Just remember, you read it here first. Since we broke the story over two weeks ago, the tale of James Devine, the Union County political dirty-trickster and newspaper publisher, has been getting a great deal of attention at the state level.
Devine got caught producing a phony Internet Web site to rock the campaigns of Republicans Amy Handlin and Sam Thompson for the 13th District in the state Assembly, which serves portions of Monmouth County and the Old Bridge section of Middlesex County. The skullduggery is a major topic on political message boards around the state and led last week to Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson calling Devine a “sleazeball” for his “dishonesty” and “fraudulent behavior.” He also threatened legal action against Devine unless he desists from that behavior immediately.
Readers of Greater Media Newspapers should know that this story would never have become public had it not been for the investigation of a reporter and editor for the Suburban and Independent, who initially tied the phony site to Devine and wrote about it.
You would have never known that by reading our daily competition in this area, however. When the Asbury Park Press finally picked up the story last week, their story looked, for all the world, as if they had discovered it themselves. Although it made mention that the controversy was initially sparked when phony press releases from the Web site were sent to “some local newspapers,” it never mentioned the Suburban or Independent by name.
This is standard behavior for the Press, which never gives credit to a competitor that has beaten them to the punch on a story. Week after week, you’ll find stories in that publication that follow stories Greater Media Newspapers broke previously. The Press, unlike other newspapers such as The Star-Ledger, never credits where the initial reporting came from or who did the original legwork.
What that means is that if you want the news from your local community, most weeks you’ll be better informed reading it here than several days later in the Asbury Park Press.
I thought you’d like to know.
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Last week, I mentioned that when the Devine scandal first broke, I suspected I’d find Assemblyman Joe Azzolina’s fingerprints on it somewhere. Azzolina, after all, is well-known for his questionable campaign antics and for the antics of the Courier, the newspaper he owns.
So far, I still can’t make the connection between Devine and Azzolina directly, but I can shed some light on the continued animosity the Courier bears Handlin, beyond what might be expected from it as Joe’s bought-and-paid-for mouthpiece.
It now appears that Jim Purcell, the Courier’s publisher, applied for the job of director of public information for Monmouth County this year, and his bid for that position was torpedoed by Handlin.
According to Handlin, “Some Bayshore residents have wondered why Jim Purcell, publisher of the Azzolina-owned Courier, has recently intensified his constant, vicious disparagement of me and every government reform I have championed. … While he has long directed preposterous rhetoric toward me and every other Middletown official opposed to the Azzolina mall, his new intensity is easy to understand.”
Jim Purcell, she says, “is a disgruntled job applicant,” who “earlier this year … applied to Monmouth County for the job of public information officer. Knowing his complete disregard for any journalistic standards, I refused to even interview him. I took the position that his unprofessional behavior disqualified him from representing the public in any way.”
Handlin says she personally argued against Purcell’s hiring, and the county later hired an eminently qualified professional for the job.
Still, Handlin charges that “in an interview with another county official during his pursuit of the job, he [Purcell] stated that if not hired, he would make sure Azzolina got his ‘pound of flesh’ in the upcoming Assembly campaign against me.”
Other sources in county government say that account is essentially correct.
I have a copy of the letter Purcell wrote to Handlin in lieu of an interview because she would not speak to him in person, but Purcell says he withdrew his application for the job and denies the “pound of flesh” statement.
“Of course not. My God, that’s ridiculous,” he said of the alleged threat.
“If anything, I wanted to get politics out of my life,” he said. “After a brief time of going through the process, I saw that what was being looked for was a political hack and I wasn’t going to get into that business.”
Purcell sent a longer statement later in the day outlining his application for the job and saying he stands by his newspaper work. He charges that he was even told that if he would campaign for Handlin against Azzolina in Union Beach and Keansburg, he would have a better shot at the job.
In spite of that, Purcell’s actions, particularly since Azzolina forced a Republican primary battle in the 13th District — speak against him. Nearly every week, he has used his paper’s news columns to distort Handlin’s positions, even implying she is so dissolute she won’t take a position against protecting pedophiles. He has used his personal column in the Courier to rake Handlin and support Azzolina on numerous occasions, without any disclaimer that since Azzolina owns the publication, Purcell has a massive conflict of interest.
I won’t repeat any of his biased rhetoric here, but Republican voters in the 13th District trying to decide whether to vote for Azzolina or Handlin in the June 7 primary should take anything they read about either candidate in the Courier with a whole shaker full of salt.
Unfortunately, the old saying is true in this case. You can’t believe everything you read in the newspaper — and when it’s printed in the Courier, you can’t believe much at all.
Gregory Bean is executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers.