Editorial: The Everett Advocate – “Truth” in Advertising

Miriam-Webster’s dictionary defines the word “advocate” as “one that pleads the cause of another”, or “one that defends or maintains a cause or proposal.” In some countries, lawyers are called “advocates”, and just like a lawyer, will plead a case for the right amount money. Evidently, so will the Everett Advocate.

Where is the evidence that the Everett Advocate will support your cause for the right amount of money? Think back to when the Advocate first appeared on the scene, around 1995. The editor’s two favorite targets were Superintendent of Schools Frederick Forestiere, who was referred to as a “mental midget”, and the Everett Leader Herald, another of our weekly newspapers, which was referred to as “The Fishwrap.” Vitriolic commentaries appeared weekly on these two topics, and at one point, the Superintendent actually filed suit against the paper for libel. The paper countersued. It was quite the circus – the Superintendent and the Leader Herald against The Everett Advocate. According to an article that appeared in the Boston Globe on April 15, 1997 (‘Fishwrap’ vs. The Felon in Everett’s War of Slurs, Foes Duke It Out through Rival Newspapers), the feud had been going on for two years at the time of their article, and there was no end in sight.

Then, somewhere along the line, something interesting happened. The Everett Advocate became a supporter of the Superintendent. There were no more nasty commentaries, no more references to the “mental midget” – which leads one to ask -- what happened? Ad revenue is what happened. The Superintendent started placing ads in the Everett Advocate and the Everett Advocate began advocating for the Superintendent.

This happens frequently during each election cycle as well. The candidate that provides the highest amount of ad revenue wins the endorsement of the Everett Advocate. The candidate with connections to the Superintendent, or any other high paying customer, gets favorable press. There is empirical evidence of this with the Connolly-Smith race for State Representative. The Superintendent did not want Smith to win because Smith had challenged him earlier in the year regarding school department overspending, and the Superintendent is not a man who likes to be challenged. In fact, this very same Globe article referenced above referred to the Superintendent as “ . . . a man who likes to be in charge, likes having things in place.” And suddenly, in spite of years of reasonable press in the Advocate, the paper suddenly turned on Smith, distorting facts and engaging in personal attacks on his character. The “paper” then went on to print very expensive ads from the Connolly campaign and ultimately endorsed his candidacy. A strange coincidence or a testament to the old adage “follow the money”?

The Everett Advocate is an advocate in its basest sense – a hired gun. Its goal is not to report the news or to raise the level of debate on the issues -- if anything, it panders to the lowest common denominator. It’s about the money. It is not a newspaper -- it’s a pulpit for sale to the highest bidder. The publication is free, but if you want real news about Everett, you’re going to have to look elsewhere – because you really do get what you pay for.