Good Local Media? Yes We Can!

by: LiberalLucy

Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 10:25:54 AM EST

Get Out Your Hankies

by: kelster

Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 09:10:31 AM EST

I wrote Cry Me a River hoping that it was just a one-day story. 

 Thanks to a lazy punditocracy, it has legs.

On the liberal side of the media, the story is that the tears softened Clinton, made her likeable, made her accessible, blah, blah.  On the front page of today's NYT, Her Message, And Moment, Won the Day In today's WaPo, Richard Cohen finished Crying Likeable Tears with this cringe-inducing line:

But the wave Barack Obama kept saying he was riding is apparently no match for a mother's warm tears.

On the wingnut conservative side of the media, the story is still about Hillary's "tears" -- but opinionators like Bill Kristol think the emotions were calculated.

HUME: Well, is there anything else to attribute it to?

KRISTOL: And that's the tears. No, it's the tears. She pretended to cry; the women liked it.

HUME: You think she pretended?

KRISTOL: Yes.

HUME: I don't.

KRISTOL: The women were sorry for her, and she won.

C'mon, guys.  You can't think of ANY other reason for the disconnect between the pre-primary poll numbers and the final results?

Freep: Building readership on personal woes since 2007

by: Eric B.

Sat Nov 24, 2007 at 10:34:44 AM EST

Along comes the Free Press.  I realize that foreclosures are public records, but the only benefit there is to creating easy access to a database of foreclosed properities is pure schadenfreude (or maybe word to speculators where they can get property dirt cheap).  For instance, if you live at 1713 Oak in Birmingham, and over the summer you watched your neighbors across the street pack up and move in a hurry ... there's a good reason for it.  In fact, if you live in Wayne or Oakland counties, I'd recommend that you look up your street to see which of your neighbors have suffered the embarrassment and humiliation of losing their homes in the last few months.

[Warning:  the Free Press cannot verify the accuracy of the database ("A note: Some of them may have been redeemed in the two months since this list was compiled.").  One wonders if this means people received notice of foreclosure and paid up, or the homes were foreclosed upon and sold.].

The story of Susan J. Demas

by: Eric B.

Thu Oct 25, 2007 at 17:10:25 PM EDT

Susan J. Demas today:

  “Blogs are nothing more than writing on the bathroom wall,” so says my former editor, Jack Lessenberry.

Off to the left there is part of a screenshot of Jack Lessenberry scrawling on the bathroom wall.  He's welcome to join us.  I'd hope that he'd be civil if he's going to try to poach traffic off bathroom graffiti, but I'm a generous guy.  There's plenty of suckers to go around.

This is the second time that Susan J. Demas has waded into battle against the blogosphere.  The last time she mentioned us by name.  This time, I see she was good enough to simply swipe with a brush broad enough to do Detroit Free Press Editorial Page Editor Ron Dzwonkowski's milquetoasty heart pround -- blame everyone, hold no one accountable.

We just want the news!

by: LisainManistee

Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:15:36 AM EDT

People blog because they feel the mainstream media no longer adequately performs their function of informing the populace about the important issues of the day. Six years of lazy journalism is WHY people read blogs and blaming blogs for the media's failures is not going to inspire people to change their opinions anytime soon. The media has lost the public trust and rightly so. Insults are not going to inspire trust that was deservedly lost... Once again doing their jobs is the only thing that will mend the rift.

Just yesterday I asked if our paper intended to do a report about Hoekstra's original no vote on SCHIP and his subsequent pledge to use his vote to sustain Bush's veto.

Would you like to know what answer I was given?

No.

I was then asked if I was a Democrat. (A question which was asked in a tone that is usually reserved for racial epithets, I might add.) At this point in the conversation it was clear to me that I was wasting my time. It was rather obvious that anyone so comfortable using such an insulting tone towards a fellow human being they had never even met before, isn't going to be interested in anything the recipient of their sneering tones might have to say...

(I believe it was also about this point in the conversation that I lost any inclination I may have previously held to be polite.) 

It was explained to me in rather explicit terms that our paper does not print stories simply because Democrats might be interested in reading them. I explained very clearly that I was not there to represent the Democratic Party, I was there as a resident of Manistee County, a consumer of their product, and a constituent of Peter Hoekstra's; expressing an interest in a news story that concerns thousands of Michigan children... I was told yet again that our paper does not print stories simply because Democrats might want to read a them...

