I’d like to talk about the purpose of this Website.
It really boils down to one thing: transparency.
I think it’s important for people to know about people in the public eye who have potential to have – and actually DO have – influence over the public’s thinking and perception of things in general. I’m a professional blogger; I think it’s important to shine a light where light very often doesn’t get shined.
Take for example Las Vegas Review Journal (LVRJ) columnist John L Smith. I know this man’s work very well. He has written several factually incorrect pieces in the Review Journal about me. So that begs the question: If he’s written this kind of factually incorrect stuff about me that I KNOW is inaccurate, and had it published in the newspaper, what else has he gotten wrong? What other errors or omissions has he published under his byline that have influenced the beliefs and actions of the citizens of the Las Vegas area – and beyond, now with the reach of the Internet. How can you trust him? How can you trust his credibility? I know I certainly can’t.
Anyone walking the streets of the Las Vegas area and grabbing a daily newspaper, opening up to John L Smith’s column and reading it would think, “Oh, that’s interesting.”
But anyone who reads what John L Smith writes should look through the posts on this Website to get the complete picture. That’s when it really gets interesting.
As outward appearances go, John L Smith looks like a long-time, up-and-up, successful columnist. But after a little digging and after following some other tips coming from comments posted by my readers, a whole different story emerges.
For example, would it matter to you, the reader, that John L Smith has been hit with a $15 million libel suit, and as a result had to run to bankruptcy court for protection? Now you know what libel is, right? I’ll give you the straight up dictionary definition: “a published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation; a written defamation.” Would it also matter to you that he has a DUI arrest and pleaded no contest several years back? Driving dunk. Is that OK in anybody’s book? A reporter’s or columnist’s stock in trade is their credibility – their trustworthiness. At the end of the day, facts are facts: John L Smith is a libelous, bankrupt and disingenuous person with his own personal agenda.