Charleston Gazette's Coal Tattoo Censorship

What's up with Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward, Jr.'s iron fist on his Coal Tattoo blog? Lately many of his posts appear with "comments off" from the beginning & he closes others after a few comments.

It appears that he doesn't want any discussion, any correction or perhaps dissent, unless it comes from the regular posters who invariably agree with him. BTW - I'd mention this on his blog, but if you don't stay strictly on topic (on his offerings) then you get a smack-down for mentioning something even if it is related to the topic at hand.

I realize that it's "his" blog, but if he's going to run it like a personal opinion platform, then he should remove it from the Gazette's site & have an stand-alone blog where he's free to control all comments or shut off/out opinion when he doesn't want anyone but his opinion posted.

Not only that,he will twist a persons words around in a news story. I know this for a fact. yes you're
right about the comments too. He has his regular
tree hugging friends saying things like you're right
Ken etc.etc.etc.

I'm surprised that Ken hasn't linked up with the 2 "ex-security" guards (private firm) who were assigned to baby-sit the treesitters & make their life intolerable by making noise and shining lights to encouragement the lawbreakers to quit.(note: these were just 2 of supposedly many security people around the site)

10 minutes out of an hour interview is being circulated around with the one-sided view of what happened. I watched most of the video - it was rather boring, the questioner was hard to heard & there wasn't anyone from the opposing viewpoint to ask pointed questions.

What I got from the the guards tell-all revelations was that they didn't like the rugged work conditions, they didn't like staying up all night although that was their assignment, they didn't like having to be told to keep up the noise making, they didn't like being told not to leave their job posts etc. They walked off a job site & quit, so now they want to tell their story.

BTW - they say they'll never be able to work in WV again - well duh - the video provides evidence that they weren't able to do their duties as was required by the job. It sounds a lot like Stockholm syndrome where they sympathized with the lawbreakers that they were supposed to be encouraging to get out of the trees and off private property.

Mr Ward runs this site like the soup nazi runs his shop on the Jerry Seinfeld show.

Wingnut wrote:

Mr Ward runs this site like the soup nazi runs his shop on the Jerry Seinfeld show.

This certainly appears to be true. Wikepedia describes the character as the "Soup Nazi" due to his temperament and insistence on a strict manner of behavior while ordering."

I've tried lately to post comments on Ward's blog & all but one time have been greeted by the message that my post has been flagged by the spam filter & will be reviewed by the administrator. One has gone thru - the one where I complained that my posts were being flagged. The site shows I'm logged in & I don't have a problem commenting on other articles - just Ward's tattoo blog.

Ken, if you're reading this, I have a question. Does this happen often, because it seems as though your supporters have no trouble responding to your posts & the comments seem lopsided on the pro-environmental side? Perhaps dissenting voices are not coming thru because of your filters.

informed citizen wrote:

<quoted text>
This certainly appears to be true. Wikepedia describes the character as the "Soup Nazi" due to his temperament and insistence on a strict manner of behavior while ordering."
I've tried lately to post comments on Ward's blog & all but one time have been greeted by the message that my post has been flagged by the spam filter & will be reviewed by the administrator. One has gone thru - the one where I complained that my posts were being flagged. The site shows I'm logged in & I don't have a problem commenting on other articles - just Ward's tattoo blog.
Ken, if you're reading this, I have a question. Does this happen often, because it seems as though your supporters have no trouble responding to your posts & the comments seem lopsided on the pro-environmental side? Perhaps dissenting voices are not coming thru because of your filters.

Heaven forbid someone who calls their self "informed citizen"make a
post on the chief WV.tree hugger blog!!You are probably the type of person who looks at both sides of the issue and makes their own
opinion.NO SIR!!! You have to be 100% tree hugger to post a comment
on that blog.SHAME ON YOU!! LOL!!!!

bulldog wrote:

<quoted text>
Heaven forbid someone who calls their self "informed citizen"make a
post on the chief WV.tree hugger blog!!You are probably the type of person who looks at both sides of the issue and makes their own
opinion.NO SIR!!! You have to be 100% tree hugger to post a comment
on that blog.SHAME ON YOU!! LOL!!!!

