UPDATES on the River Valley Beacon
By Bret Roush
We recently reported a story on The Beacon, a small hometown newspaper in Priest River, Idaho and its editor, Terri Ivie. The Beacon is being threatened by The Bonner County Daily Bee, published through the Hagadone Corporation.
Terrie Ivie was the managing editor for the Priest River Times for 17 years until she was abruptly terminated in January of this year. The local office was closed and moved to Sandpoint under the direction of the Daily Bee.
The Daily Bee took exception through “their belief” that they held a copyright over a photo reprinted in the Beacon in the July 26th issue. (The photo was taken from the website of the subject of the photo.) The Daily Bee flexed their powerful corporate muscle and sent editor Ivie a letter threatening a $2+ million lawsuit over copyright infringement.
We also reported that she was the only female editor for the Hagadone Corporation in the inland northwest. We received a very nice email from Mike Patrick, Managing Editor of the Coeur d’Alene Press, correcting this part of the article. We appreciate the opportunity to clarify any misstatements.
We immediately contacted Terri Ivie, she cleared up what she meant when she talked to us. She was referring to being the sole responsibility for a complete newspaper, responsible for everything from the news articles and employees, to keeping the advertising customers happy. If there ever was a complaint, it fell on her shoulders to be accountable. “If anything ever got screwed up at the [Priest River] Times, then I was responsible,” Ivie clarified. In her position, she spoke for the Priest River Times and took responsibility for whatever issues arose.
Not trying to diminish anyone’s responsibilities, she does feel that she had more responsibility than the average editors in the area.
This point does not deter from the bigger picture. Will the Daily Bee continue to fight the Beacon with its threat over a publicly accessible photo? There were multiple people taking photos that day and it is very unclear who took this particular photo.
If so, do they intend to threaten anyone that has published the photo, including that of the subject of the photo who used it on his website?
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