Little Hollywood Investigation Reveals Paid Contract
By Janine Unsoeld
When the Port of Olympia put out an article on May 5
by Kate Scriven for ThurstonTalk called, “Port of Olympia: Snapshot of Current
Projects, Recent Changes, Plans for Future,” via the Port’s list serv, I read
it. The public and the media are invited to subscribe to this list serv in order
to keep up on Port activities.
The article was an interview with Port of Olympia
executive director Ed Galligan and read like a one-sided industry puff piece,
so I discredited it, but then, I became curious.
The next day, I wrote an email to Port staff and
commissioners:
“I think it is very strange that the Port of Olympia
would select this story written by a blog called ThurstonTalk to send out to those
who have signed up to receive Port related information. My blog, Little Hollywood, has written many
timely, well researched Port related stories worthy of sending out via this
list. I am wondering how you determined that this story was more worthy for
broader public dissemination than any of mine. What is your policy for
selecting articles?”
Kathleen White, communications director for the
Port, was prompted to respond to my inquiry on May 15 when Port Commissioner
Bill McGregor sent me an email on May 14 wondering if I had received a response
and what the answer was to my inquiry.
White’s answer revealed that the ThurstonTalk article
was not just one-sided journalism, but was, in fact, a paid piece of marketing disguised
as journalism, the product of a Port-ThurstonTalk contract signed on March 5.
“….In an
effort to reach a broad local audience, the Port at its discretion chose to
contract with ThurstonTalk for the writing and publishing of a select number of
articles about the Port which can then be forwarded to the Port's email list,”
White wrote Little Hollywood in an
email May 15.
I immediately expressed confusion and responded that
I was not aware of ThurstonTalk’s business model:
“…I heard that they pay their writers. That's all I
know…. It sounds like they are a public relations firm that the Port contracted
with to promote the Port, but it's made to look like independent journalism. So, how much is the Port paying ThurstonTalk
for this contract and what are the terms of that contract? I would also like to
know what articles the Port is paying to be produced. Was the one sent out by
Ed Galligan the first one? As you can imagine, I am very alarmed and
disappointed that the Port wasn't more transparent about this when it sent out
the article. Future articles from ThurstonTalk should contain a clear
disclaimer, something like, “The following message from the Port of Olympia
is a paid advertisement,” I wrote.
White responded that ThurstonTalk was hired by the
Port of Olympia to produce four such “articles.” The article sent out May 5 as
a “Message from Executive Director Ed Galligan” was the first article.
“Thank you for drawing the Port's attention to the
need for a disclaimer on the article written and published by ThurstonTalk.
Should the Port send out any future such articles, the Port will indicate that
the article was paid for by the Port of Olympia,” wrote White.
White said that in 2015, the Port will pay $1200 per
year for publication of all its news releases and $600 for the writing and
publication of four articles about the Port, for a total of $1800. White said
that the topics for the other three have not yet been determined.
The Port's contract was signed on March 5 by White
and Martin McElliott of ThurstonTalk.
According to its website, ThurstonTalk calls itself
an “information source” serving the Thurston County community and was launched
on January 1, 2011.
It says, “A vibrant community needs an information
source that has the ability to interact with community members through multiple
tools, while adding a meaningful advertising platform for local businesses.”
Asked to comment on its business model and how a
discerning reader could know which articles are paid for, McElliott responded, “All
of our writers are contractors. Not all
of our content is paid for by our sponsors.
Generally the articles that have a business logo attached are sponsored. We write positive feel good stories and
showcase why we all live work and play where we do,” said McElliott in an email
today.
Generally?
The Port-ThurstonTalk contract says that their
package includes all news releases by the Port, but when asked today after the
Port’s work session, White said she wrote the May 20 press release about Olympia
Beekeepers Association members installing hives in an Olympia Airport field
that will be full of flowering blackberries this summer, and was not related to
the ThurstonTalk contract.
According to the contract, ThurstonTalk features a
variety of marketing and content packages ranging in monthly prices for
articles from $150 to $3,100. For example, customer driven articles cost $500
per article, or $900 for six short posts. An event focused article is $450 per
article.
Eight
Port of Olympia Candidates To Be Interviewed For Commissioner Position
At today’s work session, Commissioners Barner and
McGregor agreed to interview all eight candidates for the open commissioner
position on June 1 and June 2 between 1 – 5 p.m. at Tumwater Town Center, 7241
Cleanwater Drive SW, Tumwater. Each
interview will last about 40 minutes.
One candidate, Bill Wells, asked the Port to
withdraw his name from consideration.
Port commissioners George Barner and Bill McGregor
are expected to reach a decision by June 10, but have until June 30 to do so.
Full
Disclosure: Janine Unsoeld does not write any article for her blog, Little
Hollywood, in exchange for payment. A small sidebar on her blog asks for
donations if folks appreciate independent journalism and like what they are
reading. Janine works fulltime as a caregiver for seniors and while she appreciates
the donations she receives, it is safe to say that she writes what she is able to as
a community service.
Janine
is also under contract to write a book, “Legendary Locals of Olympia and South
Puget Sound,” through Arcadia Publishing/History Press. The publishing company
found her through her blog and felt she was qualified. No money will be
exchanged as a result of this contract until actual books are sold. Due to the
ridiculously low royalties one receives from writing, unless you are
someone like a certain Ms. Rowling, it can safely be said that both this blog and
the book project are labors of love.