I am beginning to suspect that very thing. I did have a couple of comments released & although Ken referenced the spam filter catching my posts - the last one had a message that it was awaiting approval by the moderator. This morning I'm back to having the spam error message again. It's strange, but I seem to see the same folks over & over again making comments & they never reference having any trouble.

Anyway...I've started parking my comments at:

http://gazettetattoo.com/

Ward is aware of this site's existence since he mentioned it on his blog the very day after it was created. I'm sure he keeps up with posts, since he does seem over-sensitive to anything negative about his image. Example - poster of him with word "liar" seen at a recent meeting in Charleston. I may be wrong, but I sensed the reason for bringing this up on his forum in the way he did was to indirectly ask his reader's help in identifing this person.

BTW, if you read the gazettetattoo site, you notice a couple of comments that indicate that Ken barred someone because he didn't like their comments.(comments by "The Notebook" - here)

http://gazettetattoo.com/...

I'm wondering how many have been barred from posting & wonder if I'll make it past my first couple of posts.

Another example of selective information would be Senator Mike Green's pro-coal petition. It's been mentioned in Beckley's Register-Herald twice and on numerous other online sites, but I've not seen anything on the Charleston Gazette. Doesn't anyone at that paper cover the activities of our representatives?

http://www.register-herald.com/archivesearch/...

http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_st...

But I did note that the Gazette mentioned Green's fundraiser & listed "hosts". Since the Senator does chair the Senate Committee on energy and mining, I'm not surprised to see those folks at the event. Did others attend? I don't know - the paper doesn't elaborate.

"Re-election fundraiser

Sen. Mike Green, D-Raleigh, held a re-election fundraiser Wednesday at The Equities House downtown.

Hosts included Gov. Joe Manchin, Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, state Democratic Party Chairman Nick Casey, Triana Energy Holdings CEO Henry Harmon, state Oil and Natural Gas Association Executive Director Corky DeMarco, Oil and Natural Gas Association President Dave Spigelmyer, Dominion Resources lobbyist Bob Orndorff, and West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney."

http://wvgazette.com/News/200910180166...

update:

Mr. Ward responded to my problem about having comments go through with 2 posts of his own. He even wrote:

"For whatever it’s worth, your latest comment came in and was initially blocked by our spam blocker, but I released it."

That post appeared for a while, but now has evaporated from the site. Don't know what's up, but if it was OK to release it, I don't know why it has now disappeared & Mr. Ward left up the comments directed to me. Mr. Ward asked that I provide a link to Rush Limbaugh's comments in "context" which I provided. It seems that information is now lost also.

This blog entry did have 11 posts, now it is 10. If I'm blind or missing my post - someone please let me know.

http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2009/10...

Thanks to google cache, my missing post can be read. It WAS post #9

http://74.125.93.132/search?q= cache:BJ01EPc0Td4J:blogs.wvgaz ette.com/coaltattoo/2009/10/21 /attacks-on-the-press-i-dont-h ave-it-so-bad/+%22Attacks+on+t he+press:+I+don%E2%80%99t+have +it+so+bad%22&cd=1&hl= en&ct=clnk&gl=us

oops-- well, that didn't work ha ha -- guess the link was too long

Bumping this up so folks will know it was updated (see my post above). I have no idea what the forum sometimes does not move new remarks to the top of the page.

Well, it's hit and miss trying to post to Ken Ward's blog. Just tried to post again this morning & to one of the many environmental groups who post there & was not able to get my post to show.

In the last couple of days, groups from Virgina and Ohio have put info on the info, but apparently do not allow comments.

Ken, in case you're reading --(and you did ask for more links to editorials supporting coal & MTR)- here's what I posted on your site and Wise Energy for Virginia dot org's site.

(I would note that forums have mentioned that Joe Romm, someone mentioned frequently on Ward's site - apparently screens his comments also)

(response to Virigina dot org site's, in I guess what is backtracking or sharing the same articles over and over again among the various enviromental groups)

I wrote (and tried to post to Ward's blog also, but it failed - AGAIN)

Despite wide-spread rumors to the contrary, there are folks who support mining, even the "legal" MTR & surface mining of companies with legal permits obtained under the latest, stringent laws & regulations.

