Petrelis Files

Blade Editor's Nondisclosure on Greens, in Zeese Story

I've been a registered Green Party voter and activist for a quite some time, and always try to support fellow Greens, so I hope what I have to say about Ken Sain, news editor of the Washington Blade, is not seen as an attack on him.

Sain is big Green Party advocate, something I didn't know until last weekend when I attended the National G/L Task Force's Creating Change conference in Oakland and picked up a copy of the Green Pages, our national newspaper.

It ran excerpts from Sain's blogging of the national party's annual meeting in Tulsa, and this led me to his blog, where he proudly declares his commitment to the Greens and says he's the news editor at the Blade.

But what concerns me, as a media transparency advocate, is that Sain today writes a positive posting for the Blade blog on Friday about a Green, Kevin Zeese, who's launching an independent run for U.S. Senate from Maryland, and the Blade editor doesn't disclose his affiliation with the Green Party.

Some disclosure of my own. I've worked with Zeese on medical marijuana, DC statehood and Ralph Nader campaigns, and am very happy he's tossing his hemp hat into the Maryland senatorial ring.

The Blade should provide some transparency about Sain's link to Greens, especially when he writes about our party and its members. That not asking too much now, is it?