AAN Association of Alternative Newsmedia

Were Orlando Weekly Arrests Retribution for Critical Reporting?

By AAN Staff

october 22, 2007 12:25 pm

"Orlando Weekly believes these arrests are an outrageous abuse of process and an attempt to censor the First Amendment rights of a newspaper that has reported critically on the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation," publisher Rick Schreiber says in a statement. Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell seems to agree. "You'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical about the MBI's arrest of three staffers," he says, noting that the Weekly has "been all over the MBI like fleas on a dog in recent years." He continues: "And yet, in our story today, MBI director Bill Lutz seemed to deny that his department had a grudge against the paper. If that's what he's saying, it's a crock." For more coverage of the arrests, and links to past Weekly coverage of the MBI, check out the paper's blog.

View full article at Orlando Weekly | Orlando Sentinel