[Noisebridge-discuss] [Drama] Alleged conflict of interest

[Tony Longshanks LeTigre]

Cynthia just brought to my attention the fact I never answered this
HARDBALL question of hers. I'm afraid there was just too much drama the
week it was posted for me to get to it. My drama schedule for this week is
looking fairly light, so I thought I'd reanimate this corpse just for
fun.....
*
*
*On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 11:35 AM, cynthia lee <cynthia.jeanne.lee at gmail.com
> wrote:
*
>
> *Tony,
> I have previously had a discussion with you about a possible conflict of
> interest that you have with my anti Big Pharma stand and specifically with
> my intention of inviting Peter Duesberg to speak. Don't you agree that
> someone who generates income by writing for publications dependent on huge
> advertising dollars from this industry (in the past and potentially in the
> future) would have a potential conflict of interest when objecting to my
> activities?*
>

Yes, as I've told many people (it's not a secret), I freelanced for the Bay
Area Reporter last year for 6 months.

Their editor, Cynthia Laird, chastised me when she found out I was involved
with Occupy Wall Street while writing about it at the same time. (Conflict
of interests? Perhaps, but I think it's possible to a journalist and an
activist....I've written & posted about this issue before....not gonna
re-hash it on NB Discuss.) That's when I decided to stop writing for the
Bay Area Reporter and start my own publication. That was the genesis of ZiP.

At no time was I a paid staff writer for the B.A.R. (a conservative paper
that represents much of what I dislike about the gay community and identity
these days), nor did they ever or will they ever dictate my opinions on
anything from Big Pharma to my choice in cocktails or wearing mismatched
socks. I felt like an infiltrator when I freelanced for them, subverting
from within -- as a matter of fact I was surprised they ever let me write
for them. I think their editor may have had me confused with someone else
(Tony the Tiger from Frosted Flakes maybe?)

They paid me $50 per article. I think I made a total of less than $1,000
from them in 6 months. (The same 6 months I was living on the street! They
didn't know that either.) The Christmas party at Palio d'Asti last December
was fun, though. I had the butternut squash raviolo and LOTS of wine, and
complimented publisher Thomas Horne on his tie -- but disagreed with him
about mayoral candidates. (I voted for Terry Baum.)

I hope that info is of use to you.


T


On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 4:04 PM, Tony Longshanks LeTigre <
anthonyletigre at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm sorry, what is the conflict of interest you're referring to?
> Do you think that I'm being paid by Big Pharma to spread disinfo about
> Duesberg?
> That would be hilariously inaccurate.
> Sorry, I think I may have missed something you posted about this on NB
> Discuss.....could you reiterate (in a nutshell)?
>
>
>> --
>> Cynthia Jeanne Lee MD
>> http://cynthiajeanneleemd.wordpress.com
>>
>>
>
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