An apology

When Marty Kotis started accusing me of having a "reckless disregard for the truth" in regard to a discussion we were having about him donating billboard space to three city council candidates, I saw warning signs. That is the kind of phrase that has some legal significance. It is the kind of phrase one might use to suggest they think they've been libeled or defamed.

Whether Kotis was using that phrase innocently or to intimidate, I cannot say. I know that there are a number of factors that would make an accusation of defamation hard to stick: I was relying on the records and reporting of public offices and a news outlet; my assertions were opinionated characterizations; supposed facts that would contradict my opinion where not known to me; Kotis suffered no damages because of what I wrote; Kotis has become a figure of public interest because of him seeking (and being awarded) over a million dollars in public largess from the City of Greensboro in the past year alone; and I have already changed the unsubstantiated portions of my post.

Nonetheless, an apology to Mr. Kotis might calm him down and avoid trouble.

To heck with that.

I'm apologizing to Mr. Kotis, not because he has taken to using language that might suggest he is contemplating legal action, I'm apologizing because it's the right thing to do to live up to the standards I've set for myself.

When the News & Record published a story in which they allowed a public official to make a false allegation of criminality against me, without comparing it to the facts and without giving me the opportunity to comment, I came to know what it is like to feel like you've not been given a fair shake. To have something published about you that you think is unfair is dehumanizing.

I cannot be like them.

When an editor at the News & Record (who happened to also be an acquaintance) told the reporter of the story not to talk to me about it and the reporter complied; when the editor in chief refused to respond to my concerns and the publisher told me what happened was "standard operating procedure," it was all very frustrating.

I cannot be like them.

When I see local government officials hem and haw, equivocate and dissemble for the sake of avoiding accountability; when truth and accuracy are buried under  mountains of mendacious malarkey by people supposedly working in the public interest, I find it pathetic.

I cannot be like them.

When I see, over and over again, local media jumping to conclusions, sensationalizing, getting the facts wrong and making unsubstantiated assertions without acknowledging or correcting them even when brought to their attention—a consistent theme of this blog— it disgusts me.

I cannot be like them.

I'll keep my opinions about the propriety of elected officials deciding the fate of hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds while accepting campaign donations from the recipient of those public monies and the record remains incomplete to document the nature of Kotis' contributions, but the portions of my post where I characterized matters in a manner that made unfounded assumptions, that was not giving Mr. Kotis a fair shake. For that, I apologize.