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For more than four decades, Freedom has exposed social injustice, official corruption and hypocrisy, and abuses of individual rights. Freedom is widely recognized as a force for the advancement of human rights and individual freedom across the globe.
We want to hear from you. If you have information on unethical or deceptive reporting, corruption, biased journalism or unfair targeting of groups or individuals by the St. Petersburg Times, contact us. This can include:
One Man's Crusade
Every individual finds their own way to right the wrongs they observe in the community.
For longtime St. Petersburg resident George Farrell, the right thing to do is boycott the St. Petersburg Times. Don’t buy it, don’t subscribe to it, and don’t go on their Web site, he says–and spread the word.
How much is the St. Petersburg Times Worth?
How much is the St. Petersburg Times worth?
Answer No. 1—$28 million, when you’re trying to look poor so a jury will go easy on you.
Facing a jury trial in a libel suit in August [see “$10 Million Libel Verdict Against the St. Petersburg Times,”], Times attorneys told the court the Times net worth was only $28 million. They then maneuvered a stipulation to this effect, apparently hoping to lessen the judgment amount.
Big Pay at Poynter
In May 2008, the St. Petersburg Times offered an “enhanced retirement option” to encourage senior staff to leave, and at the same time froze wages of those who stayed. Announcing the desperate move, Times Publishing Chief Executive Paul Tash said the cuts were due to a “difficult economic climate” caused by dwindling ad revenues.
In September 2009, Tash issued a memo to Times staff announcing more bad news: “First, we will implement a 5 percent, across-the-board wage reduction for all employees, starting November 2.”
Case Study: A Sheriff ruined
The St. Petersburg Times attack on former Pasco County Sheriff John Short is legendary. The Times published a series of articles in 1983 that led to his 1984 indictment on corruption charges and loss of his job and his career. Aiming for a Pulitzer, in 1983 Lucy Morgan and Jack Reed of the Times churned out scores of sensational stories about Short and his deputy, John Moorman, with screaming headlines.
Case Study: A Tribe defamed
The St. Petersburg Times evidently underestimated its target when it went after the Seminole tribe in 1997. Before the paper succeeded in publishing anything on the tribe and its leadership, the Seminole Tribune scored with its own investigative feature on the Times’ unethical practices.
Case Study: For Falsely Reporting With Malice: $10 Million Libel Verdict against St. Petersburg Times
The allegations were serious. The defendant was ultimately awarded $10 million, to be collected from Times Publishing Co. as compensation and as a penalty for the St. Petersburg Times’ false reporting with malice. But the newspaper—which normally feasts on such stories—gave the scantest of coverage to its own trial and the subsequent verdict.
Journalism with an Agenda
When the St. Petersburg Times was slapped in August 2009 with one of the largest libel judgments against any media organization in the past decade, it was not the first time the newspaper’s “hit list” mentality reporting had damaged a local individual or group. Decades before Dr. Harold Kennedy was defamed, Pasco County Sheriff John Short and the Seminole Tribe suffered at the hands of Times reporters.
