1. July 10, 2.51p: The Palmetto Scoop breaks the news:
By Adam Fogle | Thu, Jul 10, 2008 - 2:51 pm | Posted in Executive
SCPRT FUNDING PROGRAM TO MARKET SC AS ‘GAY STATE’
This may come as a surprise to many South Carolinians, but your tax dollars are being used to target gay travelers from across the pond.
The Palmetto Scoop has learned that the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism — a state agency overseen by the Gov. Mark Sanford’s office — is spending an undisclosed amount of its nearly $14 million advertising budget to take part in the “So Gay” campaign, an effort launched in London, England, by the gay marketing agency “Out Now” to lure homosexual tourists to South Carolina and five U.S. cities.
Out Now is dubbing it “the gayest ever mainstream media advertising campaign” in London.
“South Carolinians will be irate when they learn their hard earned tax dollars are being spent to advertise our state as ’so gay,’” Sen. David Thomas (R-Greenville) told The Palmetto Scoop. “South Carolina is a wonderful, family friendly destination not a Southern version of San Francisco. This campaign goes against our core values.”
Thomas said he would be calling for a comprehensive audit of PRT, an agency in the governor’s cabinet.
State Rep. Greg Delleney (R-Chester), echoed Thomas’ concerns, citing questions over “whether or not the governor or anyone in charge at PRT authorized this expenditure.”
“It’s simply unbelievable that PRT would be using our tax money to promote the homosexual lifestyle,” said Delleney...
2. July 11, 10.49a: TPS reports the plug has been pulled on the So Gay ad effort ("SCPRT pulls plug on pro-gay program"). After quoting a gaggle of legislators huffing about agency sunset reviews, hypocrisy, the outrageous $4942 cost, and the homosexual lifestyle, TPS editor Adam Fogle zeroes to the heart of the matter:
But inevitably, I think the most important question is, why did it cost nearly $5,000 to plant some posters in a subway (pictured above)?3. July 11, 5.25p: TPS returns to the story, the "most important question" posed a few hours earlier having apparently metastasized:
In the wake of yesterday’s huge story — reported first here on The Palmetto Scoop — that the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism used taxpayer money to fund a tourism campaign aimed at bringing gays to the state, things have spiraled out of control.
I wrote earlier that The State reported this morning that PRT terminated the campaign while legislators began calling for audits and more information from the agency. Now, WSPA says that the low-level PRT employee who approved the ad campaign has resigned...
Fogle calls for the story to be traced as high as it leads, then regurgitates the outrage of legislators in the morning post over transparency in government having failed so spectacularly over a budget item that, in the context of the overall state budget, amounts to a rounding error.
4. July 14, 2.11p: Apparently scouring the state for more pro-gay government waste, TPS announces, "RuPaul is expensive":
COLUMBIA DROPS $10,000 ON DRAG QUEEN PERFORMANCE — CRIME, CORRUPTION STILL MAJOR PROBLEM
With violent crime, homelessness, gang activity, domestic abuse,corruption and various other things running rampant in Columbia the city council has decided to allocate $10,000 taxpayer dollars to the South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement which said it will use that money on their September festival, the Free Times reports. Much of that funding will come from a hospitality tax and go toward paying drag entertainer RuPaul.
The hospitality tax, a 2 percent levy on prepared food and drink, goes toward supporting tourism in the city. [...]
Mayor Bob Coble says he is pleased that the city is presenting a welcoming image. “Columbia respects people of all walks of life, and this diversity is our strength,” Coble says.
From a financial standpoint, Coble says having an open and accepting community is important if the city wants to be competitive in the global economy. [Free Times]
You know what else is important? Not getting mugged or having your property stolen because the $10,000 that could have paid for an extra police officer to patrol the streets at night for a third of the year was spent on a drag show.
But just like the “So Gay” campaign, it’s only a few thousand dollars, supporters say. No big deal. Chump change.
Forget that it could have been put to use in about 500 million better ways that would bring about desperately needed changes. And forget that the city budget is loaded with BS handouts like this and the nearly $500,000 allocated by a member of city council to HIMSELF.
