Tag Archives: Richard Convertino

Bait and switch for press ‘freedom’

By Joel Thurtell Would some wise person in the media please explain to me how the government’s surveillance of The Associated Press’s phones translates into a new push for a so-called federal “shield” to insulate mainstream journalists from subpoenas? Somehow, … Continue reading

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Ashenfelter-Convertino: Essential reading

By Joel Thurtell A federal judge has ordered the Detroit Free Press to reveal the names of US Justice Department officials who illegally disclosed secret grand jury information about a former assistant US attorney, Richard Convertino. Convertino has sued the Justice … Continue reading

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Convertino case: Judge orders Free Press to name sources

By Joel Thurtell Former assistant US attorney Rick Convertino’s lawsuit against the US Justice Department is still alive, despite a federal judge’s decision to let a Detroit Free Press reporter, now retired, off the hook as a witness in the … Continue reading

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That hole in their story, again

By Joel Thurtell According to the May 21, 2009 Detroit Free Press, five lawyers involved with last year’s Kwamegate text message scandal have been charged with violating the lawyers’ canon of ethics and some may even have committed crimes in a coverup. … Continue reading

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Spin, spin, spin

By Joel Thurtell The more you repeat a lie, the more it overwhelms the truth. They know that maxim well at the Detroit Free Press. It took four writers, two of them Puliltzer laureates, to put that old rule to … Continue reading

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Fixing Free Press A-C bias

By Joel Thurtell Normally, I’m not in favor of outsourcing, especially when it involves covering local news stories. How could reporters in, say, Bangalore, India have enough background, culturally and politically, to report accurately and concisely on an American news … Continue reading

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JOTR to judge: Appoint prosecutor in A/C

By Joel Thurtell The twists and turns in the case of onetime Alaska Senator Ted Stevens must be mind-boggling to Washingtonians. But the outcome there might also turn some heads in Detroit, if a federal judge here chose to do … Continue reading

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Holes in their story

By Joel Thurtell I’m happy to see that finally the Detroit Free Press in its February 12, 2009 version of the David Ashenfelter and Richard Convertino saga has started referring to lawyers on the paper’s side as “Free Press attorneys” … Continue reading

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Gloating mugs

By Joel Thurtell That photo of reporter David Ashenfelter and attorney Herschel Fink in the February 11, 2009 online Detroit Free Press said it all. They look like they dodged a big fat bullet. Well, it was Dave who dodged … Continue reading

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Off guard and then some

By Joel Thurtell If somebody offered me a fifth of my favorite single-malt Scotch, I’d take it. But I hope I never have to take the fifth the way ace Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter took it on December … Continue reading

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