DID "THE HARTFORD COURANT" AND OTHER CT MEDIA OUTLETS ACCEPT LARGE SUMS OF MONEY TO SILENCE CT JUDICIAL BRANCH CRITICS?

In May 9, 2018's Op-Ed "Legislature Fails Judge Subjected To Abuse" by Kevin Rennie, a long time "Hartford Courant" opinion leader, we could get the idea that the Family Court Reform movement here in CT is full of anti-semites and wackos. However, this simply makes no sense considering that a good many of the victims of Family Court injustice are either Jewish themselves or of Jewish origin. My own grandfather was incarcerated in the Marienkirche  Concentration Camp in Berlin, Germany. Further, Judge Jane B. Emons was not subjected to abuse. Judge Emons competence was called into question when numerous litigants reported that she had violated the judicial code of ethics.

The reality is that the Family Court Reform movement is made up of considerable numbers of parents who have been harmed and damaged from the misdeeds of Family Court.  They are not anti-semitic.  However, what Mr. Kevin Rennie did was single out one individual--a father who experienced an horrific Family Court case who admittedly has spouted a lot of anti-semitic garbage--and then painted the entire movement with this single individual.  That would be like characterizing the entire Civil Rights Movement by Patricia Hearst!

Likewise, there are many Family Court litigants who believe that if their case is not going well, they should write to their judge, or give him or her a phone call.  What they do not realize is that to do so would be a violation of Court Rules. The majority of individuals have attorneys who quickly caution them not to and the majority listen.  However, apparently, in one situation, one Family Court reform person, who is late to the movement, didn't get the newsflash and called her judge late at night.  Based upon that single individual, Mr. Kevin Rennie of "The Hartford Courant" paints the entire loosely affiliated groups of people fighting Family Court corruption as a bunch of wackos!

Why is there such completely unfair coverage?  Why is it that during the spectacular rise of the Family Court reform movement, "The Hartford Courant" has maintained a media blackout and/or failed to treat the members of this movement in a fair and equitable manner and present their side of the story?  

I took the time to review Transparency.gov recently, and I am beginning to think that the answer is that "The Hartford Courant", let alone other Media Outlets in the State of Connecticut, receive lucrative media contracts or contributions from state government agencies and can't afford to go against them!  

Take a look below at the tens of thousands of dollars which "The Hartford Courant" itself has received from State Agencies from 2010 - 2017.  You will note that the newspaper tends to get a bump up of cash during election years.  In 2016 and 2017 much of the money "The Hartford Courant" received was through its charitable organization "Camp Courant".  Is funneling money through "Camp Courant" an attempt to hide how much they are receiving?  It certainly makes us ask.  The bottom line is that, given the massive sums of money here, given these intimate and cozy financial ties with State government, it is not surprising that "The Hartford Courant" tries to silence and sideline CT Family Court Reformers with labels such as "disgruntled" and "anti-semitic" and "stalkerish", etc. etc.

THE HARTFORD COURANT/ASSOCIATED "CAMP COURANT"
2017     $386,147
2016     $586,800
2015     $333,798
2014     $411,892
2013     $433,746
2012     $903,526
2011     $362,178
2010     $700,375

"CAMP COURANT" ALONE
2017     $323,643
2016     $526,355
2015       $99,440 

The "CT Law Tribune" is interesting because it is generally considered the mouthpiece of the Judicial Department, but it also receives money from the University of Connecticut--I would presume the Law School--and also the State Department of Education.  But it has also received money from other unlikely sources such as the State Department of Environmental Protection, Legislative Management, and the State Office of Governmental Accountability.  Note how in 2014, the year that the Family Court Reform Movement really kicked into gear, the money the "CT Law Tribune" received from State government shifted from $66,217 to $245,060.  I guess the "Tribune" receives whatever money is necessary to articulate a Pro-Judicial Branch editorial slant to the public.

THE CT LAW TRIBUNE, THE LAW TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS
2017     $256,271
2016     $256,271
2015     $355,858
2014     $245,060
2013       $66,217
2012       $66,217
2011       $66,217
2010       $66,217

Clearly, "The Hartford Courant" and "The CT Law Tribune" are not the only media well paid by our State Government.  If you will look below, you will see over $10 million State Government spends each year to a network of newspapers and print magazines which cover the distribution of information all over the State of CT, and which, for the better part, have not covered the pressing issue of the corruption of our Family Court System.  Payments to 21st Century Media come substantially from the Judicial Department, the Probate Court, the Division of Criminal Justice, among others. Millions of dollars in State Government contracts, a considerable number coming from the segments of the Legal System, make the Legal System in the State of Connecticut too financially rewarding to offend.  Take a look below at the numbers:

21st CENTURY MEDIA NEWSGROUP, 21st CENTURY MEDIA NEWSPAPER
2017     $10,435,097
2016       $8,170,236
2015     $10,435,097
2014     $10,435,097
2013     $10,435,097
2012     $10,435,097
2011     $10,435,097
2010     $10,435,097

21st Century News includes the following news outlets:

The Middletown Press
New Haven Register
The Register Citizen
The Housatonic Times
Litchfield County times
Fairfield Minuteman
The Westport Minuteman
The Dolphin
Shoreline Times
Thomaston Express
Good News About Torrington
Granby News
Canton News
Avon News
Simsbury News
Litchfield News
Foothills Trader
The Milford-Orange bulletin of Orange
The Post-Chronicle of North Haven
West Hartford News of West Hartford
The Connecticut Bride
Connecticut Magazine
Passport Magazine  

Newspapers such as "The Hartford Courant" are making fun of Trump and his charges that they are coming up with fake news.  Yet the reality is that when they exclude information from important social movements such as the CT Coalition for Family Court Reform, and when they misreport on such movements and marginalize them with slurs and misrepresentations, that is what everyone means by "fake news".  

I must say that since President Donald Trump was elected, I have woken up full of fear and anxiety regarding what he is up to now.  Yet nothing he has done is quite as frightening as what I am reporting here, i.e. news reported according to the specifications of State Government.  The actions of "The Hartford Courant", "The Connecticut Law Tribune" and 21st Century News strike at the very heart of Democracy by making it clear to citizens that the news is for sale to the highest bidder.  

This should concern everyone, not just members of the CT Family Court Reform movement.  

Ok, so at this point some of you think what I'm saying is one big ridiculous "conspiracy theory." Maybe so--perhaps as ridiculous as thinking that since one member of the CT Family Court Reform movement is anti-semitic, they all have to be.

For the rest of you who find my numbers persuasive, I urge  you all to question these State Goverment financial ties with our local CT Media, and to demand accountability, not only within our corrupt legal system but in other areas as well.  I'm thinking of the Mathew Tirado case in relation to DCF and in regard to The Whiting Patient in connection to DHMAS.

My father used to tell me the story of how he went to Church and from a balcony he would look down and see S.S. officers taking notes on the Anti-Nazi Pastor Martin Niemuller's sermons.  It seems appropriate to end with his words:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.