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Publisher of Satan’s Den Exposed
disputes Jack Swickard’s statement
The Desert Journal’s 1999 award
for investigative reporting
put in negative light by NMPA’s
master of ceremonies
By Bill Johnson, Publisher
In 1999, when the Desert Journal received its
first place award for investigative reporting from the New Mexico Press
Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, judged by an independent panel – that
year being the Oklahoma Press Association – master of ceremonies Jack Swickard
of Farmington took a pot shot at the award and said, “That (the Desert Journal’s
contest entry) was already done by the Farmington Daily Times five years ago.”
Although Swickard’s comment rang with impunity, I
pretty much ignored the statement, thinking that someone was envious of our
award and thought that perhaps they instead should have been the recipient. I
have no idea what the motivation was for Swickard’s statement, except now I will
say that it came from a big fat snob or snot, whichever you prefer.
Swickard, the editor of the Farmington Daily
Times at the time, obviously did NOT read the Desert Journal’s entry, which
consisted of numerous news articles written nearly every week from the third
week of March to the end of June 1999, the cutoff date for entries. Our
investigation continued for the next five-plus years and the entire project,
besides being published in either the Desert Journal or Desert Journal Online,
ended up being published in our book, Satan’s Den Exposed – The David Parker
Ray Story.
First of all, I would like to address the
injurious nature of Swickard’s statement, said in front of some 300 or 400
members of the NMPA attending the awards banquet in
Albuquerque that
night when he uttered his pure nonsense. He made it sound like we had
re-published stories from the Farmington Daily Times in 1994 when that newspaper
apparently did some stories about Satanism or occult related crimes. I have no
idea what they published, I never read it and at the time the Desert Journal did
NOT exist and so we were NOT even members of the NMPA at that time. I don’t
even know whether the Farmington Daily Times won an award for their effort, but
I do know this, the Desert Journal’s entry - which consisted of a series of
investigative reports for some 14 weeks - were authentic and original, and they
merited the top honors bestowed upon us by the Oklahoma judges. Swickard’s
statement neither humiliated nor intimidated me or my staff; it only made me
wonder whether he had a stick up his ass or an innuendo to pass.
Secondly, the David Parker Ray case did NOT occur
in the Farmington
area, it happened more than 300 miles away in
Sierra
County, and our story addressed the local story, not Farmington’s scoop. It
consisted of reporting the facts and statements from victims, police,
prosecutors, defendants, witnesses, etc. It did NOT occur because of copy cat
journalism, as Swickard suggested. Perhaps he had too much to drink before he
stood up at the podium to announce and present the awards that night. Maybe he
inserted his foot in his mouth before he decided to jabber off his jibber.
A four-part series that was only a small part of
the Desert Journal’s contest entry in 1999, titled “Satan’s Den Exposed,” raised
the issue of the public exposure of occult related crimes by law enforcement and
examined such issues as First Amendment freedom of religion as exercised by
those who consider themselves Satanists and whether the public has the right to
know about their activities, especially when they result in crime. Our major
source for the four-part series was an expert on occult related crimes who not
only wrote a book on the topic (the book’s circulation was restricted to law
enforcement and court personnel as it was a guide for law enforcement to use in
the detection and deterrence of occult related crimes), but he also gave
seminars on the topic to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other
law enforcement agencies.
So, I imagine that it was the
Oklahoma judge’s
reference to this four-part series that they made their comment, “Satanism, does
the public have the right to know?” And apparently that made Swickard upset
because maybe he thought we infringed on his territory. I doubt that he read
the expert’s book or even met him for an interview.
I haven’t spoken with Swickard about his three
second comment in 1999 at the NMPA’s annual convention, but it has been a
burning issue for me for seven years and I thought it should be addressed now,
especially as I attempt to promote my book and bring it to public debate.
Especially since many newspaper people were left with Swickard’s impression that
we may NOT merit the recognition that we received from the independent panel of
judges at the Oklahoma Press Association.
Satan’s Den Exposed
is a very important work by professional journalists who think the public should
know about crimes and criminals, and who take their
jobs seriously. The Desert Journal’s work deserves national
recognition as it exposes not only the crimes and criminals, but touches on a
little known subject that the media generally ignores because it is NOT
generally reported by law enforcement agencies, especially in the light of the
nature of the occult related crimes. The public deserves to be protected and
the first step to that protection is knowledge, and our book expounds plenty of
it, not to be criticized by media pundits like Jack Swickard, who I’m sure is a
journalist worthy of his accolades, but he should think before he opens his
mouth.
One last note, I have a copy of
Satan's Den Exposed that I will send to Swickard once I learn of his
whereabouts. I think he should read it before opening up his mouth about
this article.
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(posted 2-20-06)
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