Ha! Gotta love that poetic justice. Veteran LA Times
reporter, Jim Rainey, wrote an article last week
titled "LAWeekly's aggressive slant erodes quality".
http://lablips.dailyradar.com/story/la_weekly_s_aggressive_s
lant_erodes_quality_los/
It was about Daniel Heimpel's biased opinion pieces of LA
Mayor Villarosa that were thinly veiled as professional
journalism.
Stewart is a real piece of work who, according to Rainey's
article, has a long standing reputation for using these
tactics. Heimpel appears to be her MiniMe.
If you aLL recall, this dynamic duo did a hit piece on my
family and I last summer. We were the victims de jour of
these less than forthright tactics used by Ms. Stewart and
her prodigy,MiniMe Heimpel.
As you all know, I advocate for people made ill from
environmental exposures to mold. Through my and others'
efforts, we have effectively exposed a deception in US
public health policy. At our urging, Senator Edward Kennedy
requested a Federal Government Accountability Office audit
into the matter. As a result, we now have less conflicted
science over the issue coming from the Federal government.
For my efforts of being a good and involved citizen,
Stewart and Heimpel chose to character assassinate not only
me, but my husband and children- who are not even involved
in advocating over the issue. Through this assassination
they attempted to discount my words and thus discount the
words of all of those for whom I advocate.
No less than seven of the people Heimpel claimed to have
interviewed for the hit piece article, stated in writing to
LA Weekly that they were grossly misquoted or never even
interviewed at all. Some, who were interviewed via email,
provided documentation of the false quotes attributed to
them. One even blogged of Heimpel's misquotes of him. He
wrote that he was never asked about me by Daniel Heimpel or
anyone at LAWeekly. This blogger is not even on the same
side of the issue I am.
http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/la-weekly-the-mold-rush-and-
the-case-of-sharon-kramer-and-bruce-kelman/
Even after being told of all the misquotes, told that I was
getting hang up calls in the middle of the night and told
that I was fearful for the safety of my children from the
hatred inciting, false light writing of Heimpel and
Stewart; LAWeekly, and their parent company of New Times,
Village Voice, still refused to retract.
Now, Jill Stewart is whining that she has been wronged by
the media. calling Mr. Rainey's truthful writing a "cheap
broadside".
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oew-
stewart25-2009jun23,0,5123526.story
Personally, I find it now to be even greater insight into
Stewart's character that she would cry foul for someone
bringing the harm from her interpretation of journalism to
greater light. Apparently, Stewart can dish it out but she
can't take it.
I also find it to be a poor taste joke that MiniMe
Heimpel received an investigative journalist award for this
garbage about the Mayor. This is an insult to the true
journalists that are left out there who try to report
balanced and accurate news.
Mr. Rainey's understanding of Jill Stewart's bizarre
interpretation of the word "journalist" is exactly
correct. From what I can tell, many of these little
weeklies and their linked blogs have become nothing more
than a vast, agenda driven, marketing network of Village
Voiceovers, who could care less about truth in journalism.
Disguised as investigative journalists, the dynamic duo of
Stewart and Heimpel are a real danger to society.
Sharon Kramer
snk1955@aol.com
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