Independant newspapers beware

The BBQ Pit
1

Recently, in our local independent newspaper the following quote appeared:

Well, one of the local news stations reported that Mr. Bircham — trust me an asshole from hell but he’s “such a good Christian” — is considering taking The Indy (the same type of newspaper as The Chicago Reader) to court over the above statement. The only part he reportedly is disputing is the “he doesn’t like black people.” statement.

Now, Mr. Bircham has been VERY vocal in the past over people that are homosexual, black and otherwise different people than his upper-class and snobbish people. In our city he is only third to to the likes of those that run with Focus on the Family. (Dobson then Perkins then Bircham.)

Anyhow here’s why I am pissed:

  1. He is a business man in this city, he is very outspoken about his beliefs. He has proven himself in the past to be a complete asshole when it comes to those that are different than him and stated so publicly in his own way.

  2. He has employed and supported one of the biggest detractors to The Indy over the years. This man, Mike McKee, has been on a crusade to get advertisers of The Indy to discontinue their advertising with The Indy because it’s such a “liberal” newpaper. They report everything from Wiccans to Atheists, Libertarians to Liberals to Conservatives, but if it doesn’t meet some moral code Mr. McKee has, he made it very clear he disapproves of the news and other items The Indy reports and includes in its newspaper.

  3. He hasn’t even given The Indy a chance to verify his statement. He essentially called upon the TV media before confronting The Indy. Oh, and since it’s freedom of the press, they shouldn’t have to in my eyes. He makes his statements clear to those that know him and in the press himself so he needs to be prepared to deal with the ramifications of his words and actions.

Here is my letter to The Indy over Mr. Bircham. I know most of you don’t care, but this type of lawsuit can bring an independent newspaper under, especially a smaller one like the one we have here:

Dear Indy,

I saw on a recent local news station story that your paper may be dealing with a potential law suit from Mr. Ed Bircham because of one snippet that was written in the August 10th issue of your paper. After rereading this issue I can see a possible misquote but I don’t know for sure, if in fact that is the case, but such a little blurb should never be grounds for a lawsuit. If it was a misquote then I know The Indy will retract the statement in question. Mr. Bircham has proved again and again he is not tolerant of those that differ from what he believes in or those that do not fit into his upper-class and snobbish attitude of life.

Look Mr. Bircham, your views of homosexuals and other “deviants” from your church life only go to show that you are not the “Christian” you claim to be, from what I know you should love and let God judge. All of the people in Colorado Springs and El Paso County have been subjected to your comments in the past and any comment by a citizen or by a newspaper employee regarding your obvious “holier-than-thou” attitude should only be grounds for you to rethink your public stance on issues.

I find any attempt to take The Independent to court over a silly little sentence to prove the small man of character you truly are. If you decide not to take The Indy to court then I will retract only one of my statements “the small man of character you truly are.” Other than that, if you so choose to be in the public eye and bring your mission to cleanse the city of Colorado Springs with your “Christian beliefs” then you should be prepared to deal with a lot of criticism and deal with the fact that people will take your words and publish them. In addition, I refuse to do business with a man that only sees through a narrow glass that is fuzzy and decides what is right and wrong, in his thinking, for our community.

I truly hope that The Indy comes out on top with this. The Indy has been a great alternative, although a little too liberal at times, to the other press that is available to us in El Paso County.

Liz

So, if you happen to look through The Independent’s website anytime soon and see some form of lawsuit, I am asking my fellow SDers to write to them and give them complete support. I realize that you all have not seen the ins and outs of the issues that surround this but freedom of the press is extremely important. If any schmuck like Bircham brings down The Indy, it is highly possible this can happen to any independent newspaper including The Chicago Reader.

2

Here’s that link: http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2000-08-10/cover.html

Haven’t finished reading the post yet, but still wanted to boost my post count.

3

I have to add one more thing.

My family runs in the same circles as this clown so I am not looking at it from a lower-class or middle-class standpoint. This man is a complete ass and if I could have a few words with him…OH would I love it.

I am middle-class financially, but my family is not, I find his attitude a horrible representation of those that my family associates with. If this is the sort of person that represents upper-class people in society, then I refuse (and have done so) to be a part of this.

4

Thanks waterj, I tried to post the link again but it fucked up on me. I didn’t want to post it again for fear of the double post.

What’s with “trusting the CGI”? ARRGH

5

I thought that article looked familiar. I read it some time ago for its content on Tesla, possibly because you put a link to it up on the boards, TC. Or someone else did.
I don’t know about Colorado, but in Illinois truth is a defense against libel, so if the Indy can show that Bircham has made the statements in question, they should be off the hook. However, they are going to be out the attorney’s fees, unless they have libel insurance.

Sometimes I wish we could bring back trial by combat. It might cut down on stupid lawsuits.

6

2nd,

I recieved a return response from the editor of The Indy today.

She said they will be clarifying the quote but have more quotes that will actually make him look worse. Things they can back up this latest quote. She also stated that he has not asked for a retraction.

To me this is just a ploy to get people on his side and again attempt to get The Indy to shut down.

The thing is, ever since The Indy started Mr. Bircham has threatened lawsuits and has been trying hard to shut the newspaper down.

To quote the editor:

Anyhow, to those of you with independent newpapers in your community please keep an eye out on these sorts of people. They threaten more than just our newpapers but also threaten freedom of speech.

7

This definately isn’t restricted to newspapers. Remember the lawsuit against Oprah a few years back? And there have been numerous instances of corporations bringing suit against individuals for disparaging remarks about their products.

IIRC, in some states a retraction in a newspaper can eliminate liability for libel, if made in a proper manner when the newspaper is advised of the possibly libelous statement. This sort of thing can prevent liability for innocent typos and such. I don’t know if this applies in Colorado, but no doubt the Indy’s editor does.

8

‘I don’t like other people, but don’t report that.’ Sheesh! where have all the honest bastards gone?
Being hated by Mr. Bircham might be a PR asset. I wonder if the Indy has considered using this to their advantage. It was decades ago and in the mainstream press, but the Dallas Times Herald used an advertiser boycott over Molly Ivin’s content to their advantage, posting “Molly Ivins can’t say that… can she?” on billboards across the Metroplex (she said that a congressman was so dumb that they might need to start watering him.)

If the Indy is big enough (or angry enough) and if their case is solid enough and the courts unbiased enough, the lawsuit might be worth it.

9

Well, I believe in freedom of speech, even if it makes you look like a jerk, and it sounds like this Mr. Bircham is one. But sometimes, oh sometimes, I’d like to be Queen of the World and STOMP on certain people.

Bircham sounds like he’s a waste of space, but if you want the REAL Anti-Christ homophobe you have to come to Topeka Kansas. We have Fred Phelps. This pervert is a so-called minister and there’s nothing he hates more than gays. With his faxes, website, funeral picketing(Mattthew Shepard, Randy Shilts, et al.) and general nastiness Fred is enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

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Good old Phelps… He’s the reason I gave up finding religious homophobes frightening and now find them mildly amusing.

Speaking of independent press, check out what I’m activisting for these days: http://www.mcgilldaily.com - our student newspaper which the student union is trying to have locked out of its office because it’s disagreed with it in the past. sigh