WOTS – Are Elk Grove Elected Officials Manipulating The Citizen?

Word on the Street – Why was Forward laid-off?

Earlier today there was an interesting comment posted on an Elk Grove Citizen story regarding the 2010 Elk Grove elections. 

The comment was posted in a thread discussing whether the Citizen was being influenced by the City of Elk Grove. As the official paper of the city, the Citizen receives a significant annual revenue stream from the publication of state-mandated public notices.

Continued....

The conversation included these comments which have been subsequently removed:

Jeff Knows wrote on Aug 11, 2010 11:32 AM:

" Citizen Warning: You are right. A council member was bragging all over town that "He" got Jeff Forward fired from the Citizen because Jeff wanted to do a story on his past digressions. This council member met with the Herburgers and demanded that Mr. Forward be fired.

I would think that David and Roy Herburger would be outraged that a council member is making such boastful statements, whether true or not?

No publisher would want their readership to know that a council member gives them their marching orders or else. "

These and other comments on this story  bring up questions worth pondering.

First, are city council members using their influence, personal relationships or the threat of pulling a significant revenue stream from the Citizen as leverage to influence news coverage?

Second, are the Herburger's giving into the demands out of fear of losing this steady income stream or some other reason? It is no secret newspapers across the board are bleeding and the loss of this revenue could significantly hurt their bottom line.

Third, was former editor Jeff Forward laid-off as editor because he was not towing the line? Or was he in fact laid-off for economic reasons as has been publicly stated?

Speculation on Forward’s dismissal has become something of a parlor game in certain circles in Elk Grove because he was not the first person in recent history to be laid off for "economic reasons." Former reporter Bobby Wilson was laid-off months prior to Forward's departure and word on the street was he was let go because his reporting was a little too good.

Forward has declined to comment on the matter or the comments.

The comment was removed from the story and current editor Cameron Macdonald posted the following comment subsequent to its removal.

Editors Note wrote on Aug 11, 2010 12:21 PM:

" Feel free to contact me regarding questions or concerns about our news coverage.

Cameron Macdonald, news editor, (916) 685-3945. "

The reasons Forward and Wilson were let go from the Citizen will probably continue to be an area of speculation for some time. Still, you can’t help but wonder now if Macdonald and other Citizen reporters are being pressured by forces to suppress reporting or if they are already in the words of Pink Floyd, comfortably  numb. 

What ever the case might be, it would be shameful but not surprising to find out Elk Grove Council members were attempting to use their influence, personal relationships or the threat of killing a consistent revenue stream to squash stories that might paint them in an unfavorable light.

What would be more shameful would be to find out that the Citizen kowtows to the demands of politicians.