Publisher’s Forward

Media, Money and Power

Humboldt Advocate Editorial by Shawn Warford

In our March 3rd issue, reporter Mary Cruse began her article about North Coast Journal publisher Judy Hodgson and her speech before the Redwood Empire Mensa chapter titled “Newspaper Wars in Humboldt County,” noting that newspapers have historically battled against each other. She’s right, newspapers, specifically their publishers and editors, do bicker back and forth, some for legitimate reasons, others for petty ones. Even with cable news channels MSNBC and Fox News Channel as news anchor Keith Olbermann of MSNBC often duels with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly.

It’s competition and it’s good, but good only when the competition is genuine and fair. The presentation Hodgson gave was essentially an advertisement for Rob Arkley’s Eureka Reporter while using the forum to criticize The Times-Standard. Hodgson touted Arkley’s starting of the Eureka Reporter and the resulting competition as a rare and wonderful thing–wonderful that it made the T-S more responsive and visually attractive to its readers. Indeed, while some competition is positive, we have to acknowledge The Eureka Reporter isn’t your average start-up newspaper and Mr. Arkley isn’t your average person, he’s a billionaire-land baron, who recently announced Louisiana as his primary residence.

Of course, it would not be difficult for a billionaire to create a daily newspaper, print and pay reporters—all without relying on ad sales, subscriptions or support from the local community. Sure, Arkley’s paper has a few ads, such as the North Coast Co-op, but given their low rates, they’re not covering the costs of production. And according to Hodgson, that’s not Arkley’s goal. He never intends to make a profit. That being the case, what then is his goal as a businessman? To wear down and eliminate The Times-Standard by offering free subscriptions and home delivery with low ad rates? Yes, hoping T-S’s MediaNews Group owners will pull the plug within a few short years.

Some of you will feel good that the T-S is under the gun, that they deserve to go out of business. Well, before any epitaphs are written, we all need to think about what this would mean. It would mean that the T-S’s replacement would be run by a former tax attorney turned banker, financier and real estate don. Problem number one, given the paper’s obvious lack of objectivity, is you’ll never see The Eureka Reporter critical of any of Arkley’s projects or investments, the second being that we’d have no daily alternative to challenge his claims and positions. Right now we do.

The Times Standard, while owned by the Denver-based MediaNews Group is part of a company that operates media for media’s sake. Newspapers are their business. They don’t dabble in real estate or banking, and while they may not be perfect, The Times-Standard does afford space for articles and a forum for readers to criticize or comment on Arkley’s projects. Our community needs this balance. And given Hodgson’s admiration and close ties to Arkley, real criticism won’t be coming from the North Coast Journal. It never has.

I have been aware of the Journal-Arkley connection for some time. In 2003, I was employed by the North Coast Journal where Hodgson introduced me to Robin Arkley Sr. before he and she began a closed-door meeting in her office. I also saw Arkley Sr. meet privately with Hodgson on second occasion. I’m not aware of what they discussed, but I do know that private closed-door meetings were rare during my tenure.

Cruse’s article also mentions that Hodgson and Art Director Carolyn Fernandez purchased the Journal from a couple for $1,000. Although we haven’t yet confirmed that Arkley was the original owner, an anonymous inside source has disclosed that Robin Arkley Sr. was the original financier of the North Coast Journal.

This revelation may sound crazy to some, but one must consider the content of the Journal past and most certainly present. Go to the library and leaf through some back issues, peruse their website and look for articles on the subject of Arkley. Pay close attention to the number of articles you uncover as well. What do they say and what don’t they say?

It has also come to light that Arcata Eye publisher Kevin Hoover dedicated the publication of his second self-published Police Log book “The Nimrod Imbroglios” to “Lois and Robin Arkley,” among others. Why is that? Arkley Sr. also served as an issue “Scrutinizer” for the paper a few years back and most recently appeared on the cover as Hoover’s “Eye Donor.”

Some of you may be asking “so what?” When big money influences our news media that’s a serious problem. Consider for example that while at the Mensa meeting, Hodgson focused almost entirely on the battle between the T-S and the Eureka Reporter, even though I, the publisher and editor of the Humboldt Advocate, was sitting in the audience.

Ironically, there is a newspaper war in Humboldt County, but not the one Hodgson talked about. Last summer, I allowed a dialogue on the perils of corporate media ownership in the Humboldt Advocate. The result was an unsubstantiated hit piece on me penned by the North Coast Journal in hopes of destroying my paper, which at the time wasn’t even a year old. The Arcata Eye and McKinleyville Press then imitated the Journal both getting in their swings. Strange, if not for the aforementioned facts.

Regardless of what you think of me in bringing this issue to light, we as readers and watchers of media need to be aware of how the money and the mind behind a newspaper, radio or television station affects its tone and content. The Eureka Reporter cannot be divorced from the fact that Rob Arkley is its owner. No one wants to infringe on free enterprise, but when it comes to media you need to know the interests and point of view of those steering it. For example, NBC is owned by General Electric, a supplier of engines to the military. Can you recall a news report where NBC was critical of General Electric? Or with their household appliances? Probably not. It just doesn’t happen. What you will see is them acknowledge their ownership with positive reports that work as quasi-commercials. Although some have called for it, The Eureka Reporter has yet to affix its true ownership, however convoluted, to its masthead. Why is that? What are they trying to hide?

 The bottom line is, you don’t need to do a in depth investigation into what I’m talking about here, just look at a newspaper’s content, what kinds of articles are they publishing and look at the big political-economic picture. Is it a coincidence that The North Coast Journal ran its “Web of Lies” article on Richard Salzman, a political adversary of Rob Arkley, while at the same time receiving money (e.g., advertising income) from Arkley’s Security National Corp.? And remember that this is the same paper that endorsed his wife, Cherie Arkley for Eureka mayor where the Times-Standard did not.

The media be they newspapers, radio or television can be beneficial, providing a valuable service. But it can also be used to control and manipulate. These kinds of tactics are used to enhance the wealth and holdings of their owners, financiers and their friends. And with a man as monied as Arkley, will he stop with just a newspaper or add a local television and radio station to his empire? Or has he already?

 Clearly, Arkley and Hodgson want to see an independent Times-Standard go away. But the rest of us value and appreciate the choice it affords us in not being part of their club. In a community as small as ours, where a rich guy’s newspaper operates as an extension of his enterprise, the existence of an alternative-independent media is critical in getting to and out the truth.