Arizona Capitol Times publisher Michael Gorman issued a statement on Monday defending the actions of the news outlet’s reporter Camryn Sanchez after receiving a restraining order barring her from coming near State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff). Rogers shared screenshots of Sanchez showing up at her homes uninvited both at night and during the day, and said her neighbors reported that Sanchez had contacted them. Sanchez has 10 days to appeal the injunction against harassment, which was issued on April 19.
“We are strongly opposed to the Injunction Against Harassment that State Senator Wendy Rogers obtained against our reporter Camryn Sanchez,” Gorman said. “Senator Rogers obtained the injunction, ex parte (that is, without informing Ms. Sanchez and without the chance or opportunity for Ms. Sanchez to oppose the petition). We intend to challenge this injunction on behalf of Ms. Sanchez because it is baseless and an unconstitutional prior restraint against a reporter investigating public allegations involving the Senator.”
Gorman stated that the paper’s parent company BridgeTower Media also backed the reporter. BridgeTower Media was the B2B media division of GateHouse Media in 2016. GateHouse Media merged with Gannett in 2019 and then was acquired by New Media Investment Group, making it the largest newspaper publisher in the United States. Fortress Investments – New York private equity firm owned by the diversified Japanese tech firm Softbank – operates Gannett. The Arizona Republic is also owned by Gannett.
In 2020, the California-based private equity firm Transom Capital Group acquired the BridgeTower Media, calling it “a business media and marketing platform providing authoritative content.”
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