Once upon a time--and a different owner ago--we wrote an outdoor column for the Hutchinson Leader (now a part of the Crow River Media).
Thus, Karena Phan's Monday morning fact check for the Associated Press, Fake vaccine quote circulates after Betty White’s death, caught our eye:
CLAIM: Betty White told a news outlet she received a COVID-19 vaccine booster on Dec. 28, three days before her death, saying: “Eat healthy and get all your vaccines. I just got boosted today.”
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The quote is fabricated. White did not receive a booster that day, her agent confirmed to The Associated Press. The news article cited by social media users does not contain the bogus quote or anything about vaccines.
THE FACTS: Days after Betty White’s death at the age of 99 was confirmed on Friday, social media users are falsely claiming “The Golden Girls” star had received a COVID-19 vaccine booster on Dec. 28, using a bogus quote to suggest her death may have been related.
Posters on Twitter and Facebook shared an image containing a quote reading, “‘Eat healthy and get all your vaccines. I just got boosted today.’ - Betty White, Dec. 28th, 2021,” alongside a link to an article in Minnesota news outlet Crow River Media, titled, “Betty White: I’m lucky to still be in good health.”
One post on Twitter shared the fabricated quote with a caption that reads, “Died 3 days later! Coincidence.”
Some users also shared the booster claim without the quote. “Is it true betty white received a booster 12/28?!?” reads one Twitter post.
But the article does not include that quote, and archived versions of the story stored by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine also do not mention COVID-19 vaccine boosters. Crow River Media did not immediately return a request for comment.
The story itself is about a Dec. 28 article in People that included quotes from White given “a few weeks” before she passed away. The People article also does not mention boosters.
White’s agent, Jeff Witjas, confirmed to the AP that the quote attributed to White is entirely false.
“Betty never said this,” Witjas said in an email.
Witjas also confirmed that White did not receive a booster on Dec. 28, though he did not comment on whether she received one at all.
The cause of White’s death has not been made public. Witjas previously told the AP that she had been staying close to her Los Angeles home during the pandemic out of caution, but had no diagnosed illness. It was unclear if she died Thursday night or Friday, he said.
We've posted an example of the false claim at the top of this post, found on Twitter via the comment section on Betty White: I'm lucky to still be in good health, the article Phan cites.
There was quite the debate going on there, with some claiming "they" removed the booster information from the article, while others cite the archived articles, as does Phan. We usually don't advise reading comments, but it's a fascinating snapshot.
So how does a People Magazine fluff piece end up on the website for two newspapers in McLeod and Meeker Counties in central Minnesota?
As we noted at the top of the post, we wrote a column for the Hutchinson Leader years ago. Crow River Media was owned at the time by Red Wing Publishing. In February 2020, Dirks, Van Essen & April, "a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico," issued the following press release, MediaNews Group Acquires Assets of Red Wing Publishing Company:
Red Wing, MN - February 5, 2020 - MediaNews Group has acquired the assets of Minnesota-based Red Wing Publishing Company, including its print publications, websites and commercial printing operations.
Dirks, Van Essen, Murray & April, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Red Wing Publishing Company in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.
Red Wing Publishing Company, a family-owned company that has been in operation for more than 50 years, is the parent of Big Fish Works, which operates three clusters across Minnesota: Crow River Media in the central part of the state, International Falls/North Star in the northeastern corner and Southwest News Media to the west of Minneapolis. MediaNews Group operates the nearby St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Big Fish operates 11 community newspapers, an innovative digital marketing agency and two commercial printing facilities. The markets served, including Hutchinson, International Falls, and Savage, are among some of the fastest growing in the state of Minnesota.
In an announcement to employees, Big Fish CEO Mark Poss said, “As you know, the economics of our industry have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. And as an independent family-owned company, and with your help, we have been able to rise to meet many of the challenges created by that change.”
Poss continued, “But instead of stabilizing like transitions in the past, the change in reader habits and advertiser strategies only continues to evolve. Responding to this constant evolution requires expensive technology, resources and training, making it more difficult for small independents to keep up.”
