Category Archives: Media Bias

The hole Blueprint NC has dug for themselves just got a little deeper. The Director, Sean Kosofsky, has made an attempt to distance himself from the memo. Kosofsky appears to be wildly finger-pointing in any direction but that of him and his organization and stops short of claiming a ‘vast Right Wing conspiracy’:

“On Friday, however, he said Blueprint did not pass on the controversial three-page draft. He suggested it was appended to the other documents by someone hoping to tarnish his organization.” (Raleigh N&O)

From the Raleigh News and Observer: Head of Blueprint North Carolina denies his group sent memo plotting attacks on Republicans

The head of a Raleigh nonprofit group on Friday sought to distance his group from a memo laying out ways liberals could attack Gov. Pat McCrory and other Republican leaders.

Sean Kosofsky, executive director of Blueprint North Carolina, said he misunderstood a reporter’s questions on Thursday about documents emailed by Blueprint’s former communications director to the group’s partners.

he documents, obtained by the Observer from another source, included talking points for progressive policy positions and an issues poll. It also appeared to include three pages of a draft strategy that called for weakening Republican legislators by “crippling their leaders” and working to “weaken their ability to govern.”

Kosofsky said on Thursday that the documents, some from other groups, were emailed to supporters by Blueprint.

On Friday, however, he said Blueprint did not pass on the controversial three-page draft. He suggested it was appended to the other documents by someone hoping to tarnish his organization.

“I misunderstood,” he said Friday. “This is just a bunch of confusion. I think someone has an agenda to deceive people about the connection between these things. … There are things said in there that I might even agree with, but it’s just not us.”

He said the three-page draft was circulated in December at a meeting of more than 50 progressive groups. He’s not sure who drafted it.

The article goes on to mention the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and the big chunk of money they give Blueprint NC, but makes no mention of the local media mogul and his AJ Fletcher Foundation that has also sent Blueprint NC funding– Jim Goodmon, owner of WRAL.

This morning, ABC11’s story on Blueprint NC also left out the connection. I tweeted to the author of the story, Jon Camp, questioning the omission:

@abc11joncamp Really light on the details links to external docs aren’t ya? How about @wral connection to funding? abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?sec…

— LL1885 (@LadyLiberty1885) February 23, 2013

I also tweeted to the News and Observer asking a similar question. I will update this post with any responses I receive from any local media entities I have contacted about the story. As of yet, WRAL has still not responded.

Read prior/related Blueprint NC posts:

@WRAL Silent On Internal Link To Blueprint NC’s Attack Memo

Liberal NC Non-Profit Group’s Attack Memo Leaked

Something is Rotten in NC… Blueprint NC, that is. Continue reading →