I would expect liberal papers to take a liberal stance, just as they did with the 2008 presidential election & look what we have have now. Many folks are rueing their vote for "change".

There pro-coal, pro-mining, even by MTR stories and editorials, they're just harder to find because pro-coal people do not have this elaborate web of contacts and volunteers to spread their message throughout the net and country.

Ken Ward gave you one example from his sister, evening editional - Charleston Daily Mail - so far I can't find a link to it. There's even a poll that suggests WV residents support MTR, but again - no online link exists. I believe the Charleston Daily Mail & Charleston Gazette both operate under the same management, although one is more conservative than the other.

http://www.dailymail.com/search...

Register-Herald of Beckley, WV has posted pro-coal op-eds & commentary and many folks from Raleigh County are employed in all aspects of the coal industry, unlike many of those folks who come into the state just to protest.

An especially informative article from a managing editor who flew over MTR sites and gave her impressions:

Mountaintop mining

It may not be pretty, but it keeps the lights on

By Dawn A. Dayton
Register-Herald managing editor

http://www.register-herald.com/archivesearch/...

Fighting for Coal

http://www.register-herald.com/archivesearch/...

Washington Post Editorial - June, 2009

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...
Mountaintop Letdown
President Obama's decision will enrage environmentalists, but it's the right one.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...

EDITORIAL: Battle over coal points to future of our region

By The Knoxville News Sentinel, Tenn.
http://www.allbusiness.com/environment-natura...

One last observation & that is that the four newspapers who slam MTR are in the top 5 of newspaper losing subscribers at an increasing rate. Maybe they're out-of-touch with their readers.

Anyone heard anything about checks bouncing from Bluestone-Mechel (the Russian company who bought the mining concerns of Jim Justice earlier this year? Beckley poster is reporting that payroll checks are bouncing.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/beckley-wv/T5...

I wanted to ask Ken about it on his blog & see if he could dig around & find out more, but of course my posts won't go through there.

Again, I've parked it at www.gazettetattoo.com - this one is under

"Another day, another lie from Ken"

I wrote

"Lies and omissions and no way for many folks to ask whether Ken has heard about or could find out more about various issues. Example – this morning I wanted to post & ask Ken about what he’s heard or can find out Bluestone-Mechel’s payroll checks bouncing. Of course I got the spam filter message & that the adminstrator will review & restore the message later.

here’s my post & knowing that Ken is always providing “out-of- country coal industries activities on his blog, I wondered if he had heard about Russia’s Bluestone-Mechel problems:

“The future of coal – WV coal that is — being sold to “out-of-country” billionaires who then export that coal to Hong Kong & China but neglect to pay the employees here at home.

Any news on this story being reported in Beckley Topics?

“Last Friday, all Bluestone-Mechel coal mines in West Virginia handed out payroll checks. They ALL BOUNCED!! over 600 of them!! It’s now been one week and employees STILL haven’t been paid. The lies being told are many and varied over why, but still no MONEY!!!!! Employees are incurring bank overdraft charges as well and bounced check charges and everyone’s credit will be negatively affected. Many banks have told account holders that they will no longer cash Bluestone-Mechel payroll checks and employees will have to deposit checks and wait up to 10 days for them to clear from now on. Where is the money? All we are told is lies. Where is the Union? No where that I can see. Where is the Law? If I write a worthless check over $1000 dollars it’s a felony, so what about the person who issues over 600 worthless checks at well over $1000 each? Not a damn thing so far. Where is the media? They were all over the story when Jim Justice sold the company to Mechel, but now that regular families are hurting, they’re not interested either.”

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/beckley-wv/T5...

Another day & another comment caught by the spamonator on Ken Wards' Blog..

This time I didn't just zap my page off out of frustration at being blocked, but copied all the commands & info that returned, in addition to the canned reply of

"Sorry, but your comment has been flagged by the spam filter running on this blog: this might be an error, in which case all apologies. Your comment will be presented to the blog admin who will be able to restore it immediately.
You may want to contact the blog admin via e-mail to notify him."

I've looked over the info trying to figure out what any of it means & I've come to this conclusion -- blacklist =(my IP number which I'm not putting on here)-

& my karma is 4.2 (whatever that means)

but here's my 2 cents from my experience & reading the blog and googling, since I've not never set up a blog or webpage & I've no idea what tools & dashboards are available to screen out or censor people...

