Having written newspaper columns around this town for 15 years, I claim to be a reporter of the truth. And having done nearly 200 cable access TV show here in the last several years I claim to have some experience at telling the truth on television and a following to prove it. (30,000 people voted for me in the Sheriff's election) My point is that I have some experience in the Media. And, when you sit down, prop up your feet and open your newspaper, ( what ever newspaper) you have some reasonable expectation of finding out what is going on.
WRONG!
You see these folks are not really in the business of disseminating the news. They are in the business of selling newspapers to sell advertising. The print media doesn't have "sound bites" they have catchwords, hot button phrases, like "gay" or "marijuana," but is there any news in there? Let me share my recent experience's with the Oregonian, Willamette Week, The Portland
Tribune, the Mercury, papers that many of you look to for news.
Willamette Week was the first paper to talk to me when I ran for Sheriff. I spent an hour talking to four of their reporters, explaining my ideas about community policing, getting rid of tazers, getting rid of the swat team style uniforms, creating a Wapato Treatment center, giving back $30,000 of my salary to social services, things folks that watch my tv show hear me say all the time. "Thank you Mister DuPay for coming in," they said, and "by the way what kind of a car do you drive"?
What they printed was that I was a 69 year old marijuana smoking grandfather with a "cult"
following from the Cannabis Common Sense TV show. Is that all those four reporters heard? W Week went on to endorse a write in candidate unqualified to take office. Is there is any responsible journalism there?
My next encounter was with the Oregonian. You know their slogan, "If it is important to Oregonians, it's in the Oregonian"?
I talked to two of their people, David Reinhardt and Steve Bevins, & gave them my spiel. Reinhardt looked me up and down and said you can't be serious about this are you"? I'm not sure what HE was expecting. I found him to the the square box stuffed shirt I always thought him to be. His editorial opinion is of little value and he seems to be clueless about what goes on outside the Oregonian building. Steve Bevins, wanted me to turn over my personnel file from the police department and was insulted when I refused. I explained that there wouldn't be anything good about me from the corrupt police department I left. What the Oregonian wrote was that I was a 69 year old with a "fondness" for marijuana. Did the Oregonian readers learn a thing about my platform? I guess is was not important to Oregonians. They endorsed a failed and expensive jail system and a failed and expensive Sheriff.
The Mercury ignored me. Thank you for that. I consider them sleazy. They also endorsed the unqualified write in candidate. More responsible journalism there I see!!!
The Portland Tribune was the kindest to me, largely because of my friendship with columnist Phil Stanford. He kept my name in the public eye and wrote about the still unsolved execution murder of Zebedee Manning, trying to tease he cold case detectives into investigating . They won't. They won't investigate themselves. So much for the new female police chief and frankly I'm non plussed by the fact that the black community isn't more outraged by the cover up.
No one from the local TV stations called me. They did not seek to find out about me, and that is what their TV viewers learned about me. NOTHING! So much for the channel 6, 8 and 12 "news teams."
Where did you learn abut me? On community television I was lucky enough to talk to people with out commercial interruption. (I did not seek support from any organization. Only the voters) I was invited on the independent Producers Show. I was invited on the Jim Lockhart show. I was invited on theBrouce Broussard Voter's Digest show. I was invited on the Oregon Norml show. I was invited on Public broadcasting radio to talk to seniors. I was invited on KBOO public radio. The Cannabis Common Sense show plays and replays with my ideas for a better law enforcement system.
I hope you better understand why the government wants to gut/cut funding for public access across America.
THAT IS WHERE AMERICANS HEAR THE TRUTH.
In this media I have nothing to sell...only truth to tell.
Hello Don,
I have been living in the metro area for one month shy of a year. I moved from the south, but I always had family roots in the great northwest. Anyhow, if I had been a resident of The State for long enough, YOU would have got MY vote!!! I agree with everything you stand for. I just hope you run for sheriff 4 years from now. I am patient. After all, I'm waiting for '08 to get that piece of s#@* out of office in washington.
I am thankful to at least live in a "Blue" state, or county for that matter, after growing up in the right wing bible belt of the south. Keep up the good fight, Don!!!!!!!
Posted by: Jason Lambert | January 19, 2007 at 09:38 PM
Good luck getting any newspaper in Oregon to print the truth when it involves any type of law enforcement and/or corruption. Your right they are not interested in the truth at all. Good luck getting investigations in to corruption of any kind in oregon. Lots of ostriches live in this state, I have met alot of them in responsible positions.
Keep on reporting the truth!!! Someone needs too. Main stream media won't.
Posted by: disgusted in polk county | January 26, 2007 at 09:55 PM