing. And yes, I agree with the suggestion that the other Alaska papers need to be asked for their take on the ethics/legality of the Palin-ADN relationship.
Great post, and not just because of what it says about $P's relationship with the ADN. It also points out a problem with newspapers and local coverage generally.
I've been very frustrated lately at the terrible coverage of local issues in my community. There are things going on here that could be investigated and lead to journalism awards, if the reporters here would just start turning over rocks.
Then I recently read an excellent article that helped explain why nobody at the local paper seems to want to do any deep digging. As usual, follow the money: papers that essentially have a monopoly do not want to say anything that will lose readership or advertising.
This is a long article, but I highly recommend it. http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/five-key-reasons-why-newspapers-are-failing
If the newspapers won't get the job done, the bloggers or other alternative press need to! In that spirit, thank you so much to Regina, Patrick, Kathleen, and all the others who are working to find the truth!
I am a well-educated professional educator. My late brother was a journalist and copy editor for a city paper. I never thought I would say this, but I really don't care if The Newspaper survives or not. They have become superficial and irrelevant. Their cowardice in reporting real news has made them little more than an advertising rag.
BTW, we receive the ADN daily paper and do not pay for it. We tried to cancel and go to the Sunday only edition (for the ads) but they insisted on delivering the daily anyway at no charge. Why? They need the subscription numbers in order to sell advertising.
If you are still paying for a daily, I suggest you try canceling and see what deal the ADN is willing to make.
A close relative works for a major newspaper, so I know a little bit about the troubles that newspapers have been having in the past ten years. For years, they have been cutting back. For example, it was cheaper to use a stringer that a reporter. A reporter was usually on a regular salary. A stringer wrote articles on speculation, and was only paid for articles which were used.
Another trend was to cut back on foreign bureau staffing, so they have to rely on reports from wire services such as AP or Reuters, for example. More and more, they just reprint the wire service copy. You must have noticed that when you look up a story on-line, there are easily 20 papers with the exact same story.
It costs money to rewrite and do research; these functions have disappeared, too. Fewer papers do real investigative journalism any more; too expensive.
While these changes have been going on, there has been an increase in the 24 hour cable news channels and the rise of reporting on the internet. At first the New York Times tried charging money to read its on-line version. People found ways around the New York Times to reprint important articles, and eventually they decided that they could make more money selling on-line ads instead of charging for subscriptions.
In the face of all this, you can feel sorry for ADN being on the take. All of the papers need every bit of income. That does not excuse them. This does need looking into.
We are also interested in this story because we need to find a credible outlet for Babygate Information Expose.
Patrick: Beautiful - really well done, nicely written and chocked full of tidbits.
I'm with many here who DETEST the newspaper. Living where I do, our "newspaper" does nothing but smeark and print Repuke talking points. I don't read it and won't subscribe. I get my news from the net primarily.
Newspapers in today's 24 hour news cycle are a waste of trees, newsprint and time. When they are all covering their and everyone else's ass to get advertising revenue, you know we are all in trouble.
RE: Your article
If the ADN is covering for Sarah, they deserve all the nasty they get for it. Whether they know all of her secrets, or for some reason they feel "beholding" to her, it's no excuse for not printing the truth.
The ADN is owned by McClatchy - which explains a lot. PatD is simply a tool - trying to keep his job in a dying industry. He has forgotten WHAT a newspaper is supposed to do. And descended into propaganda and personal attacks on the enemies of the EX-GINO.
But why now?
She's nothing and nobody.
What does she have on him now?
Wonderful Patrick - you are an excellent journalist/writer.
I know that a possible Track/Bristol connection is a very sensitive issue but I'd like to add a “real life” illustration to provide perspective to the issue.
In 1994, I had a dear friends that needed help with a family crisis. Their 17 year old niece (referred to as D.) was coming to live with them in an emergency situation but they didn't know why. I was entrusted to help figure out what was going on and why she was sent away. Over the course of several weeks of D. helping me with my brand new baby and home organization projects, she was able to open up and share. I'm a teacher with psych degree NOT a therapist, so let me just say that as soon as I knew the severity of the situation, I helped our friends get D. into a doctor and then a very good psychologist straight away.