I would suggest that our paper might want to contact the United States Census Bureau or the Michigan Secretary of State. Either of these institutions would inform them that Manistee County has nearly 3 times more registered Democrats than registered Republicans, and almost three times the amount of Independents than both parties combined. This statistical data may help them to clear up any questions they may have had concerning any declines in subscription rates. Hopefully it might also help them to reconsider the wisdom of addressing their customers in such derogatory tones. They may also want to rethink their use of the term "Democrat" as an insult.

While they're at it they could also contact the CDC and the United States Department of Health, either of which could give them statistical data on the number of uninsured children currently in Manistee County and the number of children that currently have health insurance through MIChild, but will be joining the ranks of uninsured children on November 17th... Courtesy of their Congressman's refusal to represent them... Which would obviously be ensuring that the less fortunate children of his District have access to affordable medical care.

Now that I think of it, wouldn't a professional journalist already know their market's demographic? I find it rather odd that a dirty hyper-partisan Democrat had to explain how to accurately source material and effectively represent their market. They should also know that simply because an Incumbent politician's campaign press release says something, that does not make it fact.

Call me crazy, call me a Democrat, but just I do not consider "because Pete Hoekstra's campaign press release said so" to be a properly sourced, unbiased approach to journalistic integrity.

I suppose it is a moot point. After all, everyone knows only those on a news organization's payroll are capable of doing research, using the internet, operating a telephone, or reading numbers and words!

The author seems intelligent enough to know that journalists are human, just as bloggers are human. The snide suggestion that simply because someone happens to be employed by a newspaper, magazine, radio or television station somehow has more integrity, ethics, and standards than the rest of the human population is not only absurd, it is also demonstrably false.

The article was a good article; it would have been better without the uncalled for potshots. My personal opinion is the author is looking to drum up a little publicity for herself and attacking the blogosphere unprovoked has been proven to be an effective way for a Journalist to bring attention to themselves.

From reading the article, I get the impression that the author is not our enemy. However, I also feel that her unneeded remarks did absolutely nothing to advance the author's cause; they only served to widen the rift between "us" and "them."

If only the author would see that we do what we do BECAUSE they purposely created the great divide between "us" and "them." We saw a void between what was really happening and what they were telling us was happening... and we sought to fill that void. It seems the author realizes that if her colleagues once again start doing their jobs in the manner they were meant to be performed... We would stop attacking them.

Really when you get down to it, bloggers are just the voracious news readers. We are a journalist's bread and butter... The problem isn't us, the problem is that we smart enough to realize that they weren't doing their jobs, and we were no longer content to be quiet about being spoon-fed fluff and lies.

She might also want to consider that we give respect where respect is do. Seymour Hersh, Paul Krugman, and any number of those within the journalism community are revered by bloggers... but then again, it is easy for us to see that they aren't lazy and actually do their damned jobs.

It doesn't seem fair for us to blame the author, it seems she is not one of the bad ones.. but neither is it fair for her to blame us for her colleague's failings.

Free speech and accountability

by: Eric B.

Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 11:11:32 AM EDT

I see that this morning, members of the Senate are still apparently exorcised that their right to be cowardly was violated.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Republican state Sen. Tom George, a mild-mannered doctor who often gives upbeat talks on the Senate floor about healthy lifestyles or Michigan history, was uncharacteristically angry when he stood up to talk this week.

The target of his ire was the fact that a Democratic staff member, during a politically sensitive vote giving immediate effect to an expanded sales tax on services, had taken photos of the voting board even though it wasn't a recorded vote.

"It was a serious violation that can only be interpreted one way - as an attempt to collect information which, when taken out of context, could be used in a political attack on any member of this chamber," the Portage lawmaker said Wednesday.

Informing the Public

by: rich

Wed Oct 03, 2007 at 22:26:41 PM EDT

(Adapted and expanded based on a comment in one of LL's diaries.) 

Our politicians in Lansing received a lot of coverage in the news media these past few days. Typical is the Lansing State Journal (LSJ). Those of you not familiar with the LSJ, should know that it’s the only daily newspaper in our state’s capital city. People in this part of the state who hate it refer to it as the Lansing State Urinal. 

