No WhiteWash!

Kingsport Times-News is at it again by reporting that Johnson City, TN is ready to vote on installing red light revenue cameras.  But the Kingsport Times-News simply does not want “letters to the editor” and has closed the debate on the subject.  This decision to close debate, I am sure will not go over well with the customers that keep the Kingsport Times-News in business, but instead will keep their pals in the City of Kingsport government happy since citizen discussion on the subject is closed.

Editor’s note: After publishing numerous letters on red light cameras since they were first suggested for Kingsport, we closed debate on the issue several months ago for letters which simply repeated the same arguments. We will, however, publish letters such as this one which introduce an issue not previously addressed.

Bill Larson, who is the creator and Publisher of Clarksville Online has written many great articles on red light revenue cameras.  See links to Clarksville Online1,

Clarksville Online2

See the link to University of South Florida College of Public Health report below

Rather than improving motorist safety, red-light cameras significantly increase crashes and are a ticket to higher auto insurance premiums, researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public Health conclude. The effective remedy to red-light running uses engineering solutions to improve intersection safety, which is particularly important to Florida’s elderly drivers, the researchers recommend. Red-light cameras increase crashes and costs, USF report finds

See the Washington Post link, D.C. Red-Light Cameras Fail to Reduce Accidents and my previous posts, Red light Cameras – Do they reduce accidents? Red Light Revenue Camera Timing

Knoxville blog, No Silence Here is on target below concerning the Kingsport Times-News cutting off letters to the editor on red light revenue cameras.

It is interesting, that the Kingsport Times-News can report on Kingsport going to Greeneville to make a presentation on red light cameras, report on Morristown’s concern over safety with red light cameras, and report on two recent major accidents at red light camera locations, but they do not want to hear anything from their customers that keep them in business on the subject.  But, I guess I should not be surprised at their actions since this is the same newspaper that promoted pornography on their web site.  See the following links;

Kingsport Times-News promotes Pornography and Drug sales,  Bible Belt Newspaper Promotes Porn and Will Kingsport Times-News take responsibility for exposing readers to porn?

Kingsport Times-News: After publishing numerous letters on red light not cameras since they were first suggested for Kingsport, we closed debate on the issue several months ago for letters which simply repeated the same arguments.

Do you suppose the newspaper closed discussion on the attributes of the Chamber of Commerce? I know, rhetorical question.

At a time when it is critical for newspapers to be more inclusive in order to survive, some elitists are still living in the 20th century. Memo to the newspaper: You don’t control the message anymore. Like every other community, Kingsport has blogs.

The Kingsport Times-News has stated that they do not want any more Letters to the Editor that has the subject as red light revenue cameras.  I wonder how many other subjects has been closed by the Times-News.

Red light revenue cameras are a hot issue with local citizens.  While, I am neutral on this subject, I do understand the concerns that others have.  Kingsport, needs to make sure that they are doing everything possible to insure that safety is the number one issue by installing the revenue cameras.

Redflex, the revenue camera manufacture states on their web page that by increasing the yellow light timing, will result in a reduction in red light running.  Kingsport, needs to insure that they have the proper timing considering the road, speed, etc.  Also, Kingsport should make sure that their yellow light time is not to short to avoid being accused of trying to use the revenue camera to increase revenue.  See the link “6 cities that were caught shortening yellow light time for profit“.  Kingsport should insure that they are meeting the Federal and State guidelines for stoplight timing.

If Kingsport is truly concerned about saving lives by installing the revenue cameras, would they still continue the program if it were not a profit maker?

Also, see my post  Red Light Cameras – Do they reduce accidents?

Kingsport Times-News has taken down the links containing comments that were pornographic.  The newspaper’s lack of oversight and management is shameful.  The real question is, will the Times-News take full responsibility and apologize to their readers both in print and online?  Or will they say nothing in hopes that the issue will go away.  As long as there is the Internet, there will be a reminder to folks doing a search that will show Kingsport Time-News’ role in displaying pornographic content or causing harm to their readers’ computers.

To the many great employees of Sandusky Newspapers (parent of Kingsport Times-News), this is not directed at you.  I think the lack of top management direction and oversight at the Kingsport Times-News are the reasons for this issue. The pornographic content did not just appear suddenly.  This has been ongoing for a long time and the failure of the Time-News to fix the problem when I emailed them on January 31, 2008.  When I emailed 44 clergy and many national and local companies, and wrote a post to this blog, then action was taken.

To the many clergy and companies that expressed their concerns to the Times-News, thank you. To those clergy and companies that did not express their views to the Times-News, shame on you.  You can still use the links that I gave you in the email to get to the comment pages.  The comment pages are still present, but only reflect about one day of comments.

To the City of Kingsport,  you use taxpayers money to advertise in the Time-News.  Will you take a position and condemn the Times-News for allowing this to happen?  There was an email sent to a real estate office where a BMA member is employed that will give you greater detail.

For additional information, refer to the previous posts;

Bible Belt Newspaper Promotes Porn

Kingsport Times-News promotes Pornography and Drug sales

It is hard to understand why Kingsport Times-News has not reacted to the porn on their website.  While it appears that they deleted the comments yesterday, they did not fix the problem.  The comments are still coming in and growing.  Below is an example that I copied today from their website and removed all of the links for everyone to see.  If a user clicks on any of the links in the message below, a pop up window appears that you need to download a file.  There is no way to abort out of the browser and you certainly do not want to agree to the download.  The only way to get out is to bring up the Windows Taskmanager and end the program from there.  My antivirus program gives me a pop-up window telling me about a Trojan downloader file.  Oh, I forgot to add, a naked girl appears when you click on any link.  In the comment below, there are 50 links that could be selected.

