Beware of Reporters

Just wanted to let everyone know to be careful when dealing with any reporter that says he wants to do a story on deer. I have had many calls in the last week and today got a call from a reporter named Joe Drape from the New York Times. He wanted to do a story on our industry and wanted to come to the farm. I did 2 things. First I googled his name and saw he was involved in some PETA activities with the horse industry. Second I forwarded his email to our association attorney. He got back rather promptly and recommended that I don't talk to him or let him on the property.


 


I think we need to be extremely careful on who we give access to our farms these days. We need positive information but we need to make sure it is put out by people with our best interests in mind.


 


Here is what I emailed back to him:


 
Joe, with deep respect I'm going to have to pass on this tour and interview. Our industry has seen too many negative articles from the press. It just seems they get more attention than any positive article. The Indy Star article was just one example of a reporter that was welcomed to people's farms and then turns around and writes an article full of 1/2 truths, one sided observations and some blatant lies. The article much like most articles tries to paint a broad picture of our industry based on the actions of a few people. We believe the reporter was paid by a group of anti-hunters or maybe even the HSUS. The article never mentioned the family hunts, the wounded veteran hunts, or the Safari wish hunts for terminally ill children. It never mentioned how some of the larger ranches like the ones in Missouri have some of the best and most exciting whitetail hunting anywhere. It didn't mention how well we take care of all our animals and how good they have it. It didn't mention how much we test our animals compared to the free ranging herd.
 
I forwarded your email to my attorney and he recommended me not doing the story. He said it is impossible to know your motives. So unless you can convince me otherwise, I am going to pass. Thanks for thinking of me and I wish you luck in the future.
 
Sam James

The thought about him going somewhere else crossed my mind so I asked our attorney about a contract giving us the final approval of the article. He said that's hard to enforce even if they sign it and he thought nobody would. But I did leave the ball in his court to see how he responds. I'll see what he has to offer. You are right in the fact that I'd like to handle it but if it's dirt he is after there is really nothing we can do to prevent it if we let him on our place..

When he first called he said he was from the Kansas City Area and wanted to combine the trip with a trip home. I have done numerous phone interviews just to try to salvage some of our side of the story. When they call and ask if I have a minute I ask if they have about 4 hours. Usually they get tired after about an hour. Most of the time they seem to somewhat get it but like Wild Rivers said it never turns out good....just neutral at best. They seem surprised and disappointed when they hear the truth. I get the feeling they have their story and just call so they can say "The President of the Missouri Deer Association couldn't be reached for comment". So I try to take every call. Many reporters don't even try.


 


Since my lawyer has recommended I not let him or anyone else on the farm that's what I'm going to do. I asked him about the guy just finding another farm to interview and he said he probably will. There are not a lot of people who have both a breeding operation and hunting ranches so he may have a little trouble finding that. I hope so. Anyway I'll let you know how he responds.