That Liberal Media: Axe Finally Falls on Cohen (Reporter Who Broke Bush DUI Story...)

Portland Phoenix ^ | 4-11-04 | Alex Irvine

[veronica]

The Portland Press Herald, after several years of getting its nerve up, has fired reporter Ted Cohen, who in July 2000 unearthed the story of George W. Bush’s 1976 DWI arrest in Kennebunkport.

Cohen’s editor promptly spiked the story, with the result that it didn’t get out into the national media until just before the 2000 election.

The discovery that the Press Herald sat on the story embarrassed executive editor Jeannine Guttman and made the paper an object of ridicule among journalists. Since then, Cohen says, "the working atmosphere has just been strained beyond words. I would say that it became much more trying once Ryan Blethen succeeded Andrew Russell as regional editor and as my superior."

Ryan Blethen, crown prince of the Press Herald and son of owner Frank Blethen, is widely considered to be a shining example of nepotism in action. In a profession that normally demands years of reporting service before editorial slots open up, Ryan Blethen was made regional editor only a few months after joining the paper. Asked whether anyone at the Press Herald thought Blethen’s promotion to regional editor was deserved, Cohen responded, "As Dwight Eisenhower said when he was asked about the good qualities of his vice president Richard Nixon, ‘Gimme a couple weeks and I’ll try to think of some.’ "

He goes on to tick off Blethen the Younger’s transgressions: denying overtime, "calling me at home on days off, falsifying my timecard, throwing away an expense report of mine, leaving phone messages on my answering machine when he knows I’m on vacation . . . this is a man of pure fiction."

Even after the newspaper’s own doctor, Dr. Jane Glass, validated Cohen’s concerns about nepotism poisoning the work atmosphere at the paper, the Press Herald refused to take her suggestion that Cohen be assigned to another editor or that a mediator be called in. "I’ve been able to work with anybody else in 30 years," he says. "I’m the most productive reporter the paper has — and I’m an old man. So, once in 30 years, you might make an exception."

Neither Guttman nor Blethen would talk to the Phoenix, but Guttman and managing editor Eric Conrad released a statement on April 6 that began, "Ted Cohen is obviously a disgruntled former employee . . . A release that Ted sent out on Monday contains so many false and misleading statements that we are not going to respond point by point." Guttman has previously said, and the statement reiterates, that Cohen essentially resigned by demanding to work with another editor.

Cohen says he has a certified letter firing him. "It’s payback," he says. "I’m going to fight." As the Phoenix went to press, he announced that the Portland Newspaper Guild has filed a grievance on his behalf. In addition, "I’ve been talking to my lawyer. He’s looking at where and how to appeal this. If it means a lawsuit, bring it on."

[patj]

So what did Cohen do that was wrong?

It's not the story, it's the timing.

[Robert A Cook PE]

That story was "pedalled" for several weeks among ALL the political pool reporters on the campaign trail (by one or more democrat agents) ... until FINALLY this guy apparently got it through his editor.

Did he actually write it?

Maybe.

Did he actually research it? No, apparently not.

[Maria S]

My problem with the releasing of the story in the first place was that it supposedly had been expunged from the record. I assumed that anytime that happened (with ANYONE!) that meant the incident no longer existed (well, sort of...I'm no legal expert). So it seems like SOMEONE managed to dig up information that had supposedly been "erased" years ago.

[Ditter]

That is what I got out of the story too.

Is the newspaper trying to defend its actions 3+ years later by dumping the blame on this reporter? (Not that this reporter is innocent or anything).

[an amused spectator]

Maybe we should Cohen some German cheese to go with his Schadenwhinin'. ;-)

[Judith Anne]

I'm sure that Cohen shrugged off any embarrassment this could have caused to President Bush, his wife or family. I'm equally sure he didn't care if it was nobody's business.
But when something unfair happens to Cohen, it's AWFUL, he wants to SUE, he gets all worked up about it.

All I can think of to say to Cohen is, those are the breaks, pal. S#!+ happens.

[Lancey Howard]

Something doesn't make sense. This little pissant paper in the middle of nowhere would not have been the only paper a Democrat operative fed the story to if he/she wanted it to come out right away. If Lehane or somebody else fed the story to the Press Herald and the story got spiked, then guess what? There's thousands of other papers to feed it to.

No, this story was meant to come out exactly when it finally did come out and this newspaper was clearly complicit in the scheme on behalf of the Democrats. They are ALL mouse puke.

[ptldvolcano]

Cohen got the story in July because he was the only guy in all of the so-called liberal media who wondered if GWB had ever been in trouble in Kennebunkport. So he called the chief, and there was a file.

The story broke three months later, and even then the Press Herald wasn't out in front of it. They didn't publish it until it had already come out on national TV media after someone leaked it to a local TV station.

And anybody who thinks the Blethens are Democrats has a screw loose. The Press Herald spiked the story because no mainstream media outlet in Maine will say anything negative about a member of the Bush family unless national media say it first.