Faithful readers will know we have been tracking instances where election candidates mischaracterized, misattributed or otherwise messed with newspaper copy or endorsements. You can read the first instance here, the second here, and what we thought was our final installment here. One perceptive reader alerted us to yet another example at the Peoria Journal Star, and this one might be the worst of the bunch.
The Journal Star endorsed Aaron Schock, a Repbulican candidate, in this editorial. But that didn’t stop his opponent, Ricca Slone, from skewing the paper’s words into her favor and then pasting the paper’s logo and the cut-and-pasted words onto a flyer, which her team then set about distributing all over the district. Nice.
The Journal Star ran an article on election day that condemned the act:
…The flier pulled several sentences written by the editorial board that were positive about Slone and critical toward Schock. The quotes were taken out of context, and the flier is "inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the newspaper’s editorial stance," said Editorial Board Editor Barbara Mantz Drake…
Managing Editor Jack Brimeyer said the newspaper will consult with its lawyers regarding use of the Journal Star logo in this flier and other campaign literature.
"In my 20-some years here, I’ve never seen a candidate use the Journal Star’s logo so blatantly," he said.
The Journal Star has a policy that it will not "print last-minute election news that raises new charges or allegations" except in "extreme circumstances" and with the approval of top editors.
"We consider this an extreme case because we have seen literature that makes it seem that the news department has taken sides, and we have not," Brimeyer said…
Slone was unavailable for comment Monday evening. Campaign staffer Will Cousineau defended the flier, saying it "never said that Rep. Slone was endorsed by the paper." He said Slone simply wanted to make voters aware of "all the nice things" the paper said about her, even though she did not receive the endorsement. Cousineau said Slone also wanted to make sure voters knew about the editorial board’s criticisms of Schock."I don’t think there’s a problem with that," Cousineau said about use of the Journal Star’s logo on campaign literature.
Slone, by the way, lost the election.
