Archive for March, 2017

Censorship allegation made as Bruce Township officials toss newspaper from hall – The Macomb Daily

For-profit newspapers have been banned from the Bruce Township hall after action taken by the Board of Trustees Wednesday.

At the center of the action is The Record Newspaper, a Romeo-based publication that began publishing in January 2015.

The topic arose after Treasurer Debbie Obrecht accused Supervisor Richard Cory of throwing away copies on display at the township hall left there by Record Editor and Publisher Larry Sobczak.

The treasurer claimed that coverage critical of Clerk Susan Brockmann led to Corys action.

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Brockmann was arrested on Sept. 11, 2015 at the township hall after setting of an alarm attempting to enter the building at 3 a.m. A Michigan State Police crash report from that night listed her blood alcohol content at .20, more than double the level of intoxication in Michigan and above the .17 super drunk standard.

I think it is censoring the press, Obrecht told the board. We may or may not like stories that appear, but the idea is that it does benefit the community overall.

Cory denied that he removed the newspapers.

I dont know of anyone throwing them out. This has turned into a political thing for you, Cory told Obrecht. There are articles in there that you want people to read.

Sobczak said that he has been leaving a few copies of The Record at the township hall since December of 2015.

Cory said the Treasurer gave away copies of The Record to residents coming into her office for them to read articles relating to Brockmanns arrest, which is being adjudicated through the 42-2 District Court in New Baltimore. Sobczak said that he never told Obrecht to personally distribute The Record, but stands by her right to do so.

It is her First Amendment right to pass out whatever she wants, he said.

Treasurer Paul Okoniewski backed up the supervisors claim.

Should we talk about the email I got from a resident citing you for handing them (newspapers) out while people were paying their taxes? Okoniewski asked Obrecht. The person sent an email to the board asking you to cease and desist.

That is absolutely untrue, Obrecht quickly responded.

Brockmann did not acknowledge articles written about her were the issue with The Record, it was their inaccurate reporting of other stories in the past.

He (Sobczak) doesnt report the news, said Brockmann. I dont think that is the kind of journalism we want in this township.

Obrecht said that if Cory could be handing out materials advocating for Greater Romeo-Washington Chamber of Commerce businesses, then The Record should also be available to the public at the township hall along with publications such as Macomb Now.Magazine.

The Chamber and the Macomb Now are not causing the problems in this building, The Record is causing the problems, Cory told Obrecht. You are only doing this for one reason, because you dont like somebody in this building.

You are wrong, Obrecht replied.

Okoniewski offered a motion not to provide any for-profit newspapers in the hallway at the township hall.

The motion passed 4-1 with Obrecht as the lone opposition vote.

They are stomping on the peoples right to free speech and freedom of the press, Sobczak said. I hope he board gains some wisdom and rescinds their motion.

The Record Publisher said that he has spoken with Cory since the meeting, but the two did not come up with a solution to getting the newspaper back into the township hall.

Michigan State Police (MSP) responded to an alarm at the Bruce Township Hall at 3:00 a.m. on Sept. 11 for a possible breaking and entering incident.

According to an MSP crash report from that night, Brockmann backed her Jeep Commander into the responding vehicle of Trooper Roger Haddad. The damage was listed in the report as minor.

Brockmann was then taken into custody and transported to the Chesterfield Police Department for booking and a chemical test on the charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OWI) with a high blood alcohol content. She was released on $100 bond.

Brockman is due back in Chesterfield Township district court March 22.

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Censorship allegation made as Bruce Township officials toss newspaper from hall - The Macomb Daily

Disney Says It Won’t Edit ‘Beauty and the Beast’ for Malaysian Censors – New York Times


RT
Disney Says It Won't Edit 'Beauty and the Beast' for Malaysian Censors
New York Times
Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid, chairman of the censorship board, argued Wednesday that Malaysia was not preventing the movie from being screened. It is in our guidelines that we don't allow L.G.B.T. activity in movies in Malaysia, he said in an interview.
'Gay moment' censorship sees Disney drop Malaysian release of 'Beauty & The Beast'RT
Disney Refuses to Censor 'Beauty and the Beast' 'Gay Moment' for MalaysiaHeat Street
Disney Defies Malaysia Censors, Won't Cut 'Beauty and the Beast' Gay MomentHollywood Reporter
BBC News -Deadline -Lifesite
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Disney Says It Won't Edit 'Beauty and the Beast' for Malaysian Censors - New York Times

Left-wing Groups Attempt Censorship of UN Delegation – Canada Free Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. - After Lisa Correnti of the Center for Family and Human Rights and Grace Melton of the Heritage Foundation were appointed to the United States delegation for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, radical LGBTQ groups sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson demanding they be removed because they do not support the extreme LGBTQ agenda. Incredibly, the Human Rights Campaign relies upon the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which recklessly labels any group that does not toe the LGBTQ line as a hate group.