Tuesday there were five stories and an editorial about the recent budget agreement and its impact on the state’s image and on our bank accounts. Today, Wednesday, there was a nice muckracking-type story about how lawmakers’ benefits will not be cut and an editorial predicting that October will be a messy month as our lawmakers determine how to cut $440 million from the budget. 

Six stories in two days. This is a huge bump in their coverage of the Governor and the legislature. As impressive and comprehensive as the coverage is don’t expect it to last. 

New progressive online newspaper and blog launched

by: kjbas58

Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 23:37:08 PM EDT

It is part of the Center for Independent Media's - a not-for-profit organization that fosters diversity of ideas in the national debate by educating and training people on the use of new communications technologies - New Journalism Program. The Center for Independent Media was founded in April 2006 after a four- month intensive research study. The research project's objective was to understand how blogs work to broaden ideological diversity in the media, and how to reinforce these positive effects.

The goal is to train and equip citizen-journalists, and the group is a mix of journalists, writers, academics and bloggers. The goals of the program are to strengthen networks of progressive blogs on a state-by-state basis, and the Michigan Messenger joins The Minnesota Monitor, the Iowa Independent and the Colorado Confidential in breaking and reporting frontline political news.

With newsroom consolidation and most newspapers and newspaper chains closing down their Capitol bureaus, we will be taking and reporting on stories the mainstream, corporate media and the overworked and underpaid reporters may not get to or choose to ignore. It should be noted this is a "soft launch" as the bugs are worked out, the layout is finalized and the look and the feel of the site are ironed out. But the reporters, also known as fellows, are already writing and posting stories.

It's an exciting start-up project, and it is very similar to the start-up of a daily newspaper. I fortunate enough to be part of the first start-up of a daily newspaper in Michigan in half a century when on September 7, 2000 the bi-weekly newspapers the Brighton Argus and the Livingston County Press became the Livingston County Daily Press and Argus. This carries some of that same excitement, and I am proud to have been a part of both ambitious and historic launches.

The nine other reporters are a very diverse group of individuals. Newsroom diversity has long been a goal of the Michigan Press Association that has rarely been met, but they truly accomplish that goal here. I have worked in newsrooms in Blissfield, Adrian, South Lyon, Southgate, Brighton and Howell, and this is by far the most diverse newsroom I have ever been a part of.

It is a progressive blog, and much like the Wall Street Journal and most mainstream newspapers that have a conservative bent we will have a progressive viewpoint. However, we subscribe to the code of ethics put out by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). That simply means we are accurate, identify sources when possible, are fair, never plagiarize, act independently, avoid conflicts of interest or revel any unavoidable conflicts and admit factual mistakes and correct them.

Me and the Sunday State Journal

by: Eric B.

Mon Aug 27, 2007 at 10:43:18 AM EDT

I picked up this morning’s Lansing State Journal off my mom’s front porch.  She was in the other room, cooking breakfast, and said, “Read the Free Press first.”  I ignored her, figuring that I could get through the State Journal before she finished cooking and then not wait for anything.  Just to be on the safe side, I advised her to make another pot of coffee, which kept her busy another couple of minutes.

Two bundles of paper slid out of the bag, one of them the paper and one of them obviously an ad insert.  I picked up what was obviously the bigger and heftier of the two, assuming that it was the actual Sunday paper.  It was not.  The second bundle was still a respectable size, and I opened it up to get at what I wanted.  Then, I realized that it, too, was mostly filled with ad inserts.

So, I decided to make two piles … one for the actual news content and one for all the advertising.  It turned out that there were exactly four sections of actual content, and one section of comics that wound up in the content pile.  Everything else – including two sections of classified ads with canned editorial copy on the front page (Stuff and Wheels, for auto sales; and Help Wanted) – went into the ad insert pile.

There are photos, inserted into this, that speak to the results.  But, this doesn’t tell the entire story.  Back in October, my dad – himself a lifelong newspaper reader – told me that it takes him 20 minutes on a Sunday morning to whip through the Sunday State Journal because of all the inside ads.  To my horror, I came to understand his point.  A chart, some estimates, and some percentages ensued. (Go below the fold for big fun.)

