Liar, Liar...pants on fire...

We all know by now that Mayor Laforet of Mahwah, is a pathological liar. We also know that USA Today Local's publications in our area have perpetuated a false-narrative about Mahwah that could only be described as, propaganda. We might not know (exactly) why but there is no question as to their role in helping the Mayor and his alleged Band of Merry Men, further perpetuate this nonsense about our town.

Allow me to please reiterate a few points that I have made in the past as I feel they are relevant here, as well-

• Although Gannett is their parent company, the following brands fall under umbrella of the USA Today label, namely, USA Today Local- Rockland Journal News, Courier News, Home News Tribune, Suburban News, Asbury Park Press, The Star-Ledger, The Jersey Journal, South Jersey Times, The Times of Trenton, Hunterdon County Democrat, Ledger Somerset Observer, Hunterdon Observer, Warren Reporter, Star-Gazette, Ledger Local, Inside Jersey, nj.com, northjersey.com and who knows what else. To question whether or not this company controls the storyline in our area, is ridiculous.
• Jim McQueeny, owner of Winning Strategies, a PR firm...who worked on Murphy's campaign for governor, is the husband of Mary Amoroso, a Bergen County Freeholder, and who has, in my view, demonstrated a history of questionable and unethical behavior with respect to his approach to campaigning. McQueeny, as it turns out, was also previously an employee of the Star-Ledger, functioning as their Washington DC Correspondent. Mary Amoroso was also a reporter for the company years ago. Alfred Doblin, who is the highest ranking of the three writers creating this mess, is also very influential editor with several of the USA Today Local brands. And while this information alone does not and cannot prove any formal connection between McQueeny, Amoroso, and Doblin, when combined with all of the puzzle pieces, it is hard to believe they don't have some history together. From my perspective, this also seems to be the case when we align the timeline of headlines with the order in which all of these political lies/rhetoric have been being spewed by candidates and others folks, leading up to the 2017 gubernatorial election. I believe Doblin’s strong influence at USA Today Local is a major reason for the company’s unethical behavior.

• McQueeny spent much of this last campaign season perpetuating lies about Mahwah, NJ on tv shows and in other interviews. When he did this, he never, even once (that I can find), disclosed that he was being paid by Murphy's campaign (which is illegal).
• The three writers I am calling attention to overall, are Alfred Doblin, Tom Nobile, and Steve Lieberman. Nobile is a younger writer and given how often Doblin references him by name in articles...it is clear there is reason to suspect Nobile is being heavily influenced (if not controlled).

I want to make a quick distinction before continuing any further. As the parent company to our local publications is USA Today Local, USA Today's ethics policy supersedes Gannett's own policy. In addition, this ethics policy is outside of any rights their writers might bear under the Freedom of the Press clause in the U.S. Constitution.

With that, please consider the following-

On October 26, 2017, I wrote to Robert Dickey, the President of Gannett, who proceeded to forward my concerns directly to Thomas Curley, Associate General Counsel for the company. Upon connecting with Thomas, I expressed my concerns with respect to how specific writers based in the northern New Jersey area, were vehemently and unapologetically violating USA Today's ethics policy. What is interesting is that while other writers have covered our area, it has only ever been three, specific parties, who have continually bombarded their publications with lies and misleading, unbalanced, content. And although I have found a few random articles by others, it is not nearly to the extent of what these three have published.

Here are a few examples of what I sent to Mr. Curley, to support my claim-

• this article demonstrates the true character of Alfred Doblin.
• this preamble and the subsequent article that followed, demonstrating the irresponsible and untrue writing of Steve Lieberman
• in this document, I broke down several stories, pointing out falsehoods, unbalanced writing, misleading points, and more.
• this article, was written by Bob Yudin, a man who has had a personal vendetta against our Town Council President for years.

All of these examples, plus several, several more, unarguably go against USA Today's ethics policy.

But why do I suspect all of this? Am I just trying to spread propaganda?

The reality here is that throughout the election season, Doblin ignored calls and never returned messages from sitting Town Council members, while limited, if any, opinion pieces defending Mahwah, were published. This was while the sheer volume of lies and misleading articles were being published, in what seemed like, record speed. No sources or evidence were ever cited...ever!

And why do I care so much about this? Why can't I (just) let it go? After-all, the election is over! Our town's reputation was hurt, based on lies and I'm tired of how politics always succeeds in benefiting off of lies while unapologetically moving on after elections as if they didn’t do a thing wrong. Politicians rely on the fact that people will only bring up concerns when it is already too late to do anything before the next election. In this case, let's examine the impact of their behavior, over there at USA Today Local-

Senator Cory Booker and Rep. Josh Gottheimer penned this opinion piece, where they referenced Mahwah, by name, only further perpetuating a false-narrative. In this piece, they cite an example where two high school kids dressed up inappropriately on Halloween and in a manner that can 110% be perceived as anti-Semitic. When I inquired with one of Senator Booker's top staffers as to where the information for this article was sourced, he told me it was "widely reported." What wasn't widely reported was the fact that the acts of two high school kids does not reflect the feelings and beliefs of a town with over 22,000 accepting and loving residents. I also recognize that Booker and Gottheimer are also friends with McQueeny and Todd Sherer (who I understand is very influential in the Democratic party).

