Republic Reporter is Busted

(This post has been updated, be sure to read the Post Post Script below.)

In the previous post "The Tribune Confesses" I pointed out that the Tribune admits that the story Dennis Welch did on Steve Yarbrough was generated by "critics of tuition tax credits."

It has occurred to me that many of you may not understand the relationship between Legislators, lobbyists and the media.  The Welch story is a good example of lobbyists who seek to advance their issues by feeding stories to sympathetic reporters. 

Lobbyists, Legislators and the Media

Another great example of the behind-the-scenes manipulation that goes into writing the news can be seen in the struggle over a little bill called SB 1330. 

Let me give you a tiny bit of background.  The bill makes it harder for home owner associations to collect back dues from bankrupt homeowners

These types of "consumer protection" bills get an odd mix of supporters, so SB 1330 received 19 votes in the Senate including the most liberal and most conservative members.   

Naturally some HOA folks were upset.

Jeff Clyde, who opposed the bill, was unhappy with its passage and sent an email to the 19 Senators who voted yes. 

After explaining why he thinks it's a bad bill, he makes a little threat.

The next item is that I intend to make every attempt to insure (sic) that you are not reelected after this term. You participated in a perversion of the Legislative process with this “ChristmasTree” bill that resulted in “bought” votes to get this law passed.

So far so good. 

Senator Jack Harper is a bit miffed by the threat and does a little research.  Remember, the bill provides protection for people who get into financial problems.  Harper finds it ironic that Mr. Clyde is adamantly against the bill but has some financial problems of his own.

Harper points out the irony in an email that only went to seven people. Here's a copy of Harper's original email.

----- Original Message -----
From: Jack Harper
To: Robert Burns ; Chuck Gray ; Tom Boone ; Rick Murphy ; Bob Stump ; Eddie Farnsworth
Cc: kevin Demenna
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 9:48 AM
Subject: FW: SB 1330 Vote

This Jeffrey Clyde that sent the attached email to us, was pretty nasty for someone who will not pay his taxes or car payments:

Harper includes a link to the Maricopa County Assessor's site that includes delinquent tax liens. 

That's when the story gets really interesting.  Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl gets a copy of the Harper email and contacts Mr. Clyde.

Here's copy of an email that Mary Jo Pitzl sent to Mr. Clyde.

Hello Mr. Clyde:

I am a reporter with The Arizona Republic, covering the state Legislature.

I got the following email from a lobbyist who, rightfully, thought I might be interested. In turn, I think you might be interested, since it appears Sen. Harper has done a little record searching and shared the results with some of his legislative colleagues.

I'm planning to do a story on this tactic of the senator's and how he is treating a constituent. Would you care to comment? And did he share the fruits of his research with you?

I'd love to talk to you (talk is preferable to email). I can be reached at the number below if you'd care to comment. I will be on the House floor Tuesday AM covering the budget debate, but should be at my desk up til 9:45 or so and then all afternoon.

Sincerely,
Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic

Harper's email wasn't broadcast.  He didn't send it to a wide list of constituents, or his contact list.  He didn't send it to the media and he certainly didn't "threaten" a constituent.  He just sent it to the seven names that you see on the top of his email.  Is this "tactic" worth a story?

So how did Pitzl get a copy of Harper's email? She answers that question in paragraph 2.  She got the email from a lobbyist...and she would "love" to talk about it. 

After talking to Mr. Clyde, Pitzl then calls Harper but she doesn't want to know about the merits of SB 1330, or even Mr. Clyde and his threat.  She wants to discuss Haper's financial situation.  What she really wants to discuss is the fact that 4 years ago, Harper declared bankruptcy. 

Now the plot thickens. 

Pitzl needs a hook to write an article about the 4 year old bankruptcy story, but she can't use SB 1330 itself, because the bill protects people who get into financial difficulty and Harper supported it.  The hypocrisy angle doesn't work unless Harper voted against the bill, but he supported it along with most of the Democratic caucus. 

The email provides the hook she needs.  It's not ironic that Harper supported the bill, but it is ironic that Harper pointed out the hypocrisy in the guy who opposed the bill.  Get it?  Harper was consistent and the guy who threatened to unseat him was hypocritical.  So Harper must be hypocritical by pointing out Mr. Clyde's hypocrisy...in an email to 7 people. 

Now Pitzl can write a story about a 4 year old bankruptcy and claim that the story is somehow current.  The lobbyist has the satisfaction of nailing someone who crossed him.  Harper, of course, has no idea what hit him.

Post Script.

I talked to Mr. Clyde and he assures me that his financial issues have been resolved and wanted me to point out that he's an honorably discharged combat Marine from Vietnam. 

I talked to Mary Jo Pitzl to confirm that she was planning to follow through with the bankruptcy story and she told me that she "doesn't comment on stories.  Read the paper."