Blogger moderators/administors can use settings to 1.always allow certain folks to get through, 2.automatically flag a site from getting through & automatically deleting the submission,
3.catch the comment to be reviewed by the moderator & later poster (some sites catch all posts, for review before posting to public -- I had **one** post that appeared on my view of the running blog comments, with a note that it was awaiting moderation - it later went poof)
4. Catch the comment - allow it to appear & apologize for the inconvenience & ask that you contact the administator to discuss the problem

Not doing that -- right now since all the site has is my IP - although if I did email - the outgoing name would be informed citizen (not much to glean there) but as I'm not a technie, I have no idea what info I give to sites & I try to stick to reputable and fair, even-handed sites - but when it comes to Ken Ward's blog - I do believe he rules with an iron fist & only allows certain comments to get through.

That's his right, I just wish he would own up to his type of moderation. My comments (as far as I know) are able to be seen by the moderation & he has MY email address since I've registered with the Gazette & my email address is included with each comment that gets censored.

and here's the nasty post I was trying to submit --

"AGF-C and Daniel - great points that I would have added if not for the uncertainty of having my comments caught by the spamonator & the possibility of never appearing here. Heck, I 'm typing these words now with the feeling that they'll never see sunshine.

I hope more coal people will comment here so regular folks get a more balanced view of the industry & just what the coal industry does to obtain permits & how they are regulated afterwards & just how much it costs to start up a new mine before the first dollar of profit is seen."

in response to a couple of comments here:

Coal Tattoo investigates: Is there a MTR permit crisis?

http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2009/11...

I probably should add this bit that I read on another site

"Blacklist: most of the blacklist entries are automated, and it’s unlikely you’d end up there by mistake. However the user may have added certain words or IP that affect you."

yep - I think my IP is checked to never let a comment go through

\"Blacklist\";s:6:\ "reason\";s:47:\ "1 blacklist match.(*4 digit number*= 1XX.X0.XX.XXX (my IP replaced with X's)

checking out Massey CEO Don Blankenship's twitters, I see that I'm not the only one shut out from offering an opinion on the Gazette website. I'd sure be ticked off though if not allowed to respond IF every time I turned around I found my name or picture on the Newspaper blog site or in the "real" news section.

I wonder if Mr. Blankenship has ever tried submitting a comment to the blog? A good place to try would be on Ken's "Tough break for Massey" blog.

Ken often admonishes writers for ridicule and/or name calling, or trying to draw a link from A to B without backup- guess he's exempt from his own rules:

"Tough break for Massey’s Don Blankenship

This week, the folks at The Huffington Post put together their list of Most Dangerous Global Warming Deniers.

Massey Energy President Don Blankenship didn’t make the cut. Maybe he’s just not in the same league as Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and George Will. But it’s not for lack of trying."

http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2009/10...

twitters:

Haught will not allow me to respond to numerous letters attacking me.
12:25 PM Nov 3rd from web Gazette editor Jim Haught advised today that I will only be allowed 1 letter every 30 days
12:17 PM Nov 3rd from web Charleston Gazette trying to censor me on Global Warming views.

http://twitter.com/DonBlankenship

and check out the pic he always uses for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2009/11...

Here one

http://www.doi.gov/welcome.html or

here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Salazar

They say pictures are worth a thousand words & perhaps Ken is trying to send a message with the photograph images he uses in his blog. Photojournal Jill Greenberg admitted to purposely using unflattering shots of John McCain & Glenn Beck.

What else is new with the media - local & national? Nothing - skewed news, unflattering & sometimes photoshopped photos & daily omissions and censorship of important facts and opinions.

Well, if you can't join them - make your own!

It is clearly obvious that this "Ken" is not interested in hearing any opinions &/or facts from coal supporters. That's fine, just shows that he's asinine, biased, delusion, & anti-American - First Amendment! Can “Ken” spell INFRIGMENT??

Start a boycott against his one-minded, diminutive blog! These anti-coal radicals would have a sit-in, march, TV commercial if the tables were turned! I say start your own coal blog and reject all comments from any and all "tree huggers" and/or environmentalists! If "Ken" can do it, so can you!