Newspaper Incites Division, Promotes Exclusion

News outlets thrive on chaos and controversy; it makes for good business.

In a previous article entitled A Campaign of Misdirection and Rhetoric, the power players in the current election campaign were identified as the school and the media, who have used their combined force to exert unchecked influence over many kids, parents, and community members.  In the first installment, we covered the actions and conduct of Superintendent Long and the school board, setting a tone of intimidation at the top, which ultimately set the tone of the proponent’s campaign. In this installment, we will cover how the Baxter Bulletin has played a role in amplifying the message and further dividing our community.

It has been reported by multiple individuals that sometime during the week of January 23^rd, Superintendent Long called members of the local media into a meeting to request their pledge of support during the millage campaign.  All it takes is cursory review of the local news coverage to see where most of the local media coverage slanted toward advocacy versus informing.

In multiple editorials, the Baxter Bulletin has denounced many individuals who oppose this tax increase by lazily slapping a label on them and associating them with one local political group, instead of listening to the nuances of individual reasoning. This newspaper has even published an editorial that seems to suggest that individuals opposed to this tax increase should move to Alpena, to be in proximity of a well-known white supremacist group, claiming it would be a better fit for their ideologies.   This newspaper has attempted to categorize many who hold concerns about this tax as interlopers, extremists, racists, has inferred they are not welcome here, and has inferred that newcomer’s should have no say.

This newspaper has attempted to smear people who may be concerned about an additional tax, without accounting for their myriad of reasons. This includes the poor who cannot afford another drain on their finances. The retired, anxiously watching their retirement savings dwindle at an increasing rate and growing more concerned about their future financial security. The working family, dependent on two incomes to keep a roof over their head and food on their table. Individuals whose personal values and principles do not embrace the idea of using force against struggling individuals and families by adding an additional burden to them. Someone concerned about the high price tag and growing debt burden to the school. Any of these individuals could feel targeted by this newspaper’s inflammatory messaging.

The impact of this type of divisive and toxic messaging in the local newspaper could be catastrophic. Who would even consider moving into a community where the long-standing print publication frequently prints these types of attacks on so many members of this community? I assure you, folks on either side of many issues still have more in common than any politically slanted editorials want to portray. News outlets thrive on chaos and controversy; it makes for good business.

In my opinion, the Baxter Bulletin has incited more division and strife in this community than any other single media outlet. These writers have attempted to paint individuals with an opinion different from their own as a wretch who should be outcast. It appears that their editorial platform can be used for personal and political attacks, not just mere opinion.

An April 29^th editorial by Managing Editor, Sonny Elliot, entitled Consider the Source Before You Vote, provides an example of this newspaper’s biased political attacks. During his ramblings against individuals with which he disagrees, Elliot states,

Many of these folks that are leading the charges of their respective local groups are interlopers. Just because you move to a community does not give the right to change it. Readily available online public records indicate many of these interlopers do not own their homes, but instead rent them. They only pay personal property tax on items such as cars, boats and other things they've registered with the Department of Finance and Administration.

Elliot’s statements could easily be perceived as invalidating the right of any new family or individual in our community to participate in the discussion. It could be construed by individuals who lack the resources to buy their own home as a rebuke to not participate in the local election process. Casting such a broad net covers a lot of people; people that Elliot really knows nothing about and has not considered.

Interestingly, while Mr. Elliot targets members of groups with which he disagrees, calling them interlopers, he fails to mention Superintendent Long’s residency. During Jake Long’s eight-year reign as the leader of MHSD, he has never owned property in Baxter County. Long has never owned a home or paid real estate tax here. To date, there has been no evidence found of Long ever assessing any personal property in Arkansas. He temporarily rented an apartment last year to establish minimal residency requirements to register as a voter. Why did Mr. Elliot not include this in his rantings, and disclose the fact that the leader of the campaign to raise our area taxes has never paid property taxes here?   Is it because Elliot selects his targets based on political views only and not the merits of the facts? It would seem that way, wouldn’t it?

The Baxter Bulletin has also taken aim at MH Watchdogs, a blog and social media account dedicated to finding and sharing the truth of what is going on behind the closed doors of our public entities.  In the same April 29^th editorial, Elliot states,

“….most of this problem comes from social media, where every person who can peck a keyboard has access to spread unadulterated lies and conspiracy theories, with no one there to fact check them.

What we’re seeing now in the Twin Lakes Area is just a continuation of that trend. Groups of people who like to call themselves “patriots” and “watchdogs”, or those want to throw around the word "accountability" have seized on the millage as their first battle issue.

A self-proclaimed watchdog sent me a convoluted letter to the editor and asked me to print it. After reading it and finding it inaccurate and unbelievable, I told the writer I would have to find some verification of the alleged facts the letter included. When I reached out to the most-qualified source I knew to attempt to verify the information, I was warned the letter writer was a serial FOIA abuser, had their own agenda and an axe to grind, I never returned any emails from the person. Sadly, I also lost access to the source.

