'Republic' Scribe Says Criticizing Mormons Led to Suspension

By: Jennifer Saba Local columnist Dary Matera claims he was suspended from The Arizona Republic in Phoenix because of an opinion piece he wrote criticizing the Mormon Church.

The column in question, "Meddling with polygamists," was published last Thursday in the East Valley community section of the Republic (Click for QuikCap). The next day, Assistant Editorial Page Editor Paul Schatt notified Matera that he was suspended indefinitely, according to Matera.

"The suits downtown have woke up and they realized that I've been writing a lot of columns that have been controversial," Matera told E&P. He is not on staff but has been regularly contributing to the paper since last April. "The Mormons are very powerful. They're in all aspects of [Arizona] society. What happened here is that the Republic and the government and the church are too cozy right now and that's what is personally disturbing."

But Ken Western, editorial page editor, said that Matera's piece was "one of the most incoherent columns I have ever read and I just said enough is enough. My suggestion was to give him a three-month break to gather his thoughts."

In the column, Matera criticized Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano -- whom he refers to as "J-Nap" -- and other state lawmakers for setting up a safe house for teenagers near fundamentalist Mormon communities: "Gov. J-Nap is using the escapees as witnesses in a legal witch hunt she's mounting against the polygamists. Meaning the state is providing a haven, shelter and food in return for the teens testifying against their parents, relatives and community. Shades of Nazi Germany there."

Matera also wrote that the situation had "the makings of another Waco or Jonestown, only a lot bigger and much worse ... The polygamous Mormons at the border already are imploding from within due to wretched leadership. The whacked-out, Castro-like honcho running things recently excommunicated all his rivals."

According to Western, Matera originally started writing for the paper in a section called "Public Pulse" where they would take 30 to 40 people in the community and let them respond to different issues. "He was very good at that," Western said, "and on that basis I recommended him to Paul [Schatt] as a columnist."

The Republic has 60 to 100 community columnists that write for the paper. "The fact is," Schatt said, "we make decisions all the time of what's appropriate material to print. We have added a number of community columnists over the years."

Matera feels differently: "If you're a good columnist you should be suspended a couple times a year. I'm surprised I lasted this long. I was knockin' em man! I was having fun with it. I was under the radar for a long time. I was able to write a lot of columns that normally would not be written. They finally found me and squashed me."

Matera also wrote a column in September on the same subject jabbing the alternative weekly New Times in what he thought was hypocritical coverage that "decried polygamy."