Santa Barbara News-Press controversy
[2] The controversy led to at least three civil suits and one criminal investigation, as well as to the successful unionization of the editorial workers at the Santa Barbara, California, newspaper.
[3][5] The proximate cause of the controversy included McCaw's intervention to halt the publication of a story about the drunk driving conviction of acting publisher Armstrong.
"[4] Around 60 non-newsroom workers put their names to a full-page advertisement in the News-Press on February 14, 2007, in which they thanked McCaw and expressed their frustration with what they called the anti–News-Press actions of ex–newsroom staff and others.
[6] Conservative radio talk show host Laura Schlessinger, a resident of neighboring Montecito, was hired to replace Brantingham as a twice-weekly columnist in July 2006.
[9] In September, mental health columnist Dr. Michael Seabaugh resigned, after the News-Press published an apology for a critical column he wrote about Schlessinger.
[11] Six reporters, Dawn Hobbs, Rob Kuznia, Barney McManigal, John Zant, Tom Schultz and Melissa Evans, were fired by the News-Press on February 5–6, 2007, for participating in a freeway overpass demonstration.
[14] A unionization effort was launched after the July 6 incident, and those in favor of joining the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters garnered a 33–6 (85%) victory in a vote conducted by the National Labor Relations Board on September 27, 2006.
[20] Ampersand sued the weekly Santa Barbara Independent in federal court on October 26, 2006, claiming that the posting of an unpublished draft article by a recently fired News-Press staffer constituted copyright infringement.
[citation needed] In November 2007 the trial judge Edward Rafeedie granted Ampersand summary judgment on its copyright infringement claim, holding that the posting of the draft article was not fair use.
He reserved decision on the trade-secret claim relating to the arbitration article, pending resolution of Ampersand's motion to compel the writer to answer questions about his source of information.
The judge also dismissed the unfair competition and tortious interference claims, stating that they were preempted by federal copyright law and the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
[23] Eventually the parties settled the case: The Independent agreed not to challenge the court's ruling that it had violated federal copyright law.
[23][24] Ampersand filed suit on December 12, 2006, against Chapman University Professor Susan Paterno, author of the article "Santa Barbara Smackdown" that appeared in the American Journalism Review.
[citation needed] McCaw's lawyer, A. Barry Cappello, sent a letter to 44 attorneys in the Santa Barbara area on September 11, 2006, urging them not to provide legal support for former News-Press employees.
"[35][36] The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California responded with a letter expressing the opinion that legal action against the small business owners would fail.
[40] On April 22, 2007, the News-Press published a front-page article stating that the Santa Barbara Police Department had viewed nearly 15,000 pornographic images on a company computer hard drive once used by former editor Roberts, some of which amounted to child pornography.
[citation needed] Veteran journalist Lou Cannon, a resident of the area, wrote an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times on May 13, 2007, lamenting the treatment of Roberts and the controversy at the News-Press.
