IS THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE BIASED?
There have been recent allegations that the Houston Chronicle is biased.
From my personal experience, I believe that these allegations are true.
More specifically, when I ran for Houston City Council in 2019, reporter
Jasper Scherer wrote a hit piece alleging that I funded a mailer to deceive
voters. The worst part was that he didn't even bother calling the
organization that issued the mailer or me. After I saw what Jasper Scherer
wrote, I was appalled. During this time, I had been speaking with the
Houston Chronicle about a marketing campaign. Immediately, I contacted
my sales representative and told them I was no longer interested. They
even made inuendos that suggesting that the Houston Chronicle would retaliate
against me.
This is what consultant Amanda Orr posted:
Republican and independent judicial candidates, I want to urge you, in
no uncertain terms, to NOT participate in Houston Chronicle’s candidate
screenings. I just found out that the editorial board has chosen to enlist
the help of a current public relations professional in their judicial
screening process. To give you an idea of how unethical that is, it would
be like me being part of Houston Chronicle’s screening process for
the Sheriff’s race. Guess who I’m going to recommend for endorsement?
My client. Having ANY current PR consultant take part in the screening
process could lead to that person recommending their last client. Or the
candidate that could potentially bring their company the most money. Or
a candidate they want as a client. Or the candidate that can bring them
more clients. The conflicts of interest being displayed by the Houston
Chronicle editorial board are outrageous and an insult Houstonians. The
Houston Chronicle is not a PAC, but it’s editorial board conducts
itself as if it is and it’s destroying the brand. If you are a judicial
candidate, Republican of influence, current judge, attorney or just someone
who cares about taking a stand against the incredible bias demonstrated
by the Houston Chronicle editorial board, please share with your Republican
judicial candidate friends. I won’t call this person out publicly.
But I suggest you read thoroughly the email that Michael Lindenberger
sent to you and Google the names he mentions. Once you enter public relations,
your journalism career is over. No matter how wonderful it was. Believe
me, leaving journalism after two decades was a hard decision, I’d
worked for some of the most esteemed news sources in the world. But it
is a conflict of interest for someone to have one foot in each discipline.