Some might say that I denied the letter writer the right to free speech, but our Letters to the Editor policy that has been in effect for decades, clearly states the following:

“The Bulletin does not publish anonymous letters or those using pseudonyms. Letters considered potentially libelous, of questionable taste, or which contain personal attacks on private citizens or businesses will not be published. Any claims must be verifiable.”

In a similar editorial, Baxter Bulletin “Community Reporter,” Helen Mansfield, wrote the following in her May 4, 2023, editorial entitled Yeah, THAT is not my job…

With the help of the woman behind the “MH Watchdogs” substack page, Mr. Journalist broke a story that members of the Mountain Home School Board may have violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act in a set of shared, group texts. I acknowledged the accusations in my last Mountain Home School Board of Education story. I intend to follow up with lawyers representing both sides of the issue after the May 9 school board and millage election. I think their coverage on the issue has been sufficient, I have other things to report about. I’m not sugar coating anything, I’m just busy.

Since the failure of the last millage election in August, The Baxter Bulletin received communications from the woman behind the MH Watchdogs. She wanted us to do her bidding. She has an obvious act to grind with the school district. She wrote Letters to the Editor that contained incorrect and unreliable information. The managing editor/general manager declined to publish them. That doesn’t mean we’re biased toward the school or trying to protect it, we just won’t be held liable for the falsehoods perpetrated by others.

It appears the Baxter Bulletin somehow feels threatened by MH Watchdogs and our independent research and publishing, in which we’ve provided documented evidence to support our claims. The Baxter Bulletin editor and reporter appear to be pretty worked up about the only letter ever submitted to them, sent on September 2, 2022, which they declined to publish.  What was so damning and convoluted in that letter, that the Baxter Bulletin’s two leading writers would take such offense to it?  Maybe you can tell me, because here it is, in all its 350-word glory:

I’m also providing all the email communications between Mr. Elliot and me, so you can ascertain for yourself the tone and tenor of those communications.  Please read those here. Mansfield’s assertion that there were multiple letters is false.

What is even more telling than their apparent obsession with this one letter, is the way they attempt to portray it.  In Elliot’s editorial, he sandwiched this reference to MH Watchdogs and the unpublished Letter to the Editor between his discourse about the national climate around racism and hate, and another issue about someone else trying to publish a questionable slur in a letter to the editor. His context, placement, and explanation for not publishing it appear to be an attempt to portray the above letter as something inappropriate and not meeting a standard worthy of publication.  

The information shared in the unpublished letter to the editor has been gathered through hours of personal research through years of county tax collector records and old election ballots. I realized after a few email exchanges, that it was beating a dead horse to ask them to publish this or any other letter. Though Mr. Elliot told me he was going to validate the information, it appears he only exerted enough effort to get a disparaging comment from his “most-qualified source” so he could feel justified in refusing to pursue any further validation of the letter. Who was the “most-qualified source” that Elliot considered to be an expert on historical school millage elections, who would also have knowledge of FOIA requests to the school? Who would be motivated to disparage me? Hmmm?

Let me assure you, it’s a lot of work to uncover the truth and to research facts, and the Baxter Bulletin does not appear to care enough for the truth to exert any effort in that endeavor.

Here is another example of their willingness to just make stuff up and try to pass it off as news.  Back in January, Mansfield attempted to write a news article covering the Mountain Home School Board’s regular monthly meeting.  I say “attempted” because it turned into a political hit piece instead of a report on the school board meeting. Mansfield was not even present at that board meeting. Yet, she penned a report and summarized the article with a false claim when she wrote, “Prior to adjourning for its executive session to discuss personnel, the board opened the floor to public comment.  There were no takers in the audience.”  

You can listen to the recording of the school board meeting for yourself here, and forward to the last minute of the recording to confirm there was never an opportunity for public comment.  I know, because I was actually there, unlike Mansfield.  I guess there was some outcry from others in the community about Mansfield’s article, because the Baxter Bulletin later printed corrections, and subsequently removed it from their website. Their corrections never addressed this error about the board meeting.

I was alarmed by the closing remark in this article, because the lack of opportunity for public comment in school board meetings has been a source of contention for many in the Mountain Home community, including myself. The school board has been severed from contact with the constituents who elected them. 

Compare the Mountain Home School Board’s meetings, and Mansfield’s reporting on them, with this scathing review by the Arkansas Times on Conway Schools, calling foul for their lack of openness in how they manage public comments during board meetings.  Conway School Board requires the public to sign a card before speaking, and they limit the individuals to three minutes each.