Will the story run?  I have a disadvantage in that Pitzl can fix the story in response to my post, so the bankruptcy story might not run at all.  But it's about a conservative legislator...my guess is that it's B1 on Sunday. 

Post Post Script. 

The story did indeed run, and my predictions about how it would turn out are exactly right.  Pitzl doesn't disclose that she got the original tip from a lobbyist who was unhappy with Harper's vote on the underlying bill, or that the original email was only circulated to a handful of Harper's fellow Legislators.

She also never explains why Harper's pointing out Mr. Clyde's hypocrisy to 6 legislators and a lobbyist is "retaliation."  After all, exposing that type of hypocrisy is how reporters make their living.  But instead of nailing Mr. Clyde in the Political Insider, Harper noted the hypocrisy in a private email that went to 7 people and one of them gave it to the media.  It was Pitzl who made Mr. Clyde's financial situation widely known. 

Pitzl also never explains her obvious zeal for the story.  She would "love" to talk to Mr. Clyde about the information the lobbyist sent her.  Nor does she ever spell out the rationale for discussing Harper's 2004 bankruptcy.  Why is it exactly that Harper's privately made point about Mr. Clyde's hypocrisy subjects Harper to having a 4 year old story about his bankruptcy surface?

Finally, you will notice that Pitzl rounds out her article with the story of Cheri Holgerson's threats to Jonathan Paton.  That will probably sound familiar because it first ran in espresso pundit over a week ago. 

Want to Respond?

If you want to respond to this story, the Publisher's name is John Zidich and he can be reached at: John.zidich@pni.com

The odds are that you already don't subscribe, but tell him that you are not going to shop a Dillards anymore.  That'll get his attention. 

Comments

[June]

These reporters and biased "sources" want to give the impression of truth and full disclosure, but don't seem to be having much luck with Greg around. This worked much better when they were the only game in town. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...

[ron]

Sounds like we are in the process of creating the Fifth Estate - the internet Blogger and his/her power of critique the powers that be.

[Benson]

Greg will consolidate all power unto himself. A sign of the apocolypse is upon us.......
Great job Greg!

[RepublicMonitor]

Maybe you can contact her at home and ask:

PITZL MARY JO

Oops, Greg Here in my role as a grown up. I'd rather not publish Mary Jo's home address even if it's readily available on the internet. I will include her email address as soon as I can find it.

PHOENIX 85007

[SonoranSam]

The hypocrisy on full display here is getting a little old.

First you condemn a woman who does some internet research and digs up some old parking tickets on Jonathan Paton. Actually I agreed that she went over the line.

But then you DEFEND Harper for doing the same thing, but attack Pitzel for doing a story about it, and noting that Harper had to declare bankruptcy on the pizza business he owned with his family.

Oh, and by the way you conflate people who work at a second job while serving in the legislature with a guy who votes to enrich a business that pays him $90,000 a year as if they're one and the same thing. They're not.

You once noted, Greg, that you're hardly an unbiased source. You said something to the effect that you wear your biases on your sleeve.

I respect that, and actually I have a different view of the obligations of a journalist - and I'm speaking as a former journalist who won some national awards and was told by various elected officials that I had a reputation for treating people fairly.

Show me where the First Amendment says you have to be objective.There is no such Constitutional obligation.

I could go on, because I also taught journalism as an adjunct instructor, and I talked about this in great detail.

The obligation is to FAIRNESS. Reporters make hundreds - literally hundreds - of choices every time they write a story. Those choices inevitably are colored by their background, and yes by their biases.

That's why I have no problem considering journalists to be bloggers. I read this blog to get a Republican perspective, and I'm never disappointed.

I'll confess I long ago lost patience with the right-wing persecution complex about the "left-wing" media. Howie Fischer ain't perfect, and he's often a pain in the rear, especially to some people I like and respect.

But I respect Howie. I do think he's trapped in conventional wisdom a bit too much, but I respect him nonetheless.

I also respect Daniel Scarpinato of the Star. Anyone who thinks he's a liberal out of the old "Red Star" school of jounalism isn't paying attention.

Pitzel's story is appropriate.

[Greg]

Greg Here: Sam, give me a break. Cheri Holgerson is a state employee who works with CPS and looked up the records and sent them to Paton in a clear attempt to intimidate him because he was investigating an agency she works with.

Harper wrote an email to six friends in which he pointed out the irony that the guy who wrote a nasty email against bankruptcy protections, had a financial issue of his own. Harper didn't contact the guy or harass him in any way. There was no "retaliation" or tactics. And his personal bankruptcy from 4 years ago has nothing to do with the story.

The lobbyist saw an opportunity to nail Harper so he sent Harper's email to the Pitzl and Pitzl used the email as a hook to discuss the bankruptcy. Her email to Mr. Clyde "I'd love to talk to you..." shows her obvious glee at the opportunity to nail Harper.

