The front page of the Seattle Times right now is basically a giant ad campaign smearing one of the candidates they cover, with none of the legally required information about who is funding the ad (link is to PDC requirements). pdc.wa.gov/learn/publicat
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In this case, the top donors to the ad campaign against and for are , Lake Tapps Republican donor Steve Gordon, John Goodman of Goodman Real Estate, real estate developer Jon Runstad, and president Brad Smith.
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Full list of the donors who paid for this ad campaign, which is credited only to "Seattle for Common Sense," here. pdc.wa.gov/browse/campaig
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The city and state tend to take violations of state rules requiring campaigns to disclose who paid for ads like this pretty seriously. Again, the rules require "a list of the names of the five contributors who made the largest contributions of $1,000 or more" on ads like this.
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The ads flash different messages every few seconds, for a total of three versions of the ad on the front page of the . None include the required disclosure, just a tiny reference on one screen of "Seattle For Common Sense."
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I will also note, since a lot of people have recently cited the "wall of separation" to argue that mainstream media have no POV, that anyone going to the Times' website for reporting on the city attorney's race will first see these enormous ads citing ... the Seattle Times.
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If you click on the ad, it sends you to an anti-Thomas-Kennedy website, and if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of THAT website, you can find outdated information about the donors to Seattle for Common Sense that does not include Jon Runstad or Brad Smith.
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Still doesn't fix the problem with having an enormous, provocative ad opposing a political candidate taking up half the *front page* of Seattle's "objective" local newspaper, though... :)
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I'm old enough to remember when newspapers reacted with performative horror to the idea of any sort of advertising polluting their sacrosanct front pages, much less ads describing people they cover as dangerous extremists
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The heavy amount of mailers we've gotten attacking her has made me invested in voting for and encouraging others to do the same. Tired of this kind of politicking.
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