Please refer to my post

Kingsport-Times-News promotes Pornography and Drug sales

This issue has been ongoing way too long and needs to be corrected now!  It is hard to believe that a newspaper in a Bible Belt area would permit this to happen to their customers.  It make me wonder how they feel about their customers.

The comment below was posted as is for 24 hours.  The explicit words have been edited below to keep this blog available for the general readers (non-adult).

Comment(s): 1. latin lesbian video sexy comics sexso gay movie sex sleeping teen spreading wide open pussy babe love sex sexy naked in the rain red hot chili pepper camping pornic gabrielle porn union free lesbian twins sexiest philippine celebrity cat persian pussy nude hot mamas free xxx porn star movie sex on security video krystal porn steal first her lesbian sex video free sex wall paper sexi bikini lip phat pussy sex swingers mmf fat fucking sluts free hardcore porn star pic free nurse sex movie ginny naked weasley messy tits de duracion gratis larga porn video y girls liking pussy woman who want free sex couple gallery love making sexy angel ann sandy sexy teen free sexy stes stocking beautiful sexy live girls hot hardcore teen sex amateur free gallery sex sexual stamina hardcore asian fuck planet mandy naked castellano en explicito gratis sexo chinese teen nude picture tiffany fallon naked naked kasumi doax cat doll lyric minute pussy wait corridas transexuales xpac sex tape sexy funny adult video gallery gay sexy free hot black pussy video feed free live sex video ads adult couple pic sexy
Comment by Cocod – 2008-03-04 22:02:28

The Kingsport, Tennessee Times-News has allowed it’s website to be used by pornography and drug sites.  The porn content is hard core and I will not give any links, but I will say that it is in the blog section and there are nine different comment pages involved.  Today, the email below went to 44 religious leaders and and another email to national and local companies that advertise in the Times-Union.  If it takes 44 clergy telling their congregations and many national and local advertisers to get their attention, then so be it.  Maybe the loss of revenue will get their attention.

The following is a list of companies that have been alerted of this problem that advertise in the Times-News.  You might want to ask them if they have expressed their concerns to the Times-News.  If you are an advertiser with the Kingsport Times-News, your firm may be added to the list below.  This list will grow until this practice is stopped.  This blog is read by locally and nationally.

• Wal-Mart – Bentonville, Arkansas
• Belk – Orlando, FL
• Blue Ridge Properties
• ReMax Real Estate
• State of Franklin Real Estate
• Century 21 Real Estate
• Hobby Lobby – Okahoma City, Ok
• Wellmont Health Systems
• Rick Hill Imports
• Don Hill Automotive
• WCYB Television
• WEMT Television
• WJHL Television
• Knoxville News Sentinel
• The Tennessean-Nashville
• Food City

As I indicated below in the email, I had brought this to the attention of the Times-News.  I also attempted to get information on the mail/email address for the CEO of Sandusky Newspapers who own many newspapers across the United States and also owns the Times-News  to alert them of this problem.  The Sandusky Newspaper would not give me the address where the CEO was located.  I asked if they had a corporate relations person and was told that they would not provide that information, but would forward my mail to corporate headquarters.  I told them that they might like to have the information quickly, but I would do it by slow mail.

There is no excuse for the Times-News to let this happen.  It is apparent to me that upper management does not have a grasp on what is happening within their organization.  The newspaper need to accept full responsibility for their actions and a public apology is needed.

The email below does not have some of the actual content here because this is not considered an adult site.  I am sure that the religious leaders were shocked at the content I sent them.

If you are offended by Kingsport Times-News actions, then express your feeling to them.

The Kingsport Times-News comments section has hundreds of comments that has links to hard core porn sites.  This has been going on for some time and one month ago I pointed it out to them.  At that time the comments messages were all deleted, but now have grown back to many hundreds.

One would think that it would be safe for children to visit a newspaper webpage without fear of children being exposed to porn.

I am sending this to religious leaders in the Kingsport, Tennessee area.  If you feel that it is ok for the newspaper to have porn on their site, then you don’t need to do anything.  But if you have a problem with it, then take a leadership position and express your feelings to the Kingsport Times-News.

The links below have comments that are disguised as innocent subject matter, but have links to porn sites.  I must warn you, it can be very graphic and be very careful because of Trojan downloader files that try to install themselves on your computer.  Do not let any programs be installed on your computer.  Personally, I would not click on any link without virus protection installed on the computer.

It is my feeling that this needs to stop.  Times-News either needs to moderate the comments as they do the comments when users write a response to the newspaper articles or shut the comment sections down in the list below.

You may say that someone else on the email list above will contact the newspaper, but collectively it will make more of an impression if everyone expresses their concern.

You can contact the following concerning this issue.  The parent company of Kingsport Times-News is Sandusky Newspapers.  Sandusky also owns The Johnson City Press, Jonesborough Herald and Tribune, and The Erwin Record as well as five other newspapers in other parts of the country.

David Rau CEO
Sandusky Newspapers
314 West Market Street
Sandusky, OH 44870-5071

Keith D. Wilson Publisher
Kingsport Times-News
P.O Box 479
701 Lynn Garden Drive
Kingsport, TN 37662-0479
423-246-8121