Scott Stanford: Liar

Conservatives in Douglas County are well aware of the liberal bias exhibited by the Lawrence Journal-World (J-W). For many years, Scott Rothschild served as that newspaper’s Statehouse reporter. It didn’t seem to matter to J-W management that, at the very same time he was supposed to be providing objective reporting, he was also serving as the president of a liberal organization in Topeka. Last year, Rothschild left the J-W and accepted a position as a propagandist for the Kansas Association of School Boards. Unfortunately, he was replaced at the J-W by Peter Hancock, who, like Rothschild, is merely a Democratic Party operative with a byline.

What some conservatives may not be aware of is how the J-W’s liberal bias excludes many conservatives from sharing their opinions on the newspaper’s online forum. These conservatives essentially broke an unwritten forum rule, i.e., "posting while conservative." In the process, those left to comment on the J-W website make up a virtual Council of Coprophagia, in which liberals feed off the waste deposited by their fellow liberals.

I had this happen to me at the end of May. My account was suddenly gone and all the comments I had offered were removed as well. I reviewed the forum rules again to see if I may have violated one. However, I could not find any rule that I could have violated. I emailed Nick Gerik, the J-W’s digital editor, and asked him why my account was removed, but received no answer. Therefore, I can only speculate as to why my account was removed. I had written a letter to the editor about the Pacific Educational Group and USD 497 earlier in May, and then added more information in the comments section. I believe I may have raised questions that caused some in the local educational establishment a little discomfort. 

While J-W General Manager Scott Stanford was with the Steamboat Pilot & Today in Colorado, his wife, Kelly, was the director of curriculum and instruction at the Steamboat Springs school district. After the couple moved to Lawrence, Kelly took a position with Communities In Schools of Mid-America, Inc. Like the Pacific Educational Group, Danette Clark's education blog lists Communities in Schools as a liberal indoctrinating organization. In Texas, Clark has noted that the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development "partners with many liberal education organizations, including the Houston Annenberg Challenge, CES Small Schools Project, and Communities in Schools of Texas." Bill Ayers, the former Weather Underground terrorist and current education "expert," has been associated with both the Annenberg Challenge and the "small schools movement." As I noted in a blog item last year, Ayers is also closely associated with the "critical race theory" upon which Pacific Educational Group's program is based.

 I was on vacation for the beginning of June, so I dropped the issue for a while. But then I read a letter to the editor from an individual who bashed Kansas and said he was moving to California. I don't like when people denigrate my adopted state, so I responded with my own letter to the editor. After reading several personal attacks (which are violations of the forum rules) directed at me, I decided to contact the J-W’s general manager, Scott Stanford, on July 7. I will include the full exchange with Mr. Stanford so that I cannot be accused of taking his comments out of context:

Mr. Stanford: 

This comment was offered on your forum today by a David Carson: 

"More 'blah blah blah' from Kevin. In my 48 years I have never run across someone so arrogant, hateful, and unhappy."
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/jul/07/letter-kansas-not-so-bad/ 

I'm trying to figure out why comments such as this one are allowed to stand on your forum, yet I was booted from the forum after violating not a single one of the forum rules 

I have spoken with many conservatives in Lawrence over the past several years, and, like me, they believe that the J-W inconsistently enforces its forum rules. Conservatives are routinely kicked off of the forum, while liberals are allowed to violate the rules with impunity. Many conservatives say they simply refuse to comment on the forum since they are subjected to many personal attacks when they do so. 

There are also several forum users who are obviously violating the forum's rule regarding the use of actual names. These folks set up bogus Facebook accounts in order to start an account on the J-W forum. It's probably not a coincidence that these same users tend to be among the least civil. Among these users are "Lawrence Freeman," "Paul Beyer" (whose sole Facebook friend is John Ayo from Nigeria), and James Howlette (a comic book character).* 

It's your forum and your rules, so I suppose you can enforce them as you like. However, the inconsistent enforcement does not reflect well on your publication. 

