our US Chamber of Commerce partly owns a wkly. law suit newspap.

[donsu]

http://www.campaigndesk.org/archives/001240.asp

Hidden Angle
January 13, 2005
Wherein Our Reporter Enters a Parallel Universe - but Escapes to Tell About It

Brian Timpone owns several small weekly newspapers in Illinois. Among them is the Record, an 8,000-circulation weekly that covers Madison and St. Clair counties in the southwestern part of the state. "I'm in the community newspaper business," says Timpone. His weeklies cover events of interest to those in small towns -- "cats in trees, kids going off to college."

In that regard, the Record is different from the others. It covers lawsuits -- and only lawsuits. That's because it's partly owned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- which just happens to have tort reform high on its agenda and was willing to pony up $200,000 to establish a journalistic beachhead in a litigious corner of the Land of Lincoln.

So, is the Record a newspaper, or a propaganda sheet pushing an agenda?

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That was the subject of a panel discussion here yesterday, sponsored by the Society of National Association Publications, the American Society of Business Publication Editors and the D.C. chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). About 50 people attended the discussion. And based on the questions and comments, almost all seemed to think Timpone has a swell idea -- and what they wanted to hear is not how to stop this trend in its tracks, but rather how they can go and do likewise. (Indeed, this reporter may have been the one lone attendee with her hair standing on end at the prospect of a nation of agenda-driven publications financed by silent partners.)

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I want a revolution