That's a Newspaper Editor

I haven't mentioned this in a while, but in the early years of this blog, I frequently posted about ads in the Star Tribune from a Canton, Ohio-based company selling a variety of questionable products. They inspired my Sucker Born Every Minute category, in fact, and my interest in remaining incognito, since their attorney sent me a few cease-and-desist notices at the time. The first ad sold a card pretending to be health insurance. Others were for Amish heaters, phones, computers, antennas, and air conditioners. There were also a few for currency-related products: uncut $2 bills, coins after Obama was elected, and coins after Ted Kennedy died.

It all came back to me when I saw that Corinne Colbert, the editor of the Athens News (in Athens, Ohio), was fired from her job because she tweeted this on February 23:

The Athens News and other regional papers recently have run ads for companies that claim to sell high-value collectible coins. Several readers have told us that the companies took their money but never delivered, which is consistent with online reports about them.

If you responded to these ads and did not receive a product, or if the product you received was not as advertised, please let us know.

Although the newsroom has no control over advertising, we know that you rely on us to be truthful in all matters. Please accept my deepest apologies for this breach of your trust. 

She was fired two days later. The Athens News is owned by Adams Publishing Group, and the reason she was given was that she violated the company's social media policy. She described the situation this way:

APG epitomizes EVERYTHING that is wrong in American journalism today. It’s run by people who do not understand—or do not care about—journalism. Instead of serving the public and renting readers’ attention to advertisers, APG serves money.

Yes, a newspaper needs money to function. But making money is not its primary function. Newspapers exist to bring readers truthful, accurate and relevant information about their world.

The higher ups at APG talk about maintaining/increasing revenue to protect jobs. But they have cut the editorial and production staff of their southeast Ohio papers to the bare minimum. Every issue is a struggle to produce quality journalism with no resources or support.

Mark Cohen, who oversees 6 newspapers in southeastern/southern Ohio, lives in Columbus. The ad folks for the News and the Messenger live in Jackson County, not Athens County. Decisions about local journalism are made by people who are not local.

Local journalism thrives when the people in charge of it are personally invested in the community — and when those people understand that good journalism speaks truth to power regardless of who holds it. 

Colbert has set up a donation campaign to raise money to start an independent media source for Athens, and so far it's more than two-thirds of the way to the initial goal.

Adams Publishing Group is based in Tennessee and owns 127 newspapers in all, including more than 50 small-city papers in Minnesota and almost two dozen in Wisconsin. It's been on a company-buying rampage since 2014.