Regurgitating press releases makes a reporter's job easy. The journalist needn't contact people to represent both sides of a story, do research, or anything. Thatâs what the Seattle Times and the PI did last April, when feds announced a pot crackdown called Operation Green Reaper, and the papers published one-sided articles about the heroic efforts of police, agents, and prosecutors. We called out the reporters as Stupid Fucking Credulous Hacks for giving uncommonly biased coverage specifically to the issue of pot busts. They get both sides of other storiesâwhaling, plastic bags, etc.âbut not pot. Well, now that the defendants in Operation Green Reaper have been prosecuted, the Times has learned its lessonânot by actually asking if the busts reduced pot use, made streets safer, reduced gang violence, or hand any other achievements that would supposedly justify the war on potâbut by removing a reporterâs name from the piece. Yesterday's article is bylined by Seattle Times Staff. They donât want to say who wrote it, perhaps, because he or she will be called out as a Stupid Fucking Credulous Hack. Or, it appears, because the federal prosecutor's office essentially wrote the Times article.
Compare the press release from the prosecutor's office to the Times article...
Federal prosecutorâs press release:
Following a two and a half week trial, a federal jury today found THIET VAN TRAN, a/k/a David TRAN, 41, of Seattle, guilty of Conspiracy to Manufacture Marijuana and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering. TRAN will be sentenced on May 15, 2009, by U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones. These convictions carry a potential penalty of 10 years to life imprisonment, a potential fine of up to $4 million dollars, a term of supervision following release of up to five years, and potential forfeiture of several hundreds of thousands of dollars of drug proceeds, inventory, and property involved in the money laundering offense.
Scribes on Fairview:
Thiet Van Tran, 41, of Seattle, was found guilty in U.S. District Court of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Sentencing is set for May 15, when he could face at least 10 years behind bars and forfeiture of money and assets.
Federal prosecutorâs press release:
The charges against TRAN and Scitek Garden Supply arose in April of 2008, as part of âOperation Green Reaper,â a crackdown on suppliers and financiers of illegal indoor marijuana grows. Twelve others charged as part of Operation Green Reaper already have pleaded guilty to federal marijuana offenses.
Scribes on Fairview:
Tran was swept up last April after a 13-month federal investigation called "Operation Green Reaper." They arrested a dozen other people and seized some 15,000 pot plants. The other 12 people have already pleaded guilty to federal marijuana charges, prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutorâs press release:
TRAN was the owner of Scitek Garden Supply, LLC, a retail and wholesale outlet located on Pike Street in Auburn, Washington. Evidence at trial established that TRAN and others, through Scitek Garden Supply, knowingly promoted the manufacture of large quantities of marijuana in indoor, residential operations throughout the region, by providing equipment, advice, and supplies, as well as other services, to marijuana growers.
Scribes on Fairview:
Federal prosecutors alleged Tran used his gardening shop, Scitek Garden Supply, to provide equipment, seedlings, supplies and advice to pot growers and laundered up to $1 million in drug money.
Reporters rewrite press releases all the timeâusually about restaurant openings or events without much widespread impact. But the war on drugs costs billions a year, kills innocent people in raids, and has resulted in increased drug use. News coverage of any other miserable war would get a some scrutiny after 30 years of empty-handed results. In the service of objectivity, reporters for daily newspapers make a moral virtue of getting "both sides of the story." The war on pot deserves more than regurgitating government press releases and some scrutinyâat least a fraction the scrutiny our reporters give plastic bags.