The SPLC has been warned about its false, defamatory, and dangerous labeling of people and groups as haters or hate groups merely because it disagrees with them over marriage or LGBTQ issues. In 2012, Floyd Corkins attempted to commit mass murder of staff with the Family Research Council. The FRC security guard was able to stop Corkins and was shot in the process. Corkins confessed to the FBI that he was motivated by the SPLCs website and its so-called hate map. Watch the chilling video below.

The Center for Family and Human Rights and the Heritage Foundation are not hate groups. These organizations are both mainstream and thoughtful. Unlike the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Human Rights Campaign, they do not demean people with whom they disagree. To falsely label people with whom you disagree as haters or hate groups is irresponsible and dangerous, said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel C-Fam and the Heritage Foundation will come to the table genuinely seeking the best for women across the world. They are better qualified than their detractors because they are not fettered by blind adherence to the LGBTQ talking-points, Staver concluded.

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Left-wing Groups Attempt Censorship of UN Delegation - Canada Free Press

Trump administration ramps up efforts to block media – CNNMoney

The president was referring to his Twitter account. But recently he has taken steps to control news coverage.

The Trump administration has given preferential access to favorable outlets while excluding others -- a move critics say is dangerously reminiscent of state-controlled media.

In the latest incident, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson invited Fox News to cover his meeting at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, on the North-South Korea border, but denied access to the press pool that provides all media outlets with an account of the secretary's activities.

"Fox unilateral network team was allowed into this meeting -- pool asked for access and was blocked," wrote CNN's Pamela Boykoff, the author of Friday's pool report. "Local embassy official told the pool it was 'the Secretary's decision.'"

Tillerson was already being criticized for refusing to allow pool reporters to accompany him on his plane during the trip, which had been a standard practice for his predecessors at the State Department. Tillerson did allow a reporter from the conservative Independent Journal Review to accompany him, but not as a pool reporter.

That reporter, Erin McPike, has not filed any stories from the trip so far -- a source of consternation among other members of the media. A spokesman for IJR said McPike was with Tillerson to write a profile piece, not to write spot news stories about the trip.

"There was absolutely no agreement with State" to forgo daily writing or reporting, McPike told CNNMoney. "I am also not the pool reporter. I'm doing a longer piece." McPike also said she prizes objectivity and fairness: "I completely reject the state-run media charge" leveled by some observers.

On the domestic front, the administration has also given preferential access to favorable media outlets. Five of the seven in-person interviews Trump has given to the media since becoming president have gone to Fox News.

Last month, White House press secretary Sean Spicer blocked CNN, The New York Times, Politico and several other news outlets from attending an off-camera White House press briefing that other reporters were hand-picked to attend. When reporters from these news organizations tried to enter Spicer's office for the gaggle, they were told they could not attend because they were not on the list of attendees.

At Friday's joint press conference, one German reporter asked Trump, "Why are you scared of diversity in the news?"

Trump declined to answer that question.

--CNNMoney's Brian Stelter contributed to this report.

CNNMoney (Los Angeles) First published March 17, 2017: 3:50 PM ET

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Trump administration ramps up efforts to block media - CNNMoney

A power struggle emerges within Tribune parent’s boardroom – Crain’s Chicago Business


Crain's Chicago Business
A power struggle emerges within Tribune parent's boardroom
Crain's Chicago Business
A major rift has emerged on the board of the company that owns the second-biggest U.S. newspaper chain, and a battle for control could be brewing. The media company Tronc, formerly known as Tribune Publishing, controlled by Chairman Michael Ferro, ...

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A power struggle emerges within Tribune parent's boardroom - Crain's Chicago Business