Here's a quarter ... call someone who cares

by: Eric B.

Wed Aug 22, 2007 at 21:35:50 PM EDT

Gannett, according to Jack Lessenberry, has outsourced its circulation customer service department to Tulsa.  What brought this on?

Go below the fold to find out!

Class warfare, Detroit News style: or, the floor starts at 100 grand

by: Eric B.

Sun Aug 19, 2007 at 18:01:09 PM EDT

Hence, this.

Did you know that Michigan workers who earn $100,000 in wages are, according to Nolan Finley, part of the middle class.  And, even though 5 percent of the American population controls more than half its money (at least, according to the Federal Reserve), he also says that the bulk of the nation's money is still locked up in the middle class.

Democrats will try to sell this to voters by convincing them it hurts the evil rich and not good, wholesome working families. But look at the chart -- you don't have to make all that much money before your taxes go up substantially. Like every other tax hike, this one will rob the middle class, because that's where most of the money is.

YearlyKos: MichLibbers Make National News

by: LiberalLucy

Sat Aug 04, 2007 at 12:52:51 PM EDT

First it started when I was sitting next to LPackard out in the open foyer area at the McCormick Place with my laptop. A man walked up to me, explained he was with NBC Nightly News and asked if I would mind being interviewed. I was floored, but after I recovered, I accepted and subsequently was interviewed.

About 30 minutes later, it was Nirmal's turn with ABC News. Nirmal didn't have a laptop, but Brainwrap next to him had his. So off went Nirmal with Brainwrap's laptop. We all thought it was a good idea that Nirmal chose today to wear his "Everytime you shop at Wal-Mart, God kills a Kitten" t-shirt.

But what we didn't mention that Cliff Schecter, one of the Left's famous talking heads was also sitting to us. Funny enough, he needed Brainwrap's laptop charger, and off he went. Who'd a thunk it?

Of course, the line-up wouldn't be complete without some B-roll footage by FoxNews of some of the group of MichLib bloggers sitting around talking, with Brainwrap's laptop out in the open.

So tonight, if you're off The Tubes of the Internet, and happen to have your TV on, tune in to either NBC or ABC and look for Liberal Lucy and/or Nirmal, and watch as Michigan's lefty bloggers get a little more well-known all across the country!

Live from YearlyKos in Chicago, it's LiberalLucy, signing off till tonight's NBC Nightly News.

Where go the broadcasters...

by: Eric B.

Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 15:35:10 PM EDT

Funny thing happened to me over the weekend.  Used to be that I'd flip on a local station on Sunday nights to first watch The Simpsons, and then to watch their Sunday evening news broadcast.  The thing was usually filled with all kinds of humorous gaffs and terrible production values, and watching it was like watching a whole other sitcom.

This weekend, I was somewhat alarmed to see that the station, TV 66 in Saginaw, had replaced their local news team with a broadcast from WNEM TV-5 from Flint.  Odd, I thought, because WSMH is a Fox affiliate and WNEM is CBS (and also home of Sam Merrill, a man baffled that anyone could call the governor's election last year at 8:30 p.m.).

In fact, see the similarities?

In other words, you have two different stations from two different networks and two different owners in one market (Flint/Saginaw/Bay City), but that they share a news team (in fact, both Sam Merrill and Katie O'Mara not only share time on both stations, but are wearing the same clothes -- and have their heads cocked at similar angles -- in the two different photos).

Bad news from Booth

by: Hazen Pingree

Tue Apr 24, 2007 at 19:34:30 PM EDT

Michigan publisher Booth Newspapers has offered buyouts to 10 of the 16 workers who report to its Lansing bureau, Bureau Chief Meegan Holland said Tuesday.

The move leaves the future of the operation, which opened in 1937, up in the air. The bureau covers state government and major Michigan sports, among other areas, for the eight newspapers in the Booth chain. Sports reporters were not included in the buyout offer, Holland said.

"My hope is we'll still have a Lansing presence," Holland said, adding that she doesn't know what that will look like. "State government coverage is still important."

