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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Lewistown Sentinel Attempts to Muzzle Blogger

Pennsylvania Media Guide bills itself, quite accurately, as a one-stop Pa. news resource. Owner Harry Knopp links every daily and weekly he can find, including The Lewistown Sentinel. But managing editor Heather Goodwin Henline is demanding Knopp to "immediately remove the link" and "cease and desist any further action regarding our site, writers or online content."

Is she out of her mind? When Knopp links to her publication, all he is doing is making it possible for that many more people to see the site. It's actually good business.

But what's really amazing is that the fourth estate is actually trying to stifle what amounts to a First Amendment right. I always thought newspapers were guardians of free speech. Silly me.

Here's what Knopp himself has to say.
"[T]here are media entities out there that would like to shut down blogging. Of course, courts have repeatedly found that, short of using a link while defaming someone or linking to password-protected pages within a site, it is perfectly legal and a First Amendment-protected right to link to any public site on the Internet."
To be on the safe side, I'll be careful and refrain from linking to The Lewistown Sentinel. You know me; I'm a scaredy cat. You won't find a single reference to The Lewistown Sentinel here. No siree. Uberfuhrer Heather Goodwin Henline I has warned that "[f]ailure to honor our request will result in further action from our corporate counsel." So I'll play it safe and refrain from linking to The Lewistown Sentinel. You won't find it on my left side bar, either.
This just in!: According to Capitol Ideas blogger John Micek, who spends his off hours as a male model, we can link to whatever the hell we want. But can we? I smell a trap. He wants us all to start linking to everything so we overload the Intenet and cause it to crash, forcing us all to return to newspapers. And then, newspapers will sue us all, claiming, "It's your fault!" and we'll all be hauled away and Micek will be laughing his GQ ass off. Well, I'm too smart for you, bippy. I went to college. You won't catch me linking to The Lewistown Sentinel.
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 17, 2008 at 6:09 PM

    Bernie,

    Your Lewiston Sentinel link is still up. (I'm sure that you are scrambling to remove it, but are waiting for your computer consultant to provide a quote for the job.)

    I used it on your site. Will I now be listed in a suit also?

    Hmm, I think I might also post a comment there!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 17, 2008 at 6:32 PM

    hahaha This is hilarious. The Sentinel is a waste of trees. I'm surprised Mrs. Henline has the time to fight you over this, you know, between all her "sick" days, unfair vacation time and holidays off. If only she committed this time to the people of Mifflin and Juniata County.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Blah SocietyJuly 17, 2008 at 8:07 PM

    Is that picture really from the Lewistown Sentinel?

    Those guys need to "cease and desist" being douche bags!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bernie O'HareJuly 18, 2008 at 12:45 AM

    Aj, I created that picture.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJuly 18, 2008 at 8:08 AM

    That's all we need is a bunch of hyperlinks on the internet mucking up things.
    Democracy. Anarchy. Lewistown Sentinel.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJuly 18, 2008 at 8:18 AM

    How dare you impugn the good name of the Lewistown Sentinel! If Heather Henline threatened legal action I'm sure she had good reason. These types of threats aren't just thrown around willy nilly. The good people of Lewistown and its 4th estate only involve the court system when it's a matter of the utmost importance. For instance a quick scan of this mornings court docket shows 1 hearing about an illegal clogging contest that was held in the town square last month. Another is looking into the accusation that Margeret Zug stole Billy May Lehnquist's lye soap recipe. I could go on and on - but I think you get the idea. So back off Bub.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousNovember 14, 2008 at 11:35 PM

    It looks like you won't have Heather Henline to kick around anymore.

    http://www.lewistownsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/510139.html

    ReplyDelete

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