Mountain Home school board is so removed and isolated from the public, so disconnected from a philosophy of openness and transparency, that the policy from Conway’s school board, criticized by media around the state as too restrictive, would be a refreshing change for our community. Why is this reporter so reticent to report the truth, and press for freedom of information and openness? Why would she misrepresent the school board’s actions in her made-up article?

I will share one more example of this newspaper’s slanted reporting during this campaign, though there are many more that could be included. Mansfield submitted an FOI to my own employer requesting copies of all work emails referencing the Mountain Home School District millage election. She received the responsive documents last week, but I’m confident she has no intention of publishing them. She was digging into my work emails, I assume with the hopes of finding evidence of me abusing public email, but what she received was blistering proof of the conduct demonstrated over and over by certain members of the pro-tax campaign.  I’m confident Mansfield will not disclose the FOI documents she received, because they show the caustic toxicity that has festered within some members of the “yes” campaign and has manifested through numerous personal attacks on individuals.

Through my own official FOI request, I received the same harassing documents and recordings that were provided to Mansfield, along with a copy of her FOI request.  Here are the email communications that were provided to Mansfield. These are communications I received from a community member who claims to represent the college. Here is the voicemail message left on my work phone, which Mansfield now has in her own records.

The Baxter Bulletin has yet to report on the likely FOIA violations of the superintendent and school board. They have failed to use the power of FOI to shine a light on the inner workings of the school. Yet, Mansfield states in her editorial, “I have other things to report about. I’m not sugar coating anything, I’m just busy.” Yes, this newspaper is too busy digging for information on someone because of a difference of opinion on a tax issue, while at the same time accusing that same individual of being an abuser of FOI. Hypocrisy, perhaps? As representatives of the press, they should understand FOI and its intent. They also should have been exercising it for years to hold our local government accountable and to keep the public informed of their inner workings. But they haven’t. They’ve played along. They’ve created alliances. They’ve become part of the problem.  They’ve neglected their professional duties and are now attacking citizens who have been forced to do it on their own to get accurate information. There has never been an abuse of FOIA by MH Watchdogs while gathering information. For the first time in the known history of this area, it’s being used for its intended purpose. That has ruffled a lot of feathers, and has also highlighted how important it is for our local media to use the power of this law on behalf of the citizens.

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Read MH Watchdogs’ articles Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, Mountain Home School District’s Secret Text Communications and Violations of the Law, and Is Mountain Home School District Violating the Law? for more information on the FOI requests to MHSD.

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Helen Mansfield and Sonny Elliot have made numerous false insinuations about me and many others, in their catch-all language. The question now is, who holds the Baxter Bulletin liable for its own publication of falsehoods?  Do they think they can hide behind the use of “opinion” and “editorials” as they attempt to smear many in the community for holding a different opinion?  Who will hold the Baxter Bulletin liable for inciting harassment and cyber-bullying through its blatantly biased editorial pieces?  (Yes, I have evidence of this). Maybe they don’t worry about the legalities or moralities at all, because they know their owners pay big money for insurance protection. In my opinion, the Baxter Bulletin publication needs to just go away and be gone; they cannot be depended on as a reliable source of information, or as an example of civility.

Only one member of the media has reached out to speak with me - Chris Fulton of the MH Observer.   The Baxter Bulletin and KTLO have made no effort to talk with me, to know me, to request copies of the documents gathered, or to discuss any of the information gleaned through hours of reading and research.  If they had spoken with me, instead of publishing assumptions and misrepresentations, they would have found me reasonable and moderate on many issues regarding this high school. If they had spoken with me, they would have known that I’m not an active member of any political party, have no political affiliation, and that I judge each issue and candidate on individual merit.  Instead of demonstrating an open-minded, unbiased search for truth, and considering different perspectives and viewpoints, the Baxter Bulletin has apparently chosen to present many in Baxter and Marion counties as extremists and racists and has told them to leave.

These people have gravely misjudged me.  I’m not a transplant, or an extremist, or a racist.  I’m a life-long member of this community who comes from a family afflicted by generational poverty. I am educated. I am informed. I own my home. I have never been politically active, other than exercising my right to vote and an occasional social media post if that counts. I have nothing to gain by speaking out on this issue, but I have a lot to lose. I have paid a heavy price, along with my family. I’ve been bullied, harassed, and targeted by people, including many I considered to be friends.  But I am not afraid.  They do not hold that power over me. I have spoken up, and I will continue to do so.

My intent is to uncover truth and share it. I believe folks will realize that freedom and information in the hands of the people disrupts the cronyism, and upsets the good ole’ boy network and the groupies that hang on their fringe hoping to gain favor. Be alert citizens of Baxter and Marion counties.  Be ever watchful. Be awake. Be vigilant. The fight to retain our freedoms starts right here in our own home.

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In the next installment, MH Watchdogs will review the local radio stations’ coverage during the election campaign.