Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503030123
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PIKEVILLE, KY. LENGTH: Medium
Coleman Oil Co., which operates the Happy Mart chain and other service stations in eastern Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia, pulled Monday's edition of the Williamson (W.Va.) Daily News and Wednesday's edition of the Appalachian News-Express of Pikeville.
Both papers carried stories about a meeting Sunday sponsored by members of Concerned Citizens for Pike County. Group members questioned whether there was a ``secret agreement'' among local distributors to keep prices in the area between 11 cents and 17 cents higher than the state average.
Marty Backus, publisher of the Pikeville paper, said Coleman had pulled 600 papers Wednesday, or 20 percent of the triweekly's newsstand sales. And he said it isn't the first time this has happened when a story or letter to the editor questioned gas prices.
``It's regrettable that they would take this action, but that's part of the ball game,'' he said. ``It's one of the drawbacks of reporting the news that sometimes your advertisers are part of the news.''
Coincidentally, Coleman's action came the day the News-Express began running a Happy Mart ad in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. Company officials declined to comment.
Louis Harvath III, outgoing publisher of the Williamson paper, could not be reached for comment.
Homer White, an assistant math professor at Pikeville College and a member of the statewide citizens group Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, said Thursday that Coleman's action smacks of censorship. And he said the company's reluctance to give more than ``vague denials'' about the price-fixing allegations only makes matters worse.
``If Coleman is so afraid of the issue that they don't want it discussed openly, then what looked bad before now looks a lot worse,'' said White, who attended Sunday's meeting. ``I think it's worth it for the Kentucky attorney general to look into the matter.''
For now, Backus said his paper would continue to cover the issue.
by CNB