Allow me to quickly stress that I absolutely do not condone the behavior of these two kids. Noting that, I'd still love to see the article that was written by this company that points out how these kids were forced to remove their costumes and that school officials responded immediately and without hesitation. I'd love to read any article from this company that references the responses from the community, where the overwhelming majority of us were outraged. Or, maybe, just maybe, they could publish an article where they dare question what it is those they are accusing us of discriminating against choose to wear on their holiday of Purim. I'd love to get their reaction after reading this blog post where the author stated "walk into any Purim megastore and you’ll see the shelves lined with costumes called “China girl” or “amigo.” These racist costumes, while not designed and developed only by Jews, are purchased by us each year for Purim."

For the sake of total transparency, the response I received back from Mr. Curley arrived well-before I found much of this additional information. And as a result, not all of what I have included above was sent to Mr. Curley, initially. But after I subsequently followed up by sending these additional examples, I have yet to receive a single response. I made it clear in my follow-up that action will be taken to hold him accountable for his inaction and his writers for their flagrantly obvious, unethical behavior.

In his response, which you can read here, Mr. Curley's conclusion with respect to my inquiries, reflected, what I believe to me, irresponsible behavior.

Below, I extracted specific sections from his response for which I have questions and/or would love an explanation-

• "I respectfully disagree that the journalism at issue is inconsistent with Gannet's Ethics Policy or is otherwise objectionable for the reasons you have identified."
  
  
  • Mr. Curley referenced the wrong Ethics Policy. Once again, the USA Today Ethics policy takes priority over Gannett's in this case.
• "Among other issues, I realize that you strongly disagree with certain opinions which have been expressed in our commentary pages and believe them to be unfounded. As a company, we value our readers, including those who disagree with the views expressed by their local newspaper or who question its editorial policies and decisions."
  
  
  • Mr. Curley demonstrated a complete and utter lack of appreciation for the difference between fact and opinion. Some of my concerns referenced opinion pieces, yes. But within opinion pieces, if a writer cites a fact to support their case...it needs to be true! Most of the facts that are cited in these pieces are untrue or at the very least, misleading. My other comments related to editorials and articles...not commentary pages. And even if my comments were solely focused on opinion, the USA Today ethics policy explicitly cites the following in section I- "We will hold factual information in editorials and other opinion pieces to the same standards of accuracy as news stories."
  • This second sentence is indefensible and only proves that Mr. Curley has never read his own company's ethics policy.
• "However, Gannett's editorial policy is one of local autonomy - each local newspaper has responsibility for its editorial decisions and the viewpoints expressed on its opinion pages."
  
  
  • OK. But what do editorial decisions have to do with going against their company's ethics policy?

Here are the specific sections I feel the writers have ignored from the USA Today Ethics Policy-

- In this file, it is made clear that the very person Doblin and Nobile specifically defended throughout the entire election season...is the very same person who has been proven to be a pathological liar- Laforet. Doblin and Nobile have been called out by name at Town Council meetings for their dishonest reporting. It isn't even a matter of them not reporting on the fact the Mayor is a liar but rather, despite all of this evidence, proceeded to defend him, without any issue or concern.

Section III, IV, and V, of their policy, have been completely ignored.

The following is what I have requested of USA Today/Gannett-

• If nothing else, they must investigate Alfred Doblin's relationship with Jim McQueeny to verify what role, if any McQueeny had in influencing what was published and/or what benefit this may have had to Doblin. Please consider, I'm not asking that they report back to me or anyone with what they find or if they find anything. I'm merely asking that they investigate these two.
• Doblin should be suspended and demoted, as should Nobile and Lieberman.
• An apology should be written and published on your websites, in print (including the Suburban News in northern NJ), where the truth is shared about the behavior of these writers, who should be called out, by name. It would be appreciated if the company corrected the record, as well.
• The editorial board should write personal letters to Senator Booker and Rep. Gottheimer, ensuring they know the truth. And if Doblin wants to continue to defend the lies he has perpetuated, force him to share actual evidence, over and above what two foolish high school kids chose to do.
• Mr. Curley was a perfect gentleman to me but believe he should be reprimanded in some way.

I want to stress one point. The AG's lawsuit has clearly been influenced by this company's false-reporting, in my opinion. This is proven in several ways, including the fact that much of what has been referenced in the complaint is completely untrue. However, it is nonetheless quite reflective of what USA Today Local’s writers have reported.

Please consider what the AG is quoted as stating:

“In addition to being on the wrong side of history, the conduct of Mahwah’s township council is legally wrong, and we intend to hold them accountable for it.”

He is the Attorney General of New Jersey and is making a claim with no (actual) evidence. Booker and Gottheimer did the same. They are all lawyers!

As such, nobody can defend many of these accusations because simply stated...a person can't provide genuine proof of something that never happened...well, maybe you can if you are one of these knuckleheads.

Maybe the AG has seen more than we can access as residents. But this wouldn’t explain then why the arguments we have seen, are mostly a fabrication from some really dishonest people.

Sidebar-

I believe that we must call upon our elected officials in New Jersey to file an anti-trust lawsuit against USA Today Local. Politics needs to be put aside and it must be made clear that this company's control over the conversation has played too strong of an influential role since they consolidated together. Whether they consider themselves as a network of affiliates or whatever else, the reality is that they behave as an oligopoly or depending on how you look at their ownership structure, a monopoly.