Shame on the Lansing State Journal, SHAME!!!

by: matt

Wed Nov 01, 2006 at 10:06:32 AM EST

I have had the remarkable privilege of serving on the Lansing State Journal Editorial Board this year. My admiration for the newspaper has only grown as I have gotten to know the men and women who guide the editorial viewpoint of the paper. It was therefore a dismaying blow to discover that the decision of that board could be vetoed by the paper's president and publisher. On October 8, after interviewing both candidates for the 8th Congressional seat the board voted five to one to endorse Jim Marcinkowski. Leslie Hurst, the publisher, sat in on the interviews but was not present when the discussion took place or when the decision was made. On Monday afternoon, October 23, board members were sent an e-mail with Tuesday's editorial. It proclaimed that both candidates were "too flawed" for the paper to endorse. Marcinkowski was attacked for having "too little experience" and for appearing "glib" and dismissive. While the e-mail added the following explanation: the publisher felt strongly that Marcinkowski "did not rise to the level of a congressman", a later e-mail explained that Leslie Hurst had wanted the LSJ to endorse Rep. Mike Rogers but had been persuaded to accept the non-endorsement of both candidates, as a compromise.

It has since been explained to me that the publisher always maintains the right to veto an editorial board's decision, even when it is unanimous or nearly so, as in this case. However, there was no discussion with the editorial board about Leslie Hurst's misgivings. An editorial was presented to us that did not reflect the board's views. We were not given an opportunity to modify it. The editorial claimed that "the board in good conscience cannot recommend the candidacy of either man". This is patently not true. We did, with a clear conscience, decide to endorse Marcinkowski, and our decision was then vetoed by one member of the board, the publisher.

In refusing to pick between Jim Marcinkowski and Mike Rogers, the Lansing State Journal did not provide the leadership that the community expects of it. It left the misleading impression that the candidates were found equally lacking. In fact, the editorial board was very disturbed by Roger's lock-step support for the Bush administration's positions on the war, torture and the treatment of detainees. Marcinkowski's lack of legislative experience was noted, along with the fact that he gave some general answers to specific questions. These concerns were insufficient to deter us from easily picking Marcinkowski.

As a community board member, I have volunteered many hours to the job of interviewing candidates for possible endorsement. I did so under the impression that every staff and community member on the board had a chance to ask questions and to vote. I also believed that our collective decision would be offered to the readers. I expected disagreements from time to time, compromises when we could not all agree, and the publisher perhaps getting the final word. But I did not expect that, without any discussion, the publisher would turn the board's decision on its head.

I requested that the publisher permit me to write a short letter expressing my dissent. I wanted this to appear on the editorial page of the LSJ before the election. I wanted readers to know that the board had chosen to endorse Marcinkowski. The publisher declined, and I have therefore asked the City Pulse to set the record straight. I have regretfully resigned from the editorial board of the Lansing State Journal.

Leslie Hurst, president and publisher of The Idaho Statesman, was named president and publisher of the Lansing State Journal Wednesday.

Hurst succeeds Michael G. Kane, who had been publisher since January 2000. Kane was named president and publisher of the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle.

Senior Group President of the Gannett Midwest Newspaper Group Mary Stier praised both publishers and said Hurst will be an asset to the newspaper and the community.

"We fully expect Leslie to bring the same level of quality customer relations to Lansing that she has in all her previous roles," Stier said. "Leslie is very visible within her newspaper and within the community, and I would fully expect both the newspaper and the community will be seeing a lot of her when she arrives in Lansing."

Gubernatorial debate vs. 'Wife Swap' (where to watch/listen to debate #3)

by: matt

Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 13:21:07 PM EDT

WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit
WZZM-TV 13 Grand Rapids
WJRT-TV 12 Flint
WLNS-TV 6 Lansing
WWTV/WWUP-TV 9&10 Traverse City/Sault Ste. Marie
WSBT South Bend, IN

WWJ-TV 62 Detroit
WLAJ-TV 53 Lansing
WWMT-TV 3 Kalamazoo
WOTV-41 Battle Creek
WJMN-TV 3 Escanaba
WNEM-TV 5 Saginaw
WBKB-TV 11 Alpena
WBKP-TV  5 Calumet
WBUP-TV Ishpeming
WGTU/WGTQ-TV 29 & 8 Traverse City & Sault Ste. Marie

Craig Cole, programming and operations director for WOTV, said the decision was reached by management teams at the two stations.

