We are an all volunteer, nonprofit organization that is self-funded.
Why are we here, now? Here's why:
"THERE'S NOTHING MORE THAT WE CAN DO, AND ARE THEREFORE CLOSING OUT THIS MATTER"
This was Gannett's response when a victim presented evidence in the Fall of 2018 that a local Rochester, NY newspaper - one of the hundreds owned by Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper publisher - enabled his sexual abuse decades prior as a paperboy.
Additionally, in its letter to the victim, Gannett Chief Operating Officer, Michael G. Kane, claimed "there was no corroborating evidence" and that it was "impossible to independently verify (his) claims".
But just a few short months after this response was delivered by Gannett management to that victim, New York passed its Child Victims Act. Shortly after, police and investigative reporters, some from the very newspaper being sued and who were originally not allowed to investigate, suddenly found and came forward with an avalanche of evidence of abuse, including efforts by Gannett employees to cover it up.
There are now, currently, eleven plaintiffs who have filed similar lawsuits against Gannett and two of its local newspapers in New York and Arizona. Each of these men was abused when they worked as young paperboys delivering Gannett's newspapers in the pre-dawn light.
Gannett is the nation's largest publisher of print and daily/weekly online newspapers including the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York; The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, Arizona; and The USA Today.
For years, and decades even, Gannett has published -- and reaped revenue from -- hundreds, if not thousands, of child sex abuse-related news and investigative articles across its network of papers.
Yet despite this coverage focused on abuse, Gannett management has failed to publicly recognize and discuss their role in enabling systemic abuse of pre-teen and teenage paperboy employees by supervisors employed at their publications in the 1980s. In fact, when presented with initial evidence of abuse, the Editor told her investigative reporters to stand down -- to "pause" -- from investigating and instead tried to end any investigation.
Recent media coverage includes:
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Former Paperboy Sues Arizona Republic Over Child Sex Abuse Ring (Phoenix New Times)
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More Former Paperboys Say A Rochester Newspaper Supervisor Sexually Abused Them (PBS/WXXI News)