ST. MARY'S TODAY --- The Story of THE RAG! --- The Toons!: Newspaper - Softcover

Rossignol, Ken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 146633116X ISBN 13: 9781466331167

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012

Synopsis

The remarkable story of the startup of an independent newspaper in a small town that fought to deliver unfiltered news to its readers and won a landmark First Amendment ruling at the Fourth Circuit United States Court of Appeals. When the defendants appealed to the Supreme Court, the high court let the decision Rossignol v. Voorhaar stand by refusing cert. The action came as a result of when the defendants, a Sheriff, States Attorney and a posse of deputies wiped out all available copies of the Election Day edition in order to influence the election by denying voters the news.Fourth Circuit United States Court of Appeals ruling on ST. MARY'S TODAY civil rights action against politicians and deputies who cleaned out newsstands on eve of Election Day of all copies of the newspaper: 
"If we were to sanction this conduct," said Judge Wilkinson, "we would point the way for other state officials to stifle public criticism of their policies and their performance. And we would leave particularly vulnerable this kind of paper in this kind of community. Alternative weeklies such as St. Mary's Today may stir deep ire in the objects of their irreverence, but we can hardly say that on that account they play no useful part in the political dialogue."Meet Ashley Kissinger, Of Counsel with Ballard-Spahr and one of the team of attorneys that represented ST. MARY'S TODAY Publisher Ken Rossignol:  

• Successfully represented a Maryland newspaper publisher in a civil rights action against government officials, securing a landmark ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that the defendants' off-duty mass purchase of newspapers on the eve of an election, to suppress the newspaper's contents and retaliate against the publisher, violated the publisher's First Amendment rights. The defendants paid the publisher close to a half million dollars in settlement of the action.

Travel along with the most feared man in Southern Maryland. So notorious even the mob backed down. Cops who went after him found themselves in federal court on the losing side. His name is Ken Rossignol and he packs a fully loaded Smith & Corona (or at least the digital equivalent).
Ken's ammo: words. He's a champion of the First Amendment and an old-fashioned pain in the ass.
The story of St. Mary's Today is one about advocacy journalism coming to a community where the press wasn't known for acting this way. No more go-along to get along.
There wasn't a hand providing nourishment that Rossignol wouldn't take a little flesh and muscle from. At one point or another Ken pissed off just about everyone, including a couple governors of Maryland and me. But he sold newspapers and those who hated him still read his words each and every week. Dave Statter - Broadcast news reporter WUSA, WTOP, in Washington, D.C. for 32 years, STATter911.com, Statter Communications LLC.

Great editorial cartoons reflecting the news as reported by ST. MARY'S TODAY newspaper over the 22 years of its publication was enjoyed far and wide. Democrats loved it when Republicans were gored and the GOP thought the cartoons lampooning Maryland Governor Parris Glendening and his mistress were terrific! With the "Where's the Loot" series, the cops and drug dealers made for great fun when it came time to put pen to paper. We had wonderful artists bring to life the wit and sarcasm of the cartoonist, Ken Rossignol, who couldn't draw worth a damn, but he was and is a first-class smart ass! Now along with tons of great editorial cartoons is The Story of THE RAG! The toughest newspaper in Maryland for more than 20 years! The newspaper that a Sheriff, States Attorney and a posse of deputies rounded up in the dead of night to make sure voters didn't read before voting on Election Day 1998! The United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit issued a Landmark First Amendment ruling in the case that is now the law of the land! Murder, mayhem and madness and more!

About this title

From the Author:

When an expert witness was asked to appraise the value of ST. MARYS TODAY for the Civil Rights action brought by Levine Sullivan Koch & Schultz on my behalf - James Rouse, who was an executive with one of the largest media firms in the nation and former provost of Stanford, summarized the newspaper this way. He said he had never seen a newspaper with revenue from readers outweighing revenue from advertisers.  That conclusion supported our slogan - Dedicated to Our Readers -
When I sold the newspaper in 2010, the new owner appeared to have the financial ability and determination to continue the newspaper. He ran into various legal troubles and closed the newspaper eight months later. Anytime he wishes to return it to publication, I will be glad to assist him. In the meantime, I heard from many in the region wishing that actual news instead of pabulum from local media be reported. I heard from many folks elsewhere, outside of Southern Maryland, and beginning in the spring of 2014, my monthly publication, THE CHESAPEAKE was morphed into THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY and now covers crime in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia in print monthly and online always. The print edition is available on over 1,000 newsstands in all three states. All Crime, All The Time.
Readers wishing politically correct reporting of the news have plenty of options as that field is crowded. Those who wish to see whatever we can find out, can pick up a copy of THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY.
To learn more about ST. MARY'S TODAY, please pick up a copy of my book and the narrator for the Audible edition, Stan Jenson, does a masterful job of making the book entertaining as well as informative. Thank you for reading my book. - Ken Rossignol

From the Back Cover:

In the short course of less than one year, a small-town newspaper which was run on a shoe-string was featured on the front page of two major newspapers and on network news, all due to covering the news with loud flashy headlines that 'shouted' the news rather than boring its readers to tears. In short, the news made news.
That was just the beginning, before long the newspaper would be the target of an organized effort by a county sheriff and his deputies and a candidate for states attorney to clean the paper off newsstands the night before an election and result in a landmark First Amendment case which is now the law of the land.

"The incident in this case may have taken place in America, but it belongs to a society much different and more oppressive than our own. If we were to sanction this conduct, we would point the way for other state officials to stifle public criticism of their policies and their performance. And we would leave particularly vulnerable this kind of paper in this kind of community.
Alternative weeklies such as St. Mary's Today may stir deep ire in the objects of their irreverence, but we can hardly say on that account that they play no useful part in the political dialogue. No doubt the public has formed over time its opinion of the paper's responsibility and reputation. If defendants believed its attacks to be scurrilous, their remedy was either to undertake their own response or to initiate a defamation action. It was not for law enforcement to summon the organized force of the sheriff's office to the cause of censorship
and dispatch deputies on the errands of suppression in the dead of night."
---Fourth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals - Rossignol v. Voorhaar

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 146633116X
• ISBN 13: 9781466331167
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 436
• Editor: Walker Robert W
• Illustrator: Mackey Elizabeth, Woodward Jr. Billy, Wright John C, Greene James, Sullivan Dustin