Nope, saving lives apparently isn’t PC-enough anymore.
Note: The first loud-mouthed New Englander that has never lived in Columbia and had their car broken into, their house robbed, their friends attacked at gunpoint and on and on because there aren’t enough on-duty police officers who comes on here calling me a bigot or homophobe is banned for life.
Let's move on. There's more.
5. July 14, 5.30p: TPS awards itself the honor of generating "the water cooler story of the day."
I’m currently tracking more developments into what WCBD-TV called “the water cooler story of the day” (above) — TPS’ story that South Carolina taxpayers were footing the bill for a $5,000 tourism campaign targeting gay travelers.Thank God Fogle has a blog to remind us he should get the credit. Only so far the national coverage seems to be along the lines of O'Brien's joke: South Carolina is a laughingstock and Adam Fogle made it one.As you remember, the program was canceled the day after our story ran, and led most news programs in the state Friday and Saturday.
Now it has become a national news story as MSNBC has just posted a very in-depth report.
NBC Late Night host Conan O’Brien even joked on his show Friday, “South Carolina’s office of tourism has canceled a campaign to attract more gay tourists. Yeah, South Carolina canceled the campaign. As a result, for the 30th year in a row, North Carolina is the gayest Carolina.”
In the words of President Ronald Reagan, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.”
But this story will likely grow as more information is discovered — via Freedom of Information Act requests and possible audits — about just how this oversight happened, who knew about it, and how many other similar programs exist. I’ve even been sent very credible information hinting at a possible cover-up.
Regardless, nothing has been more interesting than the responses of every day South Carolinians — exemplified by the three interviewed above.
“We’re so gay? Naw. Wrong, wrong, wrong state. Go to California.”
________
UPDATE: This story is now on MSNBC’s home page (screen grab here) as the top U.S. News story. Based on that, I’m predicting it will be on every major national morning news show by week’s end.
Next: July 17, 10.58a:
TPS lubriciously adds links to the City's two co-sponsors: a gay club (shock, horror) and a lubricant manufacturer (Adam, babe, ID doesn't run network TV ads, but KY does; check out their website).By Adam Fogle | Thu, Jul 17, 2008 - 10:58 am | Posted in Around the state
STATE ‘PRIDE’ GROUP LAUNCHES ‘SC WILL BE GAY’ MOVEMENT
In an effort to reclaim a $5,000 ad campaign targeting gay tourists in, the Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement says it is launching a South Carolina “Will Be So Gay” effort to pay for the posters placed in London’s Underground claiming that the state is “So Gay.”
That project was terminated by the SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism last week after The Palmetto Scoop broke the story, resulting in local outrage and national news attention.
Area gays became incensed over the cancellation of the campaign and are now fighting back against what they call the “conservative ‘Bible Belt’ politicians” that put an end to the project and today announced the “SC Will Be So Gay” fundraising effort.
Ryan Wilson, president of South Carolina Pride, said that once debt to the British ad firm Amro Worldwide is repaid, the remaining proceeds will go to benefit the SC Pride 2008 Festival and Parade in Columbia.
“South Carolina may not be ‘so gay’ currently – but we are going to show the world that we can be and we WILL BE so gay, and gay friendly some day,” Wilson said in a press release announcing the initiative.
The pride festival, which is sponsored by the City of Columbia, Club Fusion and ID Lubricants, has already received $10,000 in taxpayer money — much it to pay drag queen RuPaul for “entertainment services” — and another $15,000 in community promotions money for the Gay & Lesbian Advocacy Movement, something that has Columbia residents up in arms.
“The City Council loves to give out all sorts of our money to promote their political agenda,” said one prominent city resident who asked not to be identified. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they handed NAMBLA a blank check. But just imagine if a conservative heritage group asked for even a quarter of what they’re getting.”
Fogle's deep connections to the city's power structure is represented by his declaration that the city is "up in arms" over "another $15,000 in community promotions money for the Gay & Lesbian Advocacy Movement," the pitchforks and torches represented by "one prominent city resident who asked not to be identified. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they handed NAMBLA a blank check. But just imagine if a conservative heritage group asked for even a quarter of what they’re getting."
