It seems hardly a week goes by here at the Reporter that we don't get a letter from some knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing lawyer threatening to sue us about one thing or another.
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In the business, they're known as "fifty-dollar letters." That is, the lawyer gets $50 for writing one, as opposed to the nothing he would get otherwise. One prominent journalist of our acquaintance has been sued for libel seven times, winning each of the cases. He also has a file containing upwards of 700 "fifty-dollar letters," none of which amounted to anything other than providing the lawyers who wrote them with lunch money.
Generally, these letters are written on behalf of unsophisticated clients who know little of the laws governing the media. Rubes and hicks get lawyers to write letters like this for them all the time.
So we were shocked, shocked, last week when we got one from a lawyer claiming to represent the Niagara Gazette and its parent corporation, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.
One newspaper threatening to sue another newspaper for libel is essentially unheard of. In fact, it's completely unheard of. Newspapers, after all, have a vested interest in opposing libel laws in all their evil forms. Anyone who's spent any time at all in the newspaper business holds the First Amendment of the United States Constitution sacrosanct.
The Gazette even prints it on its editorial page, each and every day.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievance."
So last Thursday, when Bruce signed for a certified letter addressed to me from a lawyer named Thomas B. Henson of Charlotte, N.C., the last thing we were expecting was for the Gazette to be threatening to sue us.
"Dear Mr. Hudson," the letter began."I have heard nothing from you in response to my letter dated Nov. 5, 2004.
"Unless I hear from you by Dec. 5, 2004, I intend to protect my client's rights by all available means.
"Govern your actions accordingly," he added ominously.
For starters, we hadn't received any letter dated Nov. 5 from this Henson fellow. "What the hell do you think this is about?" I asked the Redhead. She went to school in North Carolina and we have a friend down there, Jeffrey Bowlen, but didn't think that he would be suing us.
My afternoon was packed with meetings, business and social. "You want me to call him and check it out?" she asked. "Check it out," I replied, walking out the door.
When I got back, I was flabbergasted. She'd talked to Henson's office, and they'd faxed over a copy of the Nov. 5 letter we'd never received.
"Dear Mr. Hudson,
"I represent the Niagara Gazette and its ultimate parent, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. (CNHI), and have been authorized by them to write you this letter.
"The most recent issue, Nov. 1-9, 2004, has a column under your byline entitled 'Gazette's Dark Days Making City Poorer.' The column contains numerous false statements of fact that are clearly intended by the Niagara Falls Reporter and by you to harm the reputation and standing in the community of the Niagara Gazette and of CNHI. Based upon your long history of vitriolic comments regarding the Niagara Gazette and CNHI following your termination by the Niagara Gazette, it is clear that you made these statements knowing that they were false or that you recklessly disregarded the truth or falsity of the statements.
"This letter is intended to be a fair warning to you and the Niagara Falls Reporter that if you do not immediately print a retraction of the column, which retraction must be approved in advance by CNHI, and agree in writing never to print a false or misleading statement about the Niagara Gazette and CNHI, I will have no option but to protect my client's rights by all available legal means, including instituting legal action in a court of competent jurisdiction. If my clients decide to pursue legal action, they will seek compensatory and punitive damages from the Niagara Falls Reporter and from you personally.
"Thomas B. Henson"
Well, he's a little bit of a hard case, isn't he? The funny part, of course, is about the damages. If he won, he could take my four cats, and the assets of the Reporter are limited to two broken-down computers and a ripped-up leather couch that our landlord, Frank Amendola, yelled at Sports Editor David Staba for dragging up to our new digs at the fashionable Niagara Business Center.
No, what Henson, the Niagara Gazette and CNHI are ultimately interested in is putting the Reporter out of business. And I don't blame them. Our circulation is greater and we steal hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars away from them every year. A recent poll conducted by the state Republican Party showed that the Reporter enjoys an 84 percent market penetration in Niagara County compared to the Gazette's pathetic 29 percent.
But let's get to the facts of the case. In the opinion piece Henson is referring to, I made three factual assertions.
First, that because of an ill-advised and substantial investment into the bankrupt USAir, CNHI is in financial trouble, and that the Gazette and its sister papers in Lockport, Medina and North Tonawanda are as well. Second, that Rick Pfeiffer is a lousy journalist. Third, that the Gazette's editors are clueless to the point that they ran the same op-ed piece twice over the course of just six weeks under different headlines.
If you doubt the first, simply log onto the "Editor and Publisher" Web site and type in "CNHI." They've basically had a fire sale going on for the past two years, dumping newspapers all across the country.
Last week, the Gazette's top reporter, Mark Scheer, left the paper's employ. Now there's some stability for you.
If you doubt the second, the one about Pfeiffer, try reading some of his stuff.
As for the third, just check out the Sept. 15 and Oct. 23 editions of the Gazette.
We would welcome Mr. Henson's lawsuit on behalf of the Niagara Gazette. It would make headlines across the country. Bad headlines for the multi-billion dollar Alabama corporation known as CNHI, great headlines for the Falls' only locally owned newspaper, the Niagara Falls Reporter.
Additionally, there's a great thing in American jurisprudence known as the discovery process. We believe, for example, that the Gazette actually sells far fewer than the 23,000 daily copies it claims when setting its advertising rates. A lawsuit would give us an opportunity to shine a light on such shady practices.
Why the Gazette chose some Red State lawyer to send the letter when the paper is ably represented here in the Falls by Pat Berrigan and Ned Perlman is anybody's guess. Perhaps the Alabama ownership feels more comfortable talking to an attorney who also drawls.
Like young King David facing that huge giant monster Goliath, the Reporter will not be intimidated by threats from a multi-billion dollar corporation. We're your hometown paper, and that's something we're very proud of. When the hired guns show up from points south, you can bet we'll be ready for them.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Dec. 7 2004 |