Hush Money?

More than a few readers have noted the glaring differences in the news coverage of the Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) in Trophy Club. This follow-up article should provide some clarity on how two news sources can publish such radically different stories about the same event.

By way of history, this story was broken by the Star Telegraph on November 12th and 27th of this year. The Star Telegram article was not published until weeks later on Dec. 13th.

The Star Telegraph Article cites the relevant court case and provides details about all the participants.  The Star Telegram article only provides details about former Town Councilwoman Kathleen Wilson's defamation claims and her Pyrrhic judgment obtained against former citizen of the year Steven Kohs.

Most importantly, the Star Telegraph article identifies the lawsuit by definition as a SLAPP action.  As previously noted, the Star Telegram article focuses solely on the former Town Councilwoman's claims and completely omits that the actions instigating this lawsuit occurred on a political website during a local election campaign.

The reason for these glaring differences can be summed up in one word. That word is money.

The Star Telegraph receives no income from the Town of Trophy Club.  By contrast, the Town's online check register indicates that Trophy Club paid the Star Telegram $1,363.76 in the last 30 days alone.

Shame on Trophy Club's elected officials for suing the people they represent and covering it up with newspaper hush money.  But above all, shame on the Star Telegram for taking the money and pretending to be an unbiased source of news.