7. July 19, 5.51p: TPS runs a post on the third named tropical storm of the season. This one really can't be summarized. It has to be considered in whole:
By Adam Fogle | Sat, Jul 19, 2008 - 5:51 pm | Posted in Around the stateTROPICAL STORM CRISTOBAL FORMS OFF COAST OF CHARLESTON
The third named storm of the hurricane season has formed off the oil rich coast of South Carolina and may have its sights on the New Englanders who ran around bashing our state last week as “backwards” and “intolerant” because taxpayers don’t want to waste their money on some politically-motivated pet project. Cristobal formed earlier today and will likely pummel North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
See what I did there? I introduced a new story but rehashing two totally unrelated ones. They should give me a Pulitzer Prize or something.
Anyway, at this time, the center of the storm is about 125 miles east of Charleston and about 205 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center said Cristobal was moving northeast at about 7 mph.
Tracking predictions show the storm could hit New England but will probably miss making landfall after passing through North Carolina.
Tropical storm warnings are in effect from the South Santee River north.
Some surf instructor in Carolina Beach, NC told the Associated Press that, “it looks pretty fun out there.” I say the fact that our storm is named “Cristobal” is “so gay.” Get it? I did the Pulitzer winning thing again.
He links back to his first story twice in this post.
COMEDIAN COVERS STORY, GIVES SANFORD UNDUE CREDIT
Comedian Stephen Colbert last night covered The Palmetto Scoop’s story about the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism’s attempted taxpayer-funded ad campaign targeting gay tourists.
On The Colbert Report, the South Carolina native told millions of viewers that he was “flaming… flaming mad” over the incident.
“Sure, South Carolina could lose a few tourism bucks over this,” Colbert said. “But it is worth it to protect our masculinity because South Carolina is so not gay. If anything, it’s not so gay. South Carolina is a state where big strapping straight men reenact Civil War battles and then shower together for historical accuracy.”
Colbert gave kudos to Gov. Mark Sanford, praising him for having “the courage to have the campaign pulled.”
The problem is, new information shows that — predictably — the “low level” employee who resigned over the incident may have been a scapegoat and that certain higher-up officials knew about the campaign.
In fact, I’m currently in the process of chasing down reports of a full-blown cover-up by PRT and possibly the governor’s office. That information, coupled with the results of Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by The Palmetto Scoop when the story broke, will likely paint a very sinister picture about what exactly happened.
Uhh...has anyone pulled Fogle aside to tell him The Colbert Report isn't real?
9. July 27, dinnertime: Having compared himself to Ronald Regan and winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Adam Fogle now becomes Sherlock Holmes as he begs for anonymous tippers to slip him more sludge:
During The Palmetto Scoop’s 15 month history, we have developed a knack for breaking major news stories that the mainstream media might miss or ignore. Take for instance the recent “So Gay” story — love it or hate it — that we broke which quickly became international news.
The reason we can do this is that we aren’t a major news outlet and we communicate one on one with every day Joes like us — hard working, tax paying citizens who care about making South Carolina a better place. Couple that with the fact that we are read by major news outlets and key insiders, and what gets written here quickly trickles up the chain.
I’m not saying all this to toot my own horn, but rather to make a point.
Tell that to Ronald Reagan, the Pulitzer Committee, the water coolers of South Carolina, and Stephen Colbert.
More than anything else, the one tool that has allowed TPS to shed light on overlooked news and bring it to the forefront is our anonymous Tip Line. Through the Tip Line, YOU can submit information, and the only way we’ll know who you are is if you tell us.
The comfort of this anonymity has led to a number of major stories submitted by individuals who might otherwise stay silent. And we’re counting on YOU, the reader, to continue to serve as our eyes and ears.
So I want to remind you — no matter who you are — that the Tip Line is open and ready for you to break the next big scoop. If you know of something we should be writing about, SEND A TIP!
