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UPDATE: May 3, 2007 — As expected, Superior Court Judge James Brown on Wednesday denied a motion by the Santa Barbara News-Press that would have forced the police to turn over a computer containing child pornography — files that the newspaper has insinuated were linked to our former editor, Jerry Roberts.
At the same time, the judge gave the News-Press 120 days to pursue its computer inquisition as part of a $25 million arbitration claim against Roberts. In addition, the News-Press says it will produce a declaration showing that the machine in question was purchased new, not second-hand.
We agree with Roberts' lawyer, Dennis Merenbach, that the real target of the News-Press is not just Roberts, whose ethical standards are impeccable, but the entire profession of journalism.
"What this really comes down to is an attack upon the Fourth Estate," Merenbach told reporters Wednesday. "From a practical standpoint, is this not saying, 'We have the right to smear anybody?' "
Nobody should have that right. UPDATE: April 24, 2007 — On Monday, Jerry Roberts formally requested the Santa Barbara News-Press retract its Sunday story linking him to images of child porn allegedly found on his hard drive. If the paper declines to do so within 30 days, Roberts can sue for libel. COMMENTARY: April 23, 2007 — We were sickened on Sunday to learn that a front-page story in the Santa Barbara News-Press insinuated that Jerry Roberts, our former editor, was linked with images of child pornography that were allegedly discovered on his company computer after he resigned. This latest attack on Roberts by Wendy McCaw, the News-Press owner, can only be described as yellow journalism, written for the purpose of smearing an adversary — in this case, an ethical journalist who quit last summer because he believed McCaw was interfering in news reporting. McCaw had previously filed an arbitration claim against Roberts for $25 million, alleging breach of contract. Now she seems bent on destroying Roberts’ reputation with a story that never would have been published about anyone had someone of Roberts’ caliber been in charge, with 30 years in the business. Sunday’s story did not carry a byline or present a shred of evidence that Roberts was connected to 15,000 images of child pornography that were found on his hard drive. In a nasty display of witch-hunting, the article was published even though no one was arrested and no charges were filed. The District Attorney’s office called off the investigation for lack of evidence more than six weeks ago, so why is McCaw bringing it up now, except to blacken the name of a decent man? During a press conference Sunday afternoon at the office of his Santa Barbara lawyer, Dennis Merenbach, Roberts said that nobody from the paper had tried to reach him for comment before publishing the child porn story — a breach of the most basic rules of fairness in reporting. “I have absolutely, categorically, nothing to do with this material,” Roberts told the press, with a crowd of former News-Press employees on hand for support.  Linda Kiefer and Jerry Roberts, center, meet reporters Sunday with lawyer Dennis Merenbach. Photo by Jeff Clark / SBN Roberts’ wife, Linda Kiefer, wept as she told reporters she was proud that her husband would “not back down from the truth.” Roberts produced court documents showing that he had submitted to a private lie detector test to clear his name. He passed the test with flying colors — but we think it’s unconscionable that he had to go through it in the first place. Other court documents released by Roberts on Sunday state that the computer could have been purchased second-hand by the News-Press, and that it had been used by several News-Press employees. In addition, the documents state, the computer was subject to pornographic spam and could have been accessed without a password by anyone entering Roberts’ unlocked office. Yet the disingenuous headline on Sunday’s story was: “News-Press seeks exam of computer used by ex-editor Roberts containing child porn.” It seems to us that McCaw has been trying to ruin Roberts’ name and make him and his family miserable ever since he resigned in early July. Why would she impound his computer and send it to a data recovery firm for investigation, except to look for dirt? At one point, the documents show, McCaw’s head of security, Nick Montano, told a top manager that Roberts might “end up in jail.”  Linda Kiefer, wife of Jerry Roberts, said she was proud of her husband. Photo by Jeff Clark / SBN We think the filing itself was a ruse to create any pretext, however flimsy, for Sunday’s story. Obviously, child pornography is contraband, and the police don’t hand over contraband. We tried repeatedly on Sunday to reach News-Press Associate Editor Scott Steepleton to ask him why the story ran, but he did not return our calls. It was, as Merenbach put it, “a really black day in Santa Barbara.” McCaw can now add another count of character assassination to the sorry list of threats, intimidation, lawsuits and firings she’s been using for nearly 10 months to silence her opponents, who have sought to defend workers’ rights and stand up for a free press. Roberts is considering whether he will sue. But in the meantime, there are things you can do to put a stop to McCaw’s attacks on journalists. Please send McCaw a message that her tactics are shameful and illegal and have no place in this community. If you subscribe, please cancel your subscription. If you advertise, don’t do business with the News-Press. Please support this Web site, produced by the eight of us reporters who were illegally fired by McCaw. Together, we can get back our dignity and rebuild the shattered reputation of our once-proud community newspaper.
DOCUMENTS
Update (4/23/07):
Documents Released at Sunday's Press Conference (4/22/07):
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