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Don’t Piss Off a Downeaster. (Especially Not One Who Blogs)
I’ve obviously been out of the loop way out here on the Left Coast, but apparently my home state is at the epicenter of the latest blogosphere furor over freedom of speech. It seems that a Maine-based blogger was criticizing the state’s Department of Tourism over the shoddy, half-assed campaign they were running to drum up interest in tourism, the state’s only number one industry. Since taxpayer money is used to fund these advertising campaigns, it’s perfectly proper for a taxpayer and citizen of the state to critique how effectively his government is spending his money.
Well, apparently not everyone saw it that way, because the advertising firm handling the campaign, Warren Kremer Paino Advertising, filed a multimillion dollar defamation suit against the blogger in a ham-fisted attempt to shut him up.
Never let it be said that the blogosphere doesn’t defend their own, however. WKPA’s Big Brother tactics produced an immediate reaction around the internets, which eventually crossed into the mainstream media and contributed to a tidal wave of horrendous publicity for the firm. Now a state legislator is calling for an investigation of the firm’s tactics and the immediate suspension of their contract with the state. Take that, corporate thugs!
My immediate (and lingering) question was: what the hell has happened to my home state when ridiculous, First Amendment-stifling suits like this are filed in the first place? I mean, I’ve been gone for awhile, but Mainers weren’t generally a vindictive, litigious bunch when I lived there. Quite the opposite, in fact. Re-reading the story, however, provided me with a clue:
State Rep. Stephen Bowen (R-Rockport) has asked the Baldacci administration to suspend its contract with a New York ad agency responsible for the state’s tourism advertising. (italics mine)
Ah, now it all makes sense.