That goes double for the few thousand folks working in state government. The “So Gay” story was just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless oversights, inaccuracies and inadequacies within South Carolina’s bureaucracy that go unreported and we the people need to know about it.
Once again, Fogle combines the titilation of The Drudge Report with the charming unverifiability of a Page Six blind item in The New York Post. Having previously promised that the So Gay ad campaign was but one of many such hidden, perv-promoting programs at the tourism department, he now converts them- still unidentified- into an iceberg. As The New Yorker used to write, 'BLOCK THAT METAPHOR!'
10. July 28, 4.59p: Getting in a last post before knocking off for the day, Fogle praises the SC Republican party's plan to seek public input in its platform deliberations. In the comment section, this exchange takes place:
11. July 31: The State carries a story about SC giving $100,000 from a grant fund to bring 120 German legislators to Myrtle Beach in October. "Rep. Liston Barfield sponsored the vacation grant. The Conway Republican says he thinks the trip might get more German tourists to come to the Grand Strand."
The Palmetto Scoop has ignored the story. Germans must not be gay.
12. August 1, 8p: TPS "outs"the tourism department director for knowing about the So Gay program a week before TPS brought the world to a halt with its disclosure. And there is more to come:
As The Palmetto Scoop continues to connect the dots of this story and examine the reams of documents provided by PRT, we promise to bring you continued updates and breaking news.
Adam Fogle's fervent wish to find a coverup seems to have clouded his judgment. Of the "reams of documents provided by PRT" he only offers four and a half pages of emails as a link from his post. Of those, two bear the notation at the top that they are page 1 of 2. Fogle leaves out page 2 in both instances.
The State put up an AP report just before midnight Augusut 1 that's remarkably different from Fogle's account. For one thing, the "reams of documents" are, in fact, "a four-inch stack of e-mail and documents dating to 2004" obtained by Freedom of Information Act request and thus likely to be identical to those obtained by Adam Fogle. They portray- in the AP account- an agency confused and surprised at the leadership level when Fogle broke his story. Which, if you think about it, isn't terribly surprising. We're talking about $4942.50 from a promotional fund the employee who OK'd the So Gay campaign- Randolph Romaine- was authorized to spend from- in a $13m departmental budget.
"I saw a sales opportunity and reacted," Romaine wrote.
And far from being the homophile haven Adam Fogle wants to prove the tourism agency to be- with his McCarthyite promises of new revelations of more such programs and deeper skulduggery that never actually materialize, The State says the agency is so flat-footed and out of touch that "computer technicians had to open the agency's Internet filter so Edmonds could see how the story played out on gay Web sites."
The agency's reaction appeared confused. For instance, on July 3, Romaine told Dillury he'd been ordered to get the ads taken down, but reversed himself 20 minutes later at Prosser's direction.
"We were going through the process and beginning to look at taking action," and didn't want to embarrass the state, Prosser said. At the time, "we didn't think it was something that we needed to make a big deal out of."
The only people who think the So Gay campaign is a big deal are Adam Fogle and a claque of Republican politicians who all know that, in their party, you never lose a bet on gay-bashing.
If Adam Fogle has done one useful thing in breaking his water-cooler, all the morning news shows by Friday, Pulitzer Prize winning, Look- Stephen Colbert and Conan O'Brien and MSNBC mentioned me! story, it's this- he let it out in the open where real journalists could do their jobs and explain what really happened.
Play your cards right, Mr. Fogle, and maybe you can get a date with Kathy Griffin. She'll go out with anybody who can get media coverage.
And as far as being a bigot and a homophobe- well, Adam Fogle's words speak for themselves.
Go ahead. Ban me.
1 comment:
If Adam Fogle and the politicians had kept quiet, this could have been a triple win.
ReplyDeleteSC would have gained a lot more income for their hotels, restaurants etc. for a tiny outlay of less than $5,000.
Amro Worldwide would have gained income from increasing its number of clients to SC.
And the new visitors would probably have had an excellent holiday.
But bigotry and homophobia got in the way and now nobody wins.