D. and her older brother were only 13months apart. As early as 12, it was D who initiated the “practice” kissing, cuddling, and touching- not her brother. The actual sexual relationship initiated by her brother began when they were 13 and 14 respectively. The situation continued for 4 years on the nights the parents bowled. The brother dated sporadically through high school but it wasn't until 18 that he had his first “real” girlfriend relationship. The brother told D. that their physical relationship was over. It was at that time that D. became very jealous of the girl in her brother's life. She became completely unhinged at the thought of being “replaced” so to speak. It was her reaction and the resulting dangerous behavior that caused her to be sent to live with her aunt and uncle in California.
The brother acknowledge the relationship but chalked it up experimentation but the parents of these two teens were in complete denial about what occurred in their home and refused to participate in therapy. It was all quite sad because D. felt rejection not only from her brother, but her parents as well.
I share this to illustrate that situations like this do happen.
Daisydem 18 September 2009 00:08 said...
I went to ADN's site. There's no section DEVOTED (pictures, blogs, etc.) to Governor Parnell.
DD: There WAS a big section devoted to her while she was in office. They had articles, announcements, etc, and a huge photo galleria devoted just to her.
Does anyone else find it curious that Bristol’s birthday is October 18th? Sarah says she gave birth to Trig on April 18th, and Levi said that Bristol’s original due date for Tripp was December 18th. It seems as if the “18th” is symbolic in the Palin household! Maybe since it is Bristol’s birthday day, it makes it easy to remember when you are making due dates up (Bristol’s & Sarah’s)!
Anon 20:25 - Yes, I remember a discussion back on PD running up to Tripp's birth about all the 18's. In addition to those you mentioned, Bristol's bday, Trig's bday, and Tripp's original due date, Sarah also gave May 18 as Trig's original due date - all 18's! With all that 18 mojo in the family they should be going to Vegas :)
DUH! I just realized that you said to PARNELL - no $arah...
Sorry about that.
Fedup: that's what I mean - when Palin was gov, there was all this space on ADN devoted to her pics, news, everything about her. Well, there's nothing like that for Sean Parnell now that he is gov? So it is extremely suspect that ADN was being paid (off) by Palin, right? I think this story has legs. I have never seen a newspaper from other cities, or states, that had a section devoted to a politican. I mean, they report on what they are doing, but they don't treat them like a movie star with a fan newsletter in the guise of a newspaper.
I always thought that was strange too. Also.
Here is something else that is strange. Looking back at the Palin children's travel logs, Piper & Willow were traveling all the time prior to April 10, 2008. Bristol was “MIA” except for the mysterious “Heart Association” event that no one has ever confirmed she was actually in attendance. Then after April 10, 2008, nothing (except some local “Wasilla” activities) - no travel logs until June 7, 2008 for Piper, June 12, 2008 for Willow, & June 5, 2008 for Bristol. Then they all start traveling again on a regular basis.
It seems as if Sarah knew in advance that she was going to "have Trigg" very soon after April 10, 2008 (Trigg born 5 weeks early on April 18, 2008).
Just curious - did the ADN have that section for Palin prior to her being chosen as the VP candidate? Because if they started it only after she was selected, then it makes sense since she goes from being only on the local stage to the National stage. It also makes sense because ADN would know that they would be a go-to source for voters looking for info on Palin. I do think it was strange how they kept it up even after the election. But my opinion would lean more towards them being opportunistic.
But if that section was there before the VP pick then it seems a bit weird. I'm still curious to hear what the ADN's figures were from the timeframes other posters have mentioned.
Susan in MD
Bree Palin,
Ha Ha! I can just see Sarah saying to Bristol, “Hey Bristol, I know this whole Trig cover-up is going to get very confusing, so let’s make sure that every date we come up with is always the 18th. That will be sooo easy for you to remember because your birthday is on the 18th. Got it Bristol? Don’t F**k this up too, ok?
Anon 20:25
Anon@18:04 -- That's one example of what might be an inappropriate bio-Dad. A bio-dad T1's Mom confesses to SP, SP can't believe it, wishes it weren't true, has to have an amnio to confirm that it really IS so. In the course of the amnio, discovers the DS. The unsuitable bio-dad could be a reason to do a hoax. A secret so big and so bad that a hoax seems like the only way out. Plus the heavy substance abuse fits with this explanation.
HOWEVER, there are other possibilities for the inappropriate bio-dad scenario.
And it's important to note that the DS experts say there is no correlation between incest and DS, although this is a widely held old-wives' belief of long standing.
And a major minus for this line of thinking (which has been mine almost from the outset) is that Gryphen explicitly said it was not so.
So. We wait.