Greg

[jeff]

No one is commenting on the best part of this story, which is exposing the lobbyist who gave the email to Pitzl. I think the headline should be Lobbyist Busted. Everyone likes to blame Demenna for these types of things but rarely is there proof that ties him to it. There are a few lobbyists that give all of them a bad name and actions like this (at least that get exposed) helps the layman learn a little inside baseball.

[ron]

Greg, you wrote, :"Harper wrote an email to six friends in which he pointed out the irony that the guy who wrote a nasty email against bankruptcy protections, had a financial issue of his own. Harper didn't contact the guy or harass him in any way. There was no "retaliation" or tactics."

I beg to differ. Mr. Harper clearly wanted to render impotent any comment that Mr. Clyde had about financial issues by pointing out the the gentleman had his own financial problams. He was saying in effect, "My consituent is disqualified from making any comments about financial issues because he has had financial problems."

Now we can all ask, is Mr. Harper disqualified on commenting on financial issues brought to him at the legislature, esp. if they have to do with bankruptcy issues as he filed bankrupcy 4 years ago.

If Mr. Harper thinks Mr. Clyde is disqualified from commenting on fianancial issues (which Mr. Clyde says are all taken care of); then I think we should ask Mr. Harper to recuse himself from the same.

By the way, I have not read her or in Ms. Pritzel's article that Mr. Clyde sought bankruptcy court protection for his financial woes. Perhaps someone can clarify that point.

[BDG]

Great job again, Greg. I think you are right on concerning the differences between the Cheri Holgerson story and this Pitzl character's story. Reporters always think they can do whatever they want and print whatever fits their agenda ("Read the paper"--arrogant too). You seem to be one of the few in Arizona willing to take on the Republic and its silliness.

And SonoraSam--put down the Kool-Aid--these stories simply reveal what is already there--the so-called persecution complex is just the left's phrase for the right's getting wise to the fact that the media is a bunch of left-wing nutjobs with so-called "credentials." There may be no constitutional requirement but it is a credibility requirement to be objective--and the Republic and its ilk claim to be objective all the time when they are far, far from it. A few brave folks like Greg point that out. I will bet dollars to donuts that Pitzl would claim "objectivity" about this story if she was asked, and she'd be lying.

[Benson]

I almost heard Mary Jo's saliva hit the keyboard as I read "I would love to talk to you" in her email.

[Aaron]

My concern is one I have had for a long time: that politics is becoming more about personal destruction than debating ideas. I have plenty of reservations about a number of comments Harper has made and certainly would be happy to challenge many of his votes the last four years. But he's still a human being, and when I see him I try to treat him with respect. There needs to be some golden rule in politics and in the media where we apply some semblance of fairness. Harper had financial problems, most of us have at some point in our lives. I'm with Harper on this one. My friend on the other side of the aisle voted for this bill as well. It struck a balance between allowing HOAs to collect fees and also respecting personal property rights and allowing owners an added protection.

[Buddy Breon]

Jack Harper has been a friend of conservatives for years. It's too bad he had a business problem, part of which was caused by the francisor. Such business failures are not unusual, and most of you know it.

The senator was not wrong to mock the inconsistent message of the HOA supporter. And, the Republic has attacked him at every opportunity. Why would they miss this one, even if they had to stretch to make it fit.

I congratulate this Blog for keeping after that paper and its bias. They have attacked conservative Republicans for years and liberal Republicans like Jeffy just relish those attacks against conservatives.

Which brings us to Kevin Demenna. Why do so many in the State Senate listen to this guy? He turns on them if its to his advantage, as in this case since he makes lots of money from HOAs. He thinks he's the 31st senator and everyone who fights him is fair game.

[RepublicSux]

maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com
602) 444-8963

[Walter]

Greg, I think you are right on with the analysis of this situation other than the "outing" of Harper's bankruptcy. Is it better for a guy who is going around campaigning for Maricopa County Treasurer to have the bankruptcy known before or after he files? And, as one of the self-appointed fiscal hawks in the Senate, I think it's good to have some perspective on where he is coming from. Maybe he understands better than most that these budgets are unsustainable. Like most things, he can use the truth to his advantage, it will enhance his credibility, and frankly after watching him "perform" on occaision, he could use it.

[Cary]

Greg. Great job, buddy! As most of us who no longer wear rose colored glasses know, the print media, especially the Republic, will always break "left-liberal". Pitzl is no exception, except that she lets her emotions and beliefs get in her way, which violates the first rule of journalism. Since we can't send her back to school, as much as I hate to say it, perhaps she should take the Howard Fisher class in how to be a left leaner without being a total ass about it. As for Clyde...show of hands for those of you that live in an HOA? Majority. Good. Then you know how hard it is to collect from some homeowners. I regularly research "Jan's World" on behalf of my HOA to try and determine why someone won't pay their dues. Mostly, Bankruptcies and Tax Liens. So, Clyde, buddy, if it's public, it's fair game. It seems to me that Clyde is just trying to get out of paying his dues, an obligation he knew about when he moved in.