Despite Controversy Among Board Members, COPA Breaks Media
Agreement With ANN After Threats From Cirrus Aircraft
After a surprising, last-minute, development
alleging an attempt by Cirrus Aircraft to coerce the Cirrus
Owner's and Pilot's Association into forbidding the Internationally
read and syndicated Aero-News Network's attendance at the annual
owner's group gathering in Colorado Springs to be held
later this week, the matter remains both unresolved, controversial
and very troubling.
Despite their well-documented agreement to work with ANN to
serve as the event's media partner (as was done the year before
with very positive feedback), and an extensive amount of negative
response from COPA members over their initial decision to let
Cirrus pay for their own live coverage and boot ANN in the process,
COPA has refused to honor its agreement with the Aero-News Network
to serve, again, as the media partner, and will provide its own,
last-minute 'live' web coverage of the event. Mind you, ANN got
effusive and glowing praise for our previous efforts... which
apparently didn't mean much to the president of COPA, who is
reported to have made the original decision before consulting the
rest of the Board.
As noted in our breaking news story last week, a number of COPA
officials had indicated that Cirrus first attempted to have
ANN removed from attending the event altogether (allegedly
in response to recent critical editorial efforts... including the
story that first broke the news that Cirrus was in the process of
being sold to Chinese entities). COPA allegedly refused this
ultimatum, but did, initially, cave into the demand that ANN be
replaced as the live streaming media-partner for the event... with
Cirrus paying for the service themselves and ostensibly able to
exert some control over what they were paying for. According to
COPA personnel, Cirrus had originally threatened to pull their
sponsorship and participation from the event if ANN was not
'muzzled' in some form.
Since the news broke, and in an apparent attempt to ameliorate
the negative feedback of its membership, COPA officials have told
ANN that they are now going to refuse Cirrus Aircraft funds in
payment for the event's live coverage -- and will instead conduct
and pay for these services themselves. The result is that COPA will
break their agreement with ANN, with little notice and after
ANN had made agreements with contractors, vendors, sponsors,
syndication partners and other entities to provide the requested
and agreed services. A somewhat questionable statement allegedly
posted by the COPA Board (though members of that board have
expressed some serious disagreement with the course and conduct of
this decision) seems to attempt some historical revisionism by
stating that the media partnership was still subject to bid by
a number of parties and that COPA decided to not accept ANN's
'offer'. However; documentation received by ANN, as well as
statements online (on the COPA site), contradict this statement and
(we believe) firmly establish the fact that ANN was both
approved and had agreements with COPA to serve as their partner at
this event -- and again, as they had in the past. Further; shortly
after this matter became public, ANN received reports of some
personal attacks (on the COPA message boards) coming from
persons/parties that have had no prior contact/discussion or
involvement with ANN... and while we do not know those allegedly
involved, the personal attacks parallel the very threats
issued to ANN by Cirrus Aircraft personnel... and are being
reported to Law Enforcement.
The matter has just gotten somewhat more ponderous in that ANN
has received word from long-time ANN sponsors that within days of
this revelation, they had begun receiving 'anonymous' packages in
the mail that appeared to have the intent to disparage and defame
ANN and its Editor-In-Chief -- and appear to be an organized
attempt to damage or destroy this news organization's ability to
conduct its business as a journalistic entity. The action was not
unexpected in that several Cirrus Aircraft officials had threatened
ANN Publisher Jim Campbell that if he persisted in covering issues
surrounding a number of controversial actions that were alleged to
have been conducted by the management/staff of CA, that 'quite a
lot of dirt" had been gathered (about Campbell) and would be
disseminated in response. The 'dirt' reportedly includes details of
Campbell's 1978 arrest for a World Trade Center skydiving episode;
some seemingly negative material from the Sun 'n Fun Fly-In -- who
was exposed by Campbell for fraudulent attendance reports, safety
issues and other concerns; and matters supposedly connected to an
FAA medical issue that are over 30 years old... and of dubious
veracity. The matter is being handed over to US Postal Service
Inspectors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for immediate
action and investigation.