Responding to Anon 18:04 and others who have suggested that Track may be Trig's father, I'm not sure that everyone was privy to the MySpace information that indicated that Bristol was having sex with Johnny C in spring 2007 (to the point where Sarah confronted Bristol about whether she was pregnant in mid-May) and then had sex with Levi during late spring. Then, in mid-late June, Bristol said she was going to be a "mother duck to that baby :(" just before calling herself a slut. Just saying that we've got two pretty likely candidates for Trig's father, and the timing may also have warranted pre-natal testing to determine paternity. The Track scenario would also make the photos of Levi and Sadie with Trig even more inexplicable.
Truthseeker2 00:05
Thanks a lot for your comment, I fully agree with you. I have always thought that these parts of Bristol's myspace comments - which the PD team had discovered several months ago - could be very important and could even ultimately lead to the truth.
By the way - the relevant excerpts of Bristol's myspace comments can be downloaded here:
http://www.box.net/shared/4hbkeebuu4
Oh I love this so much!:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/18/sarah-palin-dinner-iportf_n_291830.html
To make things more confusing, the "pregnancy conversation" Bristol had with Johnny came in May 2007, about a month after Johnny complained to a mutual Wasilla friend via MySpace that Bristol had a boyfriend. There is no indication that this boyfriend is Levi, and in fact comments suggest that Levi was back together with his old girlfriend during this time. So I would say there may be three possibilities.
Just to be fair, there is no indication of the level of activity with any of these boys on her part--although obviously something happened with someone sometime! The "mother duck" comment, especially in light of Levi's revelation that Bristol was angry about how often she took care of her younger siblings, could indicate that she was being forced to watch over Piper that summer, who then would only have been what--5 years old?
To KK, I'll grant you that there is often some room for interpretation in the MySpace comments. Having said that, I definitely don't buy that the mother duck comment is about Piper, especially given how it immediately preceded the "I'm a slut" comment. Bristol didn't go from saying she was angry about babysitting her 6 year old sister (not a baby) to, in the immediate next comment, being flip about her overactive sex life. The two comments -- mother duck for that baby and I'm a slut -- relate to each other. IMHO.
BTW, could you post the comment from Johnny that you refer to?
Hi, Truthseeker2--this is Johnny's comment:
Apr 25, 2007 11:44 PM
whats up bro... dude did you know that bristol and i were gonna go out but she has a bf now that is fucked up huh
--------------------------------
And we'll have to agree to disagree about Bristol's comments. I do understand how you arrived at your interpretation. IMHO, since the general theme of her comments at that time has to do with friends/social activities, I read these particular ones in a more innocent light. Maybe she's juggling a couple of boys--maybe she's talking to her friend about someone in Juneau she was dating but now she's moving on (or back) to someone else...IDK. These ones struck me as self-deprecatory, rather than as confessional in any way.
Truthseeker2 and KK,
That is interesting.
Apr 25, 2007 11:44 PM
whats up bro... dude did you know that bristol and i were gonna go out but she has a bf now that is fucked up huh
Johnny C.
I lean toward Bristol babies being from someone close to her age. Levi, Johnny or ?????
Gryphen said...By the way Blow-pop I asked my source about Johnny and was told that they had heard the rumor too, but he could not confirm.
http://blowpoppalin.blogspot.com/2009/07/bristol-palins-new-man-goodbye-levi.html
Bristol and Johnny were friends in April 2009 according to a friend. Would a friend say anything that was not aproved by Sarah?
http://blowpoppalin.blogspot.com/2009/05/bristol-johnnylevi.html
I must have a thousand photos of JC. He likes to party. They all like to party with underage friends. He must have a great personality.
Rumor is that Bristol has a boyfriend now. Someone from Wasilla?
Thanks for the JC post, KK. I don't recall seeing that one before. Who was he writing to, do you know?
If you go to www.al.com, select News, then Huntsville News, look for the story posted on 9/19/09 by Shelley Hastings on the woman who won the dinner with SP, there is a picture of SP and Cathy Maples reported to have been taken in July in Alaska. Ms. Maples has met SP twice apparently. I would like to know more about the relationship between Ms. Maples and SP. Is it more than just fan based? If the picture was taken in July of 2009, then SP was just about to resign or had just resigned. Ms. Maples is dressed appropriately for the 4th of July! So how did they meet if SP was no longer Governor or was working on the decision to resign from office?
There is flag protocol. What is she doing wrapped in a flag? That is disrespect.
So far the comments are not that happy with what she did. Why not give the money direct?
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