Sincerely,
Kevin Groenhagen

I received a response the same day: 

Kevin: 

Thanks for your email and feedback. Enforcement of rules on the forum involves a fair amount of subjectivity. Our editors try to be fair and reasonable.

Unfortunately, history has proven that debating forum decisions is generally counter-productive. Instead, I encourage users who are unhappy with our forums to participate in other community forums that are moderated differently. 

I have passed along your note about Lawrence Freeman, Paul Beyer and James Howlette so that those fake users can be removed. 

Thanks again for your note and feedback.
 ----
Scott Stanford

My second email:

Thank you. 

I have asked your moderators to give me an explanation concerning why my account was terminated several weeks ago. I never heard a response. I have read the forum rules, and cannot see where I violated any of them. 

BTW, the user "Barb Gordon" has also set up a fake account at Facebook. See https://www.facebook.com/barbara.gordon.92798 

Like "James Howlette," Barb Gordon is a comic book figure, i.e., the alter ego of Batgirl. 

Kevin Groenhagen

I received no response to this message. After noticing the users with bogus names continued to have active accounts, I emailed Mr. Stanford the next day:

Mr. Stanford: 

"I have passed along your note about Lawrence Freeman, Paul Beyer and James Howlette so that those fake users can be removed." 

 Looks as if those three fake users, as well as Barb Gordon and Philipp Wannemaker (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009691412326&sk=friends), are still there. A bogus account is a violation of the forum rules:
 http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/oct/09/journal-world-websites-require-commenters-identify 

David Carson's personal attacks (which are explicitly against your forum rules) are also still there:
 http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/jul/07/letter-kansas-not-so-bad/?letters_to_editor 

Meanwhile, I cannot post after following the forum rules. Again, the J-W seems to have one set of rules for liberal users and another set for conservative users. That does not reflect well on your publication and its employees. 

Sincerely,
Kevin Groenhagen

Mr. Stanford's final response to me:

Kevin: 

Thanks for your email. 

This isn't something we're going to debate. As you have noted before, it's our forum to moderate as we think best. 

I understand and accept your criticism of our publication and our employees. That criticism does not change any of our decisions. 

Best regards,

 ----
Scott Stanford

My final message to Mr. Stanford:

So you lied to me when you said the bogus accounts would be removed?

It’s been six days since Mr. Stanford wrote, "I have passed along your note about Lawrence Freeman, Paul Beyer and James Howlette so that those fake users can be removed." However, all those users, as well as Barb Gordon and Philipp Wannemaker, continue to have active accounts. Unless I am misreading the meaning of Mr. Stanford’s words, he clearly lied to me.

While Mr. Stanford does not appear to be a man of integrity, he did say something we conservatives should consider:  “I encourage users who are unhappy with our forums to participate in other community forums that are moderated differently.”

We have had the discussion before about having our own forum, but really haven’t moved on making that happen. Would it be beneficial to have our own forum, or is emailing to one another sufficient? Is there anyone who can set up a decent forum for us? If it costs a little to buy the software and host the forum, are there others who would join me in providing the funds to make it possible? Can we come up with a set of rules that, unlike the J-W’s, are consistently and uniformly enforced.

Any ideas?

* If you visit the Facebook pages of those I mentioned to Mr. Stanford, you will find that they have no listed friends or, as in the case of Paul Beyer, just a single friend, i.e., John Ayo from Nigeria. Perhaps Mr. Beyer is a bit like Jack Nicholson’s character in “About Schmidt,” where the only person he seemed able to talk to was a Tanzanian boy named Ndugu Umbo. However, I think Nicholson’s character would also have family members, fraternity brothers, former co-workers, etc., listed as friends. It appears to me that these individuals started bogus accounts on Facebook so that they could skirt the J-W’s new forum rules, which allows them to issue personal attacks against others anonymously.