Nominees for Worst News Mutt of 2011

There are no shortage of news mutts pandering for you attention, so the Shiitake Awards is willing to showcase them and give them exactly what they want. This is the thread to nominate the Worst News Mutt for 2011. You Have until November 30, 2011 to nominate. Post your nominee in the comments section and I will list all current nominees here.
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Current nominees:

Kerry Dougherty of the Virginian-Pilot: Doughtery wrote an article on Nov. 30, 2010 (just missing last year's deadline) entitled "Special laws protecting sex offenders are an insult." The real insult was allowing this article to be printed. Doughtery states that the disclaimer warning people that abusing the public registry should be abolished because it is "unneeded," and then she describes a story that gives the very reason why the law exists in the first place.

"Meet the la test, He's 19-year-old Daniel R. Narron of Hopewell. According to the Times-Dispatch, Narron was arrested in October after he allegedly recognized a 52-year-old sex offender from the registry and pursued him. Police said Narron, who was at the wheel of a Lincoln Navigator with three passengers, chased the older man and knocked him off his moped. The registered offender wasn't hurt, but Narron was charged with attempted murder, attempted malicious wounding by mob and hit-and-run. And misuse of the sex offender registry. In other words, Narron faces more jail time because he allegedly attacked a sex offender than he'd face if he'd committed the exact same crime against an ordinary decent Virginian. That's wrong."

Actually it makes a good case to abolish the registry.  She then says, "And the registry shouldn't be used by vigilantes to torment offenders.When that happens, the culprits should be prosecuted under the same laws that protect all Virginians." Hey Kerry, that is exactly why the law exists in the first place, because of vigilantes.
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Jessica Fargen of the Boston Herald: I'm surprised the Boston Herald has not been represented much on this show, since many ill-written articles have come from that rag. No matter how unbiased one claims to be, when you write an article entitled "Sex fiends sheltered by loopholes," it shows bias. Its a typical fearmongering article:

"An untold number of convicted sexual predators who claim to be sleeping at homeless shelters are going unaccounted for nightly — roaming the Hub under police radar — thanks in part to a legal loophole that has residents sounding alarm." Sound the fear monger alarm!
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Ryan Simms of KIMA-TV29: Like Jessica Fagan, Simms sounds the fear mongering alarm with more scare tactics. In this instance, sex offenders found a "legal loophole" through Washington state's rule on posting mugshots.

YAKIMA -- KIMA uncovered an alarming loophole in local sex offender laws. Through one of your tips, Action News learned there are no rules that require a sex offender to retake a mug shot. That means there is no rule against changing your appearance as soon as a picture is taken.YSO says it does take note of how an offender looks when they have to re-register. Police tells us most sex offenders just have one mug shot taken after their crime.

And if someone was intent on being unnoticed, he'd do it after every check-in, dumbass. However, even if he doesn't alter his appearance he wouldn't be recognized by people who don't check the stupid list.
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Heidi Hemmet of Fox 31 Denver: Heidi helped get a former offender fired from a cook job at a Dairy Queen thanks to her "investigative reporting." Translation-- her yellow journalism. It must have been sweeps week. The ominous story is titled "Sex offender serving ice cream at DQ."

"We confronted ***** while he was working at the Dairy Queen and he tried to get away from our cameras. The owner of the franchise, Molly Pang, defended ***, even after we informed her he is a registered sex offender. "I have no problem with him," she told us. Pang admitted she has several convicted felons working for her that she hired right out of prison. "I’m helping them out," she said, because she believes everybody deserves a second chance. Pang did not think parents should be concerned. However, some parents we spoke with disagree... FOX 31 Denver contacted Pang again after our initial interview. She told us ***** lied to her about his criminal record, and she didn’t know he was a sex offender until after we confronted him. She says Schiff no longer works for her."

I doubt the guy lied, instead an excuse was made to save face. Fire Hemmet instead!
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Dave Summers of WKYC-3 Cleveland: Dave Summers issues another scary article, but it is what Summers points out in the report that lands him a spot in this report. The person in the report is no longer on the pubic registry, yet Summers makes it a point to let everyone know about this man's past and implying he's doing something wrong.

"First it was the neighborhood watching out for him. Now, a sex offender, recently taken off Lorain County's registry, is "watching them"... on camera. "I don't understand how the law can't protect us from him, but they are going to protect him from me," Osborn said. The man behind the cameras is ****. Lorain County's sex offender unit says *** was a sexually oriented offender, taken off the registry last June. The victim was a seven-year-old girl. Neighbors don't know for sure what the cameras see -- only that they are pointed toward their homes."

So they hate being watched? Tough shiitakes. They asked for this Big Brother state.
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 Charles Cully Stimson, Heritage Foundation: To paraphrase Ren, "Stimson, you EEEDIOT!" You'd think a place called "Heritage Foundation" would be pro-Constitution, but you'd be wrong. This EEEDIOT is supposedly some kind of legal expert (though there is at least one other site who questions that notion) writes one of the lamest excuses to support the Adam Walsh Act you will ever read. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Stimson uses anecdotal arguments peppered with a few court cases to suggest the debacle of the AWA is worth it, despite the fact the majority of states say no. I guess you'll always find some schmuck who will support it, but using irrelevant evidence and a moralistic approach is a no-no.

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Jeanette Krebs, Penn Live: Her article starts out with, "Anyone in Pennsylvania who cares about children should be outraged." It only gets worse from there. "Anyone should be able to go online and not only see a list of those registered and their crimes, but where they live." No they shouldn't. This fluff piece lies to the people, suggesting that transient offenders are dodging registration requirements, she is in FOOL support of the Adamn Walsh Act. "So although legislation to fix the loopholes overwhelmingly passed the House and, in the past, the Senate, it might stall again, even though there is no ideological, political or faith-based fight on the back end as there is with Marcellus Shale fees, liquor store privatization, abortion clinic regulations or school vouchers. This should be an easy one for the General Assembly. The fixes help keep our children safe, they are supported by every law enforcement official in the state, and they don’t cost additional money." Is this woman for real?
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Karen Grace, KENS 5, San Antonio TX: This woman calls herself the "News Diva." Too bad she's also the fear monger diva as well.


Bandera County deputies said there could be a network of sex offenders that are recommending the best places to hide and possibly reoffend. Unfortunately, deputies said Bandera seems to be on the map, and that has parents on edge. Law enforcement has been scrambling to keep tabs on some 57 sex offenders. They said two to three percent of the population is made up of child predators, and they don't think that is a coincidence. Manda Hicks, administrative deputy for the Bandera County Sheriff's Office, said there could be a sophisticated network of sex offenders that are spreading the word to move to Bandera County. "They might be communicating with each other," Hicks said. "So we are trying to find out if there's a sex offender network." Bandera deputies said they always need the public's help to send a message to sex offenders that they can't hide."

Too bad we can't hide from Yellow Journalism.
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Mike Beaudet, Fox 25 News Boston: This arrogant piece of crap is a wannabe Chris Hansen who decided to lie to viewers on a story about (gasp!) a sex offender who HAS A JOB! Run for the hills! So the registrant has a job as a handy man, and the spin is the reporter calls him the "building supervisor" (he isn't), implying unlimited access to "potential victims'" apartments (he doesn't). The tenants are not worried but this reporter makes it a point to try to get this guy fired, even adding a story about his boss, who was arrested for a sex crime. Will, the worker's boss is not the worker. Mike even made a smart ass reply on his Twitter page after I told him shame for distorting the facts. What an arrogant little prick. Kudos to his target for telling him the facts and not giving Mike a soundbyte he can distort.

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