Don Allen Threatens a Local Reporter Again
Yesterday, Don Allen testified in the Jerry Moore v. John Hoff (Johnny Northside) defamation suit, and said some crazy stuff on the stand. According to David Brauer’s reporting at MinnPost, Mr. Allen claimed that “all bloggers” write anonymous comments in support of their own posts. That is NOT common blogging behavior (to be clear, I don’t do it), and it says quite a bit about Mr. Allen’s publishing ethics.
Beyond that, he also dropped this ridiculous tweet:
Yes, @IBNNNEWS is Don Allen’s Twitter account. He really tweeted that. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t that sound like a threat against a local journalist who’s doing her job covering a local trial? Surely, he can’t believe that it would be wrong for a reporter to mention his name in a report on a trial in which he testified?
This isn’t the first time Don Allen has threatened Sheila Regan or the TC Daily Planet where she’s been reporting on community issues. The last time was last month, when he threatened to sue Regan if she wrote anything unfavorable about Don Allen.
Last month, after being threatened, she went ahead with her story.
This month, after being threatened, she went ahead with her story.
What will April bring?
March 9th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
I can’t believe your actually trying to get traffic to your blog this way – how funny, but brilliant. Sheila has never done a good job at covering community issues unless it involves acting or art. But hey, to each their own. I hope you make some money – The Deet’s probably will never be in a headline on IBNN. Tune in Saturday…
March 9th, 2011 at 8:33 pm
Oh. Oh. Oh.
There is soooo much more I’d like to say right now.
But this is all I’m going to say:
The caption of the case is Jerry Moore v. John Hoff a/k/a Johnny Northside, John Does 1-5.
It’s not entirely clear to me if the John Does have been dropped, so it’s possible the official caption of the case will appear without it.
At one point the case was captioned like so:
Jerry Moore v. Donald W.R. Allen, individual and as Principal of V-Media Development Corporation, Inc. a Minnesota Non-Profit corporation, John Hoff a/k/a Johnny Northside, and John Does 1-5.
March 9th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
I was busy writing my comment and didn’t see Don’s comment.
There’s a lot I’d like to say, but I think I’ll just say this:
The incorrect form of “your” was used in Allen’s first sentence. It should be “you’re,” the contraction, not “your” the possessive.
Also, can Don Allen write ANYTHING without, in some way, referencing the fact he loves and worships Mammon, the evil Diety of Money?
March 9th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Does the Daily Planet have a spot.us campaign set up for Sheila Regan’s coverage of this trial? Because I would donate to that. Enh, I’ll just hop over and donate anyway.
March 9th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
Blogging drama. Hilarious.
March 10th, 2011 at 9:03 am
Regan’s coverage has been fine.
It serves the larger TC-metro community well, to have her cover something affecting First Amendment freedoms, blogging speech, and speech genuinely aimed at procuring a favorable government result.
A debate can be raged probably until the protagonists are deceased, about whether Moore’s short term government job with the U. terminating was a favorable result or not in some grand sense of justice and favorability.
My guess, in Hoff’s genuine subjective judgment it was a genuinely favorable outcome, and his speech and motivation seems to have been genuinely aimed that way.
I think Regan’s done an excellent job, writing tight and informative coverage. I think Judge Rilley is an excellent citizen and jurist. Moore and Hoff each are lucky to have gotten such a judge, for this lawsuit with First Amendment implications well beyond the north-end neighborhood.
I thought Daily Planet putting the NPR-Bob Collins blurb and link on a sidebar to one of Regan’s reports also was an excellent editorial choice.
I also liked the Deets coverage of jury selection, an important aspect of jury trials that many overlook.