Richmond Times-Dispatch cuts 20 jobs ... releases veteran reporter Tyler Whitley

Hard times continue for the hard copy media industry with the recent news that the Richmond Times-Dispatch, owned by Media General, has cut 20 jobs.

Sadly, veteran political reporter Tyler Whitley was one of the twenty.

An icon on the Richmond scene and a Virginia native, his career began in 1960 as an obituary writer at the Richmond News Leader where he worked his way up to business editor. He moved into political coverage and, when the News Leader merged with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, he continued, becoming the "dean" of the Virginia capitol press corps. He wrote about the Virginia General Assembly for 40 years and covered nine governors including Bob McDonnell, fourteen national political conventions, and four redistrictings. Assignments throughout the years took him to ten countries.

I first met Mr. Whitley in February 2000 while working the George W. Bush for President campaign in Richmond. On the Saturday before the presidential primary day, an event was held at campaign headquarters with Texas Governor/U.S. presidential candidate Bush, Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, Lt. Governor John Hager, and U.S. Senate candidate and former Governor George Allen.

I was in charge of credentialing the press and that was the first time I met Tyler Whitley in person.  Although I grew up in Richmond, I wasn't particularly political in my youth and had spent a decade out of state so did not know who he was and asked for his name to write on his credentials. He looked at me for a few seconds and then very calmly and patiently stated his name.

The look stuck with me. It wasn't mean or condescending ... it was more like someone who was so used to people knowing who he was that it was surprising to run into someone who didn't. Later inside headquarters, I asked some of my fellow Bush volunteers, "Who is Tyler Whitley?" I soon found out ... and never again forgot.

In the years since, he and I have often crossed paths. Even though I realize he doesn't know who I am, I always say hello and sometimes we chat a bit, especially during the trip to Minneapolis in 2008 for the Republican National Convention.

During that trip when the Virginia delegation was gathered one evening for an informal cocktail party, he and long-time Virginia Republican activist Trixie Averill started talking about a political event years earlier that took place in southwest Virginia.

It was in Gate City in 1993 at a picnic Trixie helped organized with Jerry Kilgore who was in grassroots leadership at the time. Trixie, her arms full as she hauled supplies from her car, was headed down a pathway toward the picnic shelter when she saw a "stick" across the trail. Just as her foot was stepping over the "stick," it moved ... and slithered right in front of her.

Trixie screamed, the supplies flew up in the air, and -- as Trixie remembers -- she darn near had a heart attack as she ran to safety.

"Tyler was right behind me cracking up," Trixie, who is now Virginia Director of Americans for Prosperity, recalled recently, "but a few ladies who were down at the shelter and heard me scream were more sympathetic. Tyler wrote a very edited down version of what happened in his article the next day about George Allen's trip to southwest Virginia and has never let me live it down since."

Hearing those two reminiscence about the snake story that night in Minneapolis had us all laughing until our sides hurt. It was but one of the thousands of memories from Whitley's years covering Virginia politics.

Whitley celebrated his 50th anniversary as a reporter in December 2010. At a time when the mainstays of media communication are being reinvented almost on a daily basis and when reporters carry iPhones, Blackberries, laptops, use Twitter and every other means of new media, Whitley has found himself surrounded by citizen journalists aka bloggers who are competing for the story. It didn't deter him as he went about his job.

I would like to say congratulations to Mr. Whitley for 50+ years of journalism ... and thanks for the memories.

Four years ago....

Mike reminds of the gubernatorial election four years ago. Flashback ... seems longer ago.

VA Supreme Court upholds nation's first felony SPAM conviction

Attorney General Bob McDonnell's office announced that SPAMMER Jeremy Jaynes' conviction was upheld as the first felony SPAM conviction. Here is their press release:

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced today that the Virginia Supreme Court has upheld the nation’s first felony SPAM conviction. “SPAM” refers to unsolicited bulk email sent by fraudulent means.

