This story first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
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Editor’s note :
As this story was about to be published, ProPublica learned that the freelance photographer ProPublica hired to take photographs of Shawn Hill-Watkins for this article was so moved by Hill-Watkins’ plight that she sold some of her work to benefit Hill-Watkins and sent her $2,000. The funds arrived later on June 22, after Hill-Watkins received her unemployment benefits. In addition, the photographer promoted a GoFundMe page for Hill-Watkins, which prompted $9,740 in contributions from other people as of June 29. The photographer did not inform ProPublica that she was helping to raise funds for Hill-Watkins.
As laudable as the photographer’s intentions were, paying sources violates ProPublica’s editorial guidelines. For that reason, we decided not to publish the original photographs taken for this story. (We did pay her for her work.)
Ultimately, we concluded that because the photographer’s fundraising occurred after the reporting and writing for this article was completed (only fact-checking and editing remained at that point), this couldn’t be construed as paying Hill-Watkins for access.
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While totally ethical and laudable on the part of ProPublica, I hope it does not prevent them from hiring this photographer for future stories. She seems like a good soul.
Art Pope is closely tied to the Koch Network. They flooded the state with a river of Koch money and outside ads in 2010 and 2012 specifically because it was run by Democrats and flipped to Obama in 2008. They then dedicated themselves to undoing sixty years worth of moderately progressive, forward looking law in four years.
It’s not a shithole state. It was the most progressive state in the south, economically, socially, though stridently anti-union because of the former cotton mill industry. And it was still very much a southern state but one that desegregated with less violence and resistance than any state in the deep south and a hell of a lot less than ones that surrounded it. So you had contradictions like it having the largest but least violent state Klan organization in the south in the 60’s, that aped populist rather than overtly racist rhetoric in its public facing activities and focused on rural white resentment of the progressive politics of the white urban gentry who ran the state. That movement eventually became Jesse Helms’ base.
This is depressing. Governments are failing the citizens.
I shouldn’t have said that about NC. I’m one state above, VA. I lived out west most of my life and am having a hard time with what goes on in this part of the country.
However, what that woman went through just trying to get unemployment is beyond ridiculous. Maybe it happens everywhere, but it isn’t acceptable, driving people to live in their cars, if they have one.
So, Republicans don’t care about poor people.
“Well, look who just caught up.”
As an employer in NC, DES is incredibly bad. To date, I am still not kept abreast of Legislative changes. And while we are essential employers, just trying to navigate all the changes they have made to Attached Worker Claims is dizzying, starting in 2012, and every other year there after. I makes no sense except in cruelty.
And that’s exactly the kind of legal pollution the motherfuckers pumped into the General Statutes all over the place. Slashing funding and drastically raising in-state tuition across the whole UNC system, but especially at the flagship universities UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State. A full on war was waged against the UNC School of Law. Most restrictive vote suppression laws in the nation, so brazenly racist that they were repeatedly reversed by federal courts. Brazenly racist gerrymandering, also reversed by federal courts.The ratfucking of the unemployment system. Slashing taxes on rich people by eliminating progressiveness and implementing a flat tax. Defunding regulatory agencies. Extreme anti-science agenda imposed on the Coastal Management Commission.
It just went on and on until we finally threw out their grinning shitstain governor and, next election, knocked out their veto proof majority.
My cousin worked in the state Treasurer’s office for decades.
When Art Pope came in and started his reign of terror, my cousin started counting the days until he could retire and never have to deal with him again.
Let me guess before reading the article. It started with electing Republicans.
Update: Yep. Nailed it. Not one iota of surprise … what’s the fun in that.
That’s the Republican’s oath. Even while Republicans will excuse businesses from ever being fined or pay taxes the people are treated as if they are burden.
Isn’t IL a flat tax of 3%? Which may have gone up recently because of Pritzker. I know that tomorrow workers in IL will get a dollar per hour raise, and another one in Jan.
O/T
Here’s a bit of sunshine on my rainy day, I just scored a 12 pack of TP! Kitty Litter and TP and my Target run was successful.
Friends of mine who have lived in NC for years keep asking me to move there. I tell them that, as much as I would love to be closer to them, that where I live now (PA) is like a socialists’ workers paradise compared to NC.
And believe me, PA is neither socialist nor a workers paradise!
Florida is the worst state to be unemployed in by far, especially now. But then our system was designed to fail, thus discouraging people from pursuing their claims.
So when we all come over to your house to use the facilities, do we get to use the TP or should we use the litter box?