"We wanted to give some alternative programming options," Cole said.

GM hires Sean Hannity

by: matt

Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 00:14:09 AM EDT

To stimulate consumer interest in its line of American-built cars, General Motors has turned to radio and Sean Hannity. Beginning Sept. 25, Hannity will serve as the spokesperson for GM’s You’re A Great American Car Give-Away, offering radio listeners the chance to pick and win one of five GM vehicles.

One of the largest car give-aways by an auto manufacturer, “it is the largest car give-away in history by a national radio personality,” said Phil Boyce, vp of News/Talk programming for ABC Radio.

Frank Beckmann responds (again)

by: matt

Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 14:24:11 PM EDT

Matt....I don't seek your approval on anything I do in my life, my body of work included....You have proven that you are incapable of evaluating even the simplest of facts ("gay people adopting children"--They didn't adopt, they sought a donor for birth of children). You have never met me, you know absolutely nothing about me or my life, and your smarmy, disingenuous remarks betray your lame efforts at compliment.

FB

The continuing saga of Frank Beckmann vs. Michiganliberal.com

by: matt

Sun Sep 24, 2006 at 23:17:41 PM EDT

I an not surprised that you would try to twist even a simple response to your inaccuracies.....I do not consider matters of libel to be frivolous.....amqazing that you would presume to find honor in a person's response to character assassination....as for your not knowing if these libelous allegations are true, it is your obligation as proprietor of this blog to confirm this sort of libelous claim before you allow it to be published

Dear Frank,

I am sorry that you think naming you as a Republican (which you clearly are) constitutes "character assasination." With George Bush in power and this Amway pyramid scheme guy running for Governor of Michigan, I certainly wouldn't want to be known publicly as a Republican either these days. But there's a simple solution to this: if you think it's so bad to be a Republican, don't be one! Just admit your goose is cooked and abandon ship.

Anyway, at first I sort of figured I'd already spent enough time on this little dispute of ours and wasn't going to respond. However, I happened to catch your column the other day - you know, the one where you suggest the idea of gay people adopting children isn't so bad after all? Wow, Frank! I bet some of your regulars are really, really peeved!

Frank, obviously we have our differences, however I do believe in giving credit where credit is due - and you are certainly due some for what I consider to be a very forward-looking and compassionate piece. Whatever inspired you to write it - I hope you listen to that voice more often in the future.

Now don't think for a minute that I'm trying to butter you up because I'm worried you're going to drag me into court with this libel silliness. Frankly, I can't imagine anything that would be better publicity for the site than having one of Michigan's leading Republican newspaper columnists sue the state's leading political blog for libel. I'll bet we'd even make the national wires on that one!

Seriously, I just wanted to offer you words of encouragement for your new and enlightened view. Go with it!

Peace and blessings,

Matt

P.S. - Frank, your comment about me being responsible for every single comment that appears on Michlib suggests you still haven't quite figured out the "Internets" yet. Next thing you know, you're going to give me a lecture about a truck and a series of tubes (apologies to your fellow Republican, Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska).

See, this is the thing: if everyone who owned or ran a public blog or website had to have a censorship process for every last little comment or page that appeared online, the Internet would simply break down and cease to function. Can you imagine if Google were liable for anything false, questionable, or misleading that appeared in their indexes? They'd go out of business immediately (kiss those 1,000 new Michigan jobs good-bye). Fortunately, Congress and President Clinton understood this back in 1996 and included a provision in often-maligned "Communications Decency Act" to exempt people like me from liability for comments posted by members of the public.

MSU law prof: FCC destroyed media ownership study

by: matt

Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 17:42:54 PM EDT

The Federal Communications Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV news coverage, a former lawyer at the agency says.

The report, written in 2004, came to light during the Senate confirmation hearing for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. received a copy of the report "indirectly from someone within the FCC who believed the information should be made public," according to Boxer spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz.

-snip-

Adam Candeub, now a law professor at Michigan State University, said senior managers at the agency ordered that "every last piece" of the report be destroyed. "The whole project was just stopped - end of discussion," he said. Candeub was a lawyer in the FCC's Media Bureau at the time the report was written and communicated frequently with its authors, he said. (emphasis added)