KKK Diverts Calif. Papers p.46

By: M.L. Stein Latest incident in Klan's newspaper-based promotion and recruitment efforts
CALIFORNIA POLICE HAVE opened an investigation into the Ku Klux Klan's use of old copies of the Lodi News-Sentinel and current copies of the free paper, California Job Journal, for "newspaper night riding" campaigns.
"Newspaper night riding" is a term that refers to the Klan practice of commandeering newspapers, wrapping them with Klan literature and then distributing that package to the lawns and doorsteps of entire communities.
As detailed in the March 21 issue of E&P, the Klan has conducted newspaper night riding campaigns in various parts of Pennsylvania as part of an effort to promote itself and recruit new members.
In the Pennsylvania incidents, only free papers were used ? after being removed from their street racks.
However, in the latest incidents in the central valley of California, the Klan used both a free paper and outdated editions of the News-Sentinel, a 17,270-circulation daily newspaper that sells for 35 cents a copy.

African-American Epithets
Both papers were wrapped with KKK fliers railing against African Americans and then delivered to doorsteps throughout the cities of Lodi and Stockton.
"It looks like someone raided a recycling bin and took a bunch of old newspapers to use for weight," said Lodi Police Lt. Garrold Murray.
Jim Ewart, an attorney for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, said such speech is protected by the First Amendment, but wrapping it around a paid publication like the News-Sentinel is illegal because it is a violation to place a message or tamper with a product for sale. He added, however, that the same standard does not apply to the Job Journal, a free publication. Still, he said, the manipulation of the Journal in such a manner could be viewed as a conversion of property, thereby allowing it to seek civil court remedies such as injunctive relief and recovery for economic damages.
The CNPA announced that its Government Affairs Committee will attempt to sponsor legislation that would prohibit the insertion of any unauthorized writing in any California newspaper. Several years ago, CNPA supported a bill by the California Grocers Association that made it a crime to insert writing in any product or container, including newspapers.
However, according to CNPA, when the California Job Journal asked police to enforce that law, it was turned down with the explanation that the statute applied only to paid newspapers.

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DATE: Sat 13-Jun-1998
PUBLICATION: Editor & Publisher
CATEGORY: Corrections
SUBJECT: Jim Ewert
AUTHOR: Editorial Staff
LOCATION: Page 5

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corrections corrections jim ewert CNPA KKK

FULL TEXT:

Corrections p.5

The last name of Jim Ewert, an attorney for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, was misspelled in the the April 18 story "KKK Diverts Calif. Papers" (p. 46).
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