New Orleans Times-Picayune

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 2:39pm on Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Louisiana Politician Drops Lawsuit Against New Orleans Times-Picayune Over Internet IDs, the newspaper reported on May 18, 2010:

"Jefferson Parish President Steve Theriot dropped a parish lawsuit Monday that sought the identities behind 11 anonymous user names on www.NOLA.com who made critical comments online about his administration and former parish officials, court records show.

The reversal comes after a group of residents criticized Theriot and the Parish Council for the suit at last week's council meeting.

Theriot said Wednesday he sued to learn more details about the commenters' specific complaints, but the lawsuit's language stated that Theriot had "suffered embarrassment" and that the comments contained "maliciously false and defamatory statements concerning plaintiffs with the purpose of defaming the plaintiffs."

The suit, filed in the 24th Judicial District Court, also listed Jefferson Parish as a plaintiff and Theriot had said the parish would pay for any litigation."

The full story:
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/05/steve_theriot_drops_jefferson.html

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 10:40am on Thursday, May 13, 2010

Louisiana Politician Steve Theriot Sues New Orleans Times-Picayune to Name His Online Critics, the newspaper's website, Nola.com, reported on May 11, 2010:

"Citing defamation and "suffered embarrassment" allegedly caused by online comments posted at www.NOLA.com, Jefferson Parish interim President Steve Theriot has filed a lawsuit requesting the identities behind 11 user accounts on the website.

The suit, which is seeking an unspecified amount of money for damages, alleges that anonymous comments left on the site through those accounts "were made with malice, and a blatant, intentional disregard for the truth, and with the intent that such statements damage plaintiffs."

NOLA.com is the web affiliate of The Times-Picayune. The suit was filed against the commenters. It asks the website to reveal their identities, but it does not name NOLA.com or The Times-Picayune as a defendant.

James O'Byrne, NOLA.com's director of content, said, "We have received a subpoena and we will discuss it with our attorneys. We have no comment at this time."

In addition to Theriot, the parish government is a plaintiff in the suit. Theriot said the parish is paying for it."

The full story:
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/05/jefferson_parish_president_sue.html

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 3:28pm on Tuesday, May 11, 2010

State Judge Throws Out Lawsuit Against New Orleans Times-Picayune, the newspaper's website, Nola.com, reported on May 7, 2010:

"A state judge Friday threw out a lawsuit against The Times-Picayune by John Schwegmann and ordered the former Public Service Commission member to pay the newspaper's legal fees.

In the suit, Schwegmann claimed he was defamed by two James Gill columns published in 2007 and 2008. The columns mentioned court decisions that found Schwegmann mismanaged a trust for his half-sister set up by their father. Gill also referenced Schwegmann's role in the demise of his family's grocery, which was once the dominant player in the local market.

Schwegmann served as a member of the utility-regulating panel for 15 years before losing his seat to Jay Blossman. Schwegmann tried to revive his political career, but he lost a 2005 campaign for the state Senate and a 2008 bid for the PSC.

In an October 2008 column about Schwegmann's bid to reclaim his seat on the PSC, Gill wrote that the New Orleans businessman was a "scoundrel who cheated his half-sister out of her inheritance."

The full story:
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/05/lawsuit_against_newspaper_by_f.html

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 7:38am on Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Times-Picayune Joins Frontline, ProPublica for N.O.P.D. Investigative Report

Editor & Publisher reported on February 15, 2010:

"Frontline, ProPublica and The Times-Picayune of New Orleans have joined forces for an ongoing investigative report on New Orleans and its police department, resulting in a series called "Law & Disorder."

The project is an unusual one for Frontline because it marks the most "robust collaboration" it has produced with a local paper, said Raney Aronson, a Frontline producer on the series that launched last week.

"Law & Disorder" uses video, social networking tools, photos and documents resulting in an in-depth package of several cases involving New Orleans police and civilians that occurred days after Hurricane Katrina.

The project came about last fall when Frontline was on the hunt for stories about New Orleans that would coincide with the upcoming five-year anniversary of Katrina. Frontline turned to ProPublica, the non-profit investigative site for help. "We are just committed to this territory," Aronson said.

Meanwhile, the Times-Picayune was interested in working with ProPublica particularly after The New York Times magazine had published one of ProPublica's investigative pieces this past summer about a New Orleans hospital and how it dealt with its patients during the immediate aftermath of Katrina."

The full story:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067875