Say what?
Whoa.
Not exactly the Friday evening I'd envisioned, and it isn't clear which of these revelations is the most staggering:
- That Rep. Ed Clere's wife might be linked to Fakebook accounts
- That the News and Tribune actually does investigative reporting
- That a banner ad for a wine tasting event 35 days ago remains displayed at the N and T site (see above)
Jeebus.
When I published this blog nod to intrepid N and T columnist Amanda Beam on Wednesday ...
Those "phantoms of Facebook" have quite the pedigree -- right, Amy?
Beam makes reference to "Amy Adams," who first rose to prominence as a contributor to the newspaper's on-line comments section prior to it moving to Facebook in the run-up to the Hanson Paywall.
"Amy Adams" didn't think much of me back then, but as the columnist shows, "Amy Adams" was/is a phantom. It brings to mind the immortal words of Gomer Pyle: "Surprise, surprise, surprise."
... I meant the fictitious "Amy Adams," not Mrs. Clere. Here's the bombshell scoop by Daniel Suddeath, with an assist to Jerod Clapp.
Apparent fake Facebook accounts examined
NEW ALBANY — Following an column that appeared in the News and Tribune this week describing an interaction between the columnist and apparent fake Facebook accounts, the social media pages mentioned in the article were deleted or disabled.
But searches of cached versions of those accounts coupled with evidence presented by sources indicate that Amy Clere, wife of State Rep. Ed Clere, operated those deleted profiles.
When contacted by the News and Tribune Thursday and Friday, she vehemently denied any knowledge of fake profiles.
“Anybody who says anything about me being involved in fake accounts of any kind is lying, period,” she said, as Clere added the allegation is “completely false.”
Ed Clere also denied knowledge of the accounts.
As they say across the pond, I'm gobsmacked. Granted, there was a time when this story would not have surprised me at all, but I'd long since filed it away with all the other dead letters.
Fair's fair: A tip of the hat to the News and Tribune. Now, let's see how this unfolds.
It is well known that she wasn't above deleting questions on Rep. Clere's FB page that she didn't like. Is it that far of a jump to having fake FB identities? I think not.
ReplyDeleteYes, true. Still a stunning thing on multiple levels. I think back to those many "debates" (neutral word), and while I always imagined multiple identities coming from one person ... this just beats all.
ReplyDeleteBeing a phantom facebooker is almost as bad as pretending to be a 3,000 year old biblical figure.
ReplyDeleteWait a minute ... he isn't?
ReplyDeleteSame shit, different millennium(s).
ReplyDelete