“A result of these changes has been, and continues to be, rapid consolidation. After careful consideration with our board and our family, we have decided that selling our assets to a larger news media company is the best way forward for us and for our staff members.”
MNG is the third largest newspaper media company in the country and we believe they have the resources, strategies and capital to survive and thrive in this ever-evolving business.”
But that's its own version of fake news--and not all elements of the Red Wing Publishing chain flourished. At the Star Tribune, Mike Hughlett reported in Pioneer Press owner buys 11 more Minnesota papers:
A group of 11 community newspapers owned by Red Wing Publishing Co. have been sold to MediaNews Group, owner of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and more than 100 newspapers across the country.
MediaNews, which is controlled by hedge fund Alden Global Capital, acquired the assets of several southwestern suburban Twin Cities papers as well as publications in Litchfield, Hutchinson and International Falls. Terms of the deal, which closed Wednesday, were not disclosed.
In an interview, Red Wing Publishing’s Arlin Albrecht said that post-sale, “there are certainly going to be changes that we will be melancholy about.” But he said the “best prospect for sustainability for the staff is a large organization with financial wherewithal.”
Family-owned Red Wing Publishing is the parent of Big Fish Works, which in turns operates three news groups, the largest being Southwest News Media. Southwest owns the Chaska Herald, the Chanhassen Villager, the Eden Prairie News, the Savage Pacer, the Prior Lake American, the Shakopee Valley News and the Jordan Independent. All are weeklies.
The deal also includes a digital-marketing agency and two commercial-printing plants, including one in Hutchinson.
Red Wing Publishing, which does not own the twice-a-week Red Wing Republican Eagle, has been in operation for more than 50 years. The company was built by Albrecht, a one-time reporter who worked his way up in the newspaper business.
Big Fish CEO Mark Poss said in a statement that “the economics of our industry have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. … Responding to this constant evolution requires expensive technology, resources and training, making it more difficult for small independents to keep up.”
New York-based Alden Global Capital, through its MediaNews/Digital First arm, has been snapping up dozens of newspapers over the past several years. Its publications include the Denver Post, the Boston Herald, the Mercury News of San Jose, Calif., and several other publications in Northern California. The company is known for taking a sharp ax to the publications it buys, cutting costs and shedding employees.
In 2010, when Alden Global bought a controlling interest in then-bankrupt MediaNews, the Pioneer Press had 276 newsroom, advertising and circulation employees represented by the Minnesota Newspaper Guild, the union said. Because of worker reductions, that number is now 83, according to the union, which also represents newsroom employees at the Star Tribune.
. . .[Albrecht] and his wife, Marilyn, who also worked at the family papers, long owned Red Wing Publishing until transferring their stake in recent years to a trust for their daughter Becky Poss. She is active in management and is married to CEO Mark Poss.
“What is being sold now is really the remnants of Red Wing Publishing,” Albrecht said, referring to the MediaNews deal. “We sold the bulk of it frankly at the top of the market years ago.”
In 2001, the company sold the Red Wing Republican Eagle and newspapers in the eastern Twin Cities metro area and western Wisconsin to Fargo-based Forum Communications. “Community newspapers have really nose-dived since then, and I consider that quite unfortunate,” Albrecht said.
The paper in International Falls didn't flourish. In June 2021, Burl Gilyard reported in Minnesota loses another newspaper as International Falls Journal ceases publication:
. . . Since last year the Journal has been owned by New York-based Alden Global Capital, which is now the second-largest owner of U.S. newspapers ranking behind only Virginia-based Gannett Co. Inc. Alden acquired Digital First Media in 2010, bringing the St. Paul Pioneer Press into its fold.
Alden acquired the International Falls Journal in 2020 as part of its acquisition of Minnesota-based Red Wing Publishing Co.
Alden is a hedge fund which has acquired a reputation among journalists as a “vulture capitalist” for ruthlessly slashing jobs almost immediately after acquiring a newspaper.
Perhaps Phan might have contacted MediaNews Group about the fake quote, since the article doesn't seem generated by a local reporter or editor.
Screenshot: A example of the fake copy, captured on Twitter through the Crow River Media website comment section. Don't lie about Betty White.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.
I'm on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6
Comments