It is rare these days to hear of the press being barred from anything, but that is exactly what happened Monday, March 5th in Evergreen Alabama to press representation from the Monroe Journal. The respected news outlet was attempting to report on what was happening at a focus group meeting which was "focusing" on the Conecuh Woods Landfill project.
Dr. Jerry Ingram who was heading up the focus group barred the press from the meeting. "We are afraid the participants will not be as candid if there is a reporter in the room,” Ingram said. “It would be better if you weren’t in there.”
I wonder how the Conecuh County public is reacting to this rude and somewhat atrocious behavior? Sorry friends, they didn't get to vote. I suppose the developers see them as third class citizens.
Evergreen, Alabama is a town unfamiliar with "focus groups." Focus groups, my friends are clever social devices used to build a case to sell something unpalatable to an unsuspecting public. Politicians use them all the time... In this instance the something unpalatable is the Conecuh Woods Landfill. Focus groups are also used by top dollar lawyers when picking jurors in high profile cases. It helps them get an edge on the competition - who might be you!
Conecuh Woods already has as its lead public relations firm, The Slevin Group from Tallahassee, Florida. Do you suppose Slevin or Conecuh Woods is responsible for bringing in Southeast Research Inc., headed by Dr. Ingram, to manipulate the public to swallow the massive amount of world class garbage destined for rural Conecuh County?
On their website, Southeast Research says this about focus groups:
"Focus groups are an excellent form of exploratory research used to gain a better understanding of your marketing or public opinion problem, generate creative ideas and assist in narrowing the issues that need to be researched in depth. Because focus groups are conducted in a relaxed setting, they are an excellent device for testing new concepts and ideas with the public."
Manipulation my friends. That's what this is all about. The participants in this focus group were even PAID to share their ideas. How fair and balanced was that? We need to find out the names of these paid participants and find out what was really said in that meeting since the press was barred.
Adolph Hitler didn't like the press either...
Who do you suppose is paying Dr. Ingram's fee? I bet his focusing doesn't come cheap! In fact, doing a little research myself, It looks like Dr. Ingram's firm is hitting the Alabama taxpayer up for $34,000 in a contract with the state Public Health agency. If I were the citizens of Conecuh County I would be checking to see if the Alabama Department of Environmental Management is using focus groups and who they're contracting with to conduct them.
Here's a tip, good folks of Conecuh County: Start looking for lifestyle changes of your elected officials who can vote on this issue. Anybody bought a new car? A new house? A new ring? Always follow the money! Sometimes it doesn't take much "green joy" spread around in the right places to get a positive response. Just remember, if any of your elected officials takes money for a vote and is caught - the food is terrible, but the rent is free!
Until next time...
[Editor's note]The story below is reprinted with permission. I write this blog from the safety of another state - even though I suspect from my own research the money fronting the Conecuh Woods Landfill it is only 45 miles away from me. Josh Dewberry, the reporter who wrote the following piece is at ground zero. Good job, Josh!
All content copyright 2007 The Monroe Journal
Site design by Josh Dewberry/The Monroe JournalNews From the Thursday, March 8, 2007 edition
JOURNAL BARRED FROM CONECUH MEETING
BY JOSH DEWBERRY
Journal Staff Writer
The Journal was denied access to a focus group held Monday night in Evergreen to discuss issues including the proposed landfill near Repton and the project to build a dam and lake on Murder Creek.
Citizens from around Repton contacted The Journal about a letter they’d received asking them to attend the meetings and many of those contacted asked for media coverage of the event.
Those who did participate were paid $60 in cash for their 1-1/2 hours of time at the meetings and Dr. Jerry Ingram of Southeast Research Inc. of Montgomery, who was in charge of the meeting, told The Journal they could not sit in on the sessions.
“We are afraid the participants will not be as candid if there is a reporter in the room,” Ingram said. “It would be better if you weren’t in there.”
Two sessions were held – one at 6 p.m. and another at 8 p.m. – at Evergreen’s David Burt Building, a county owned public facility rented to the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service and other state and federal agencies.
According a copy of the letter obtained by The Journal, participants were first contacted by phone and those who agreed to take part were then sent a reminder letter.
But one participant, Judy Hall of Appleton, said she would have been more comfortable with a reporter in the room because everyone was video taped.
“I would have felt better with a reporter in there than with a video camera in my face,” Hall said. “Any time a person was speaking the camera would be pointed at them and we all had our names in front of us so they now know who said what.”
Hall said she was uncomfortable with the whole program because she had never been told they would be video taped.
Hall also said Ingram told the group he would be listening from another room as a second man asked the questions.
The discussion started with general questions about Conecuh County, Hall said, including schools and jobs, but it quickly turned to the landfill.
“We started talking about the landfill pretty quick,” Hall said. “I told them I own land near the site and that no one wants to buy or own property near a garbage dump.
“They asked about our garbage rates and where our trash goes. When we said ‘to Escambia County,’ the man asking the questions said, ‘So it’s okay to send your trash to another county, but you don’t want a landfill here.’”
The discussion also covered the proposed lake, Hall said, including how much the project will cost.
“He asked us if we knew about the lake and how much it will cost,” Hall said, “and most of us knew very little about it. He said it would cost between $40 and $50 million to build. It seemed like he was wanting us to tell him where the money would come from.”
Hall did say she hadn’t heard much about the landfill prior to be contacted, but since she that time she has researched the project and is opposed to it.
Ingram was contacted by phone by The Journal Tuesday afternoon and he gave a brief summary of what was said at the discussion groups.
“We randomly selected people to call and then narrowed down the list from there,” he said. “We invited about 20 people for each session and had eight at the first and 11 at the second.”
He said the groups were pretty split on their opinions of the landfill.
“I would say 20-percent of them were for the landfill and another 20-percent were against it,” Ingram said. “But the surprising fact was that about 60-percent still seemed to be undecided one way or the other. None of the participants were actively involved in the fight against or for the landfill.”
Ingram said the sessions, which handed out $1,140 to the participants, was funded by “a private group,” but wouldn’t say who the private group was.
Investors are considering building a 5,115-acre landfill south of Repton along Alabama Highway 41. Jimmy Stone and David Kirby, both from the Tampa Bay area, own the company Conecuh Woods and are represented by public relations firm The Slevin Group from Tallahassee, which is owned and operated by Patrick Slevin.
Calls to Slevin were not returned Wednesday prior to press time.
Citizens for a Clean Southwest Alabama, a grassroots group organized to fight the proposed landfill, Chairperson Johnny Andrews said his group didn’t sponsor the focus groups.
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CONECUH COUNTY TRIVIA: According to Planet Hazard, the polluter with the most pollutants and pollant sources in Conecuh County is the Conecuh County Sanitary Landfill with 28 pollutants and 28 pollutant sources. High Five! Bring us another landfill!
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