It’s very difficult for me to write this post because I do it with extreme anger and disgust at the political machine where operatives find women only useful if there is something to be gained or used against an opponent. Case in point, the Jacksonville Mayoral Race between incumbent Mayor Alvin Brown and former Chair of the Florida Republican Party Lenny Curry.
It is a pretty safe bet that Curry will have numerous operatives working to secure him the election. Today, it’s the reprehensible blogger Peter Schorsch who, I still find it incomprehensible that the media quotes. For those who don’t know Schorsch, in August he made national headlines after purposely driving out of his way to a St. Petersburg Starbucks after hearing it was nearing a “Pay it Forward” record. He was customer 458, did not pay, and squashed everyone’s belief that random kindness toward their fellow man and woman still exists. Did I mention he made a special trip to do it? Schorsch has admitted to creating fake websites against candidates for the purpose of smearing them and more.
In 2006, Schorsch was arrested and pled guilty to writing bad checks to cover gambling debts. He was charged and pled no contest for taking $10,000 from the Democratic club and doing nothing, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He didn’t serve jail time. He would later be hauled into court on a probation violation for not paying restitution AND, while still not serving jail time, he was offered this: “Prosecutors said they would forgive the house arrest portion of the sentence if Schorsch paid full restitution immediately instead of making payments over several years.”
Apparently, he paid a “lump sum, NO TIME IN JAIL, and this is THE TAMPA BAY TIMES HEADLINE after a subsequent article:
CLEARED?
The Tampa Bay Times also appears to be Schorsch’s most ardent fan and supporter, spewing every talking point that rolls out from under the rock where he lives. The publication is owned by the Poynter Institute , a non-profit journalism school in South Florida. Paul Tash, the editor, has numerous accolades by his name, but all it shows me is that it’s who you know and apparently Schorsh knows Tash. As a former Journalism major at the University of Florida, when journalism actually stood for integrity, honesty and providing a balanced story, I can tell you that Schorsch would NEVER be interviewed for ANY reason unless perhaps he witnessed a crime and even then, it would be suspect.
I’m not the only one who has noticed the Tampa Bay Times’ odd pairing with Schorsch. Irreverentview.com notes something completely outside the norm of corporate standards:
So it did come as a surprise when I heard Schorsch – who conveniently claims he is not a journalist or member of the media – had been approved by the Florida Press Association as a member. And guess who his sponsor was? The Tampa Bay Times. Specifically, Joe DeLuca, publisher of the Tampa edition of the Times and Tampabay.com.
I emailed Paul Tash, Chairman and CEO Tampa Bay Times/Times Publishing Company to express my dismay at his paper sponsoring someone who says he is not a journalist to be a member of the Florida Press Association. The FPA bills itself as an organization “promoting higher standards of journalism.”
SPONSORED? Even AFTER the Tampa Bay Times quote Schorsch on this story:
• Schorsch said he then hired actors via craigslist to crash a news conference held by mayoral hopeful Bill Foster.
• Schorsch said he offered to pay a friend $100 to file ethics complaints against Foster and mayoral candidate Scott Wagman.
• Schorsch said he came up with the idea to “greaze with a z” neighborhood presidents and community leaders with baseball tickets after hearing Bennett offer tickets to St. Pete Beach Mayor Michael Finnerty, who agreed to endorse Bennett.
I can only assume that Schorsch is a good source of info for the paper’s Pulitzers, but Nash needs to lay down the law, QUIT GIVING SCHORSCH VALIDITY AND PRESS CREDENTIALS. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s part of a deal they have. Why would a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper have their Political Editor post this story linking back to Schorsch?
Do you know how unprecendented it is for a paid ad newspaper to hyperlink to two pages of a blogger in a content piece, especially a link as enticing as “you crusty ol’ c–.” This is worth hundreds of thousands in the PR world. For the record, just talking about someone does not require linking back. Something isn’t right. This is a big coup for Schorsch. Wonder who told Smith to do it.
Now let’s talk about Schorsch’s crusade to get incumbent Jacksonville Mayor Alan Brown to give back the money he raised during a political fundraiser with embattled comedian Bill Cosby (before the allegations broke). Cosby’s presence in Tampa is testament to the fact that many people still believe in “innocent until proven guilty.” No Brown should not give the money back because the money raised was to defeat his opponent, the former Republican Chair and/or to elect a Democrat whose principles they espouse and/or because they wanted to meet Cosby and hear him, my point is, it’s still a free country the last time I looked our freedoms still remain. The fact that anyone is listening to Schorsch is disgusting to me. Even worse is that politics has come down to individuals like Schorsch who have far too much power in the news media [YOU TAMPA BAY TIMES]. The REAL POWER is the PEOPLE and if they haven’t asked for their money back, then Schorsch needs to be reminded of the fact that we live in America, not Schorschland.
AMEN.
Now he is behind the move to get Mayor Alvin Brown to return fundraising money