In November of 2004, Jeremy Jaynes was convicted by a jury in Loudoun County Circuit Court on three counts of violating Virginia’s groundbreaking Anti-Spam Act, which was passed into law in 2003. This marked the first ever felony conviction in a SPAM case, and the case received international attention. After convicting the defendant, the same jury sentenced him to serve nine years in jail. The defendant appealed his conviction. In September of 2006 the Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed the constitutionality of Virginia’s Anti-SPAM Statute and upheld the conviction. The Virginia Supreme Court today upheld this decision.

Speaking about today’s decision, Attorney General McDonnell remarked, “This is a historic victory in the fight against online crime. SPAM not only clogs email inboxes and destroys productivity; it also defrauds citizens and threatens the online revolution that is so critical to Virginia’s economic prosperity. Thanks to the Virginia Anti-SPAM Act we now have the tools to go after Spammer’s and put them behind bars.”

McDonnell continued, “I want to specifically thank my predecessor, Jerry Kilgore, for proposing the Anti-SPAM Act, and ensuring its passage. I also want to thank him for securing the initial conviction of Jeremy Jaynes. What was accomplished today would not have been possible without the leadership of Jerry Kilgore. I also want to thank my Computer Crime Section for their steadfast work on this case. Virginia is leading the nation in the effort to keep citizens safe and secure online.”

Former Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, added, “Today’s decision marks a huge step forward in the effort to safeguard the Internet from online criminals. SPAM slows down commerce, fills up inboxes, and entraps innocent citizens. I applaud this decision, and I especially thank the dedicated lawyers in the Office of the Attorney General who began this fight when I was in office, and have successfully completed it today under the direction of Attorney General McDonnell.”

Chuck Curran, AOL’s Chief Counsel for Policy & Regulatory, noted, "We are pleased that the Virginia Supreme Court has upheld Mr. Jaynes’ conviction under the Virginia Computer Crimes Act and we applaud the tireless efforts of Attorney General McDonnell, former Attorney General Kilgore, and their entire prosecutorial team to hold large-scale spammers accountable. In 2003, Attorney General Kilgore and Virginia legislators worked together with the industry to adopt first-in-the-nation felony penalties for junk e-mailers who send large quantities of spam by falsified means. Tough anti-spam laws like Virginia’s provide a critical deterrent for spammers who try to fill e-mail boxes with unwanted and fraudulent solicitations.”

Jeremy D. Jaynes was regarded as the eighth-worst spammer in the world on The Spamhaus Project’s Registry of Known Spammer Organizations at the time of his arrest. At the time, prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Computer Crime Section argued to the jury that Jaynes, utilizing AOL’s private computer network, located in Virginia, peddled his products to unsuspecting victims from around the world. His global fraud resulted in millions of dollars of profit which he used to purchase a mansion and a number of homes in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jaynes was convicted thanks to Virginia’s Anti-Spam Act. The Act prohibits the sending of unsolicited bulk e-mail by fraudulent means, such as changing the header or routing information to prevent recipients from contacting or determining the identity of the sender. Such conduct is punishable as a class 1 misdemeanor or as a class 6 felony if any one of the following conditions applies:

- The volume of Spam transmitted exceeds 10,000 in any 24-hour time period, 100,000 in any 30-day time period, or one million in any one-year time period.

- Revenue generated from specific Spam exceeds $1,000 or total revenue from all Spam transmitted to any ISP exceeds $50,000.

- The defendant knowingly hires, employs, uses or permits any minor to assist in the transition of Spam.

A class 6 felony is punishable by a one to five-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $2,500, or both. Virginia’s anti-SPAM legislation also includes asset forfeiture provisions to allow law enforcement authorities to seize any assets or proceeds obtained through the illegal Spam operation. It also enhances penalties for violation of Virginia obscenity laws through the sending of illegal e-mails. The legislation authorizes the Attorney General’s Computer Crime Section to investigate and prosecute Spammers if illegal e-mails are sent to, from, or through any computer or computer network located in any Virginia locality.

To learn more about the Computer Crime Unit and Virginia’s groundbreaking anti-SPAM laws, please go here.

To read the full Virginia Supreme Court Opinion, please go here.

Cross-posted at SixtyFour81.com