December 20, 2007 One of the great things about this new venture at workingpresstoo (wp2) is the willingness of so many that used to work for McClatchy and the Statesman to talk with our reporters about what’s going on in the Statesman.
Dan Popkey said he worked on Larry Craig story for six months. Anonymous sources inside the Statesman said he and Mia (I want a Pulitzer) Parrish were giddy when they met and Dan worked on the story for over a year. They couldn’t even be honest about that.
He bragged to one of the young girls he dated on the Statesman staff (Dan like’s them half his age) about how he was going to take down the Senator. Not only could Dan find no evidence to run a story, but he found exactly the opposite of what he was trying to prove.
What to do. Oh, what to do.
Again, insiders and former Statesman reporters helped us piece this together. By May of this year it was clear they had no story, so they needed a hook to run the bogus material they collected.
That’s where Minneapolis comes in….former last newspaper stop of Popkey’s executive editor, Vicki Gowler. Both Vicki and Dan had become very familiar with what was going on in the Minneapolis airport. Besides the fact that Vicki lived their, Dan had traveled thru many times following Craig as he tried to catch him at something. Dan bragged in his stories about showing Craig’s picture to people in gay bars and public restrooms.
wr2 has found that Dan showed and even shared pictures of Craig with the so-called airport sting clowns. All this was done after May and into June when the Statesman decided they didn’t have anything.
When Craig walked into that restroom he was checkmated. If he plead to anything it was a story. If he fought it it was a story. Either way Popkey had what he needed.
Now, how to get the story out of Hennepin County. Popkey knew Craig was going to announce for reelection in early September, so the August recess was a perfect time. But if the Statesman had reported the story if would have looked to fishy.
What to do. What to do.
Several sources in DC (working press) told wr2 that the Hennepin County prosecutor leaked the story to the Roll Call reporter in August. What perfect timing. And it had the added benefit of taking Popkey’s fingerprints off of the setup in Minneapolis.
Roll Call writes the story, Popkey and his indignant editor, Gowler, claim they have the right to destroy Larry and they run their bogus material. Then this month they write a total tabloid piece of hearsay on the front page. Even Statesman readers call BS on their so-called reporting. The Swanky Conservative website’s December 3rd entry has a great description of this. swankyconservative.com
So what does this have to do with following the money? Check out McClatchy’s stock website and all the analyst downgrades in the last year. And then check out the December 18th story “McClatchy’s Fall From Grace” piece by Louis Hau of Forbes.com If McClatchy stock falls much more they will be ripe for a takeover and the liberals at McClatchy would hate to see a Rupert Murdoch swoop in and by their precious liberal rags.
If there was ever a time to “follow the money” and see if a story passes the smell test, now is the time.
There’s a lot more, but wr2 will be patient and wait for our Statesman insiders and former staffers to give us more of the dirt on America’s newest tabloid, the Idaho Statesman.
December 20, 2007 at 8:08 pm |
Name’s Chuck Vendalu – PSYCHED to be here.
Man, if you’re talking about the Idaho Statesman’s lack of ethics, honesty, or fact-based reporting, you’ll be writing from now ’til eternity.
Interesting you bring up Dan Popkey’s dating preferences, since I’ve heard a few stories there myself. Aside from it being a bad idea to date people in the workplace, he’s a cradle-robber! What a tool. A friend of mine told me he was dating one of the lawyers for the U of I at the same time he was writing the University Place stories. No conflict of interest there! Oh noooo.
What a fine, upstanding member of our community.
December 20, 2007 at 8:44 pm |
FINALLY!
As a strong Republican supporter of US Senator Larry Craig (and proud Idahoan), I am extremely pleased that someone has taken the initiative to call a spade a spade and let the world know about the disgusting lies, character assassination, and politically motivated agenda of the Idaho Statesman.
Thank you wp2 for creating this outlet. I hope every person who has ever supported Senator Craig finds their way to this site!
January 8, 2008 at 9:39 pm |
This is an interesting site and confirms a lot I have heard from people on Senator Craig’s staff as well as other republicans in Boise.
One story I have not seen written (big surprise) has to do with Popkey’s investigation of gay bars in DC. I heard from a Craig staffer months ago that when Popkey was in DC he debated buying and sharing crack or meth (I can’t remember which one now) with a tripped out gay man who promised to take Popkey to a bar where “powerful gays hang out”. Popkey actually was in an alley with this drugee debating whether or not to buy and do drugs in order to get more information for his story. I wonder if his supervisors at the Statesman know that tid-bit! Although they would probably praise him for the lengths their loyal servant would go to get a story….barf!
January 10, 2008 at 2:45 pm |
Of course Larry Craig is guilty as sin. Micron is laying off American workers and shipping the jobs overseas. After securing a nice tax relief package from the toady Idaho legislature. Golleee do you think that they are upset at the Statesman for challenging the status quo? Not everyone will be like channel 7 and offer up softball questions. Is that what has got your goat? Somebody willing to stand up to the GOP powers and call “bs”.?????
January 20, 2008 at 9:47 pm |
“…This is an interesting site and confirms a lot I have heard from people on Senator Craig’s staff as well as other republicans in Boise….”
So, who are we listening to, and talking to here? Echoes from Craig’s staff and/or other Republicans in Boise?
Is this more than a repository for dirty tricks and laughable whining about how “liberal biased” the local paper is?
February 23, 2008 at 11:24 pm |
The one thing that is clear is that a civilized society can not exist with a biased media. It is the first sign of the loss of freedom and moral decay that awaits. I can’t understand why anyone would tolerate it, even if it swings to your side of the political arena. Any inteligent person would want only the truth from the media, not get a kick out of the relentless bashing and misinformation that destroys opposing members of our society. The scales of justice must swing evenly in our judicial system and in our media. Unfair, unequal and biased reporting by the media is no different than not giving someone a fair trial in court.