Aero-News Analysis/Opinion: Here we go again.
The actual ID of the party, or parties, engaging in acts of
apparent mail fraud, as well as extortion, remains as yet
unknown... but the timing is suspect in light of the recent events
conducted by Cirrus Aircraft to allegedly violate various
constitutional protections, our business agreements with COPA, and
to force our silence on matters that they have refused to
respond to, that we strongly believe require explanation and
exposure. We find it particularly troubling that within scant days
after being bought by a company owned by a Communist Chinese
state-owned firm, that Cirrus Aircraft personnel seem intent on
attacking journalists in a matter that seems quite apropos with the
established precedents of the Chinese government. The current
management of Cirrus might find themselves quite at home on
Tiananmen Square...
ANN's coverage of the Chinese purchase, initially, was based
more in finding out the truth behind the actions of the company
prior to the sale, rather than who it was being sold to... but in
seeing what has happened to one of the most successful and uniquely
American aviation success stories, we are now greatly concerned as
to what may be next. If CA's Brent Wouters is acting out of his own
desire to muzzle ANN, that's one thing... but if this is being
conducted at the behest of his Chinese bosses, that is quite
another... and the reason why we have asked for Federal
Investigation and intervention in seeing this matter be properly
examined. Further; if this isn't a matter that begs for the
attention (and action/involvement) of the various American
aviation associations, such as GAMA, AOPA, and others; we're not
sure what is.
ANN remains resolute in NOT bowing to the extortionate demands
of a company that appears to have acted improperly while receiving
proper journalistic scrutiny over same. ANN remains resolute in
denying any attempt to circumvent the magnificent freedoms and the
awesome responsibilities inherent in the First Amendment to our
somewhat battered US Constitution... and ANN remains more resolute
than ever before in telling you what we know to be truth and what
we so very strongly believe needs to be known by the aviation
industry if it is to have any chance of recovery and success.
Warts and all, we're going to keep doing our jobs. We love
aviation, and the people in it, so very desperately that we simply
do not know any other way to act...
As an aside, we are sorry to have to disappoint so many of the
event's sponsors and attendees who had come to depend on ANN for
the coverage and exposure we provided this once proud event. ANN,
single-handedly, produced more stories, online/audio/video about
this event than ALL OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS COMBINED. Yes... ANN is
getting screwed, the Constitution is getting screwed... but the
companies that needed ANN's coverage and the persons who wanted ANN
to cover this event are the ones getting royally hosed. At
a time when even the largest events in the aviation world are
watching pivotal sponsors/companies/supporters drop out of
attending and supporting their events, slapping these vendors and
supporters in the face with the loss of this extensive media
coverage seems to be a questionable and indefensible decision.
If we were such a vendor, we'd be asking for our money back...
and we hear that several intend to do just that...
ANN's Jim Campbell will attend, briefly, the upcoming
COPA event, in an attempt to resolve questions about this and other
matters that we believe to be our responsibility to pursue. In
light of the apparent miscommunication by the COPA Board and their
decision to cave in to the demands of Cirrus and their Chinese
bosses, and in apparent violation of proper ethical conduct (as
described by two senior COPA officials at odds with these recent
actions), Campbell will resign from the Cirrus Owner's and
Pilot's Association at the forthcoming event. Due to the
aforementioned threats (and others that have been received of a far
more direct nature), ANN will not risk harm/harassment to any other
of our personnel and will send no one else to this event.
Please understand that ANN does have much to be concerned
about... although we have not yet detailed the specifics, ANN has
been the victim of what we (and our legal advisers) have concluded
to be serious and threatening conduct by Cirrus Aircraft -- and, in
particular, by three of the most senior persons at that company.
While we regret the need to get involved in our own stories, ANN
will document that situation shortly (as if we didn't have enough
on our plate already... sigh). -- Jim Campbell, ANN
CEO/Editor-In-Chief/ Soon-To-Be-Former COPA Member/Supporter
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
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