There’s an odd newspaper, The Earth Times, that started to publish a daily newspaper during the Forum last year. They’ve repeated their efforts this year in New York. I have to say that it’s a generally woeful paper, determined to put a picture of Forum president Klaus Schwab and his wife Hilde in every issue, with regular fawning articles about the organisation.
But the too-cosy relationship has spun out of control this year. Earth Times columnist Tom Wicker, who was once a titan of The New York Times, was allegedly promised a coveted white badge for the Forum, but never received it. So yesterday the paper led with a screaming article about apartheid for journalists at the Forum.
The issue is that orange badge press — the working stiffs — have been barred from the Waldorf. They’re confined next door at the Intercontinental, where people are paraded before them for press conferences, and they can watch live feeds of some sessions. That’s thin gruel, but it’s what happens at lots of other events, including the IMF/World Bank annual meetings (and they, unlike the Forum, are public institutions).
Today’s Earth Times carries the battle further. The lead story claims the paper has been banned from distribution in the Waldorf. It lost some potency by the fact that the paper was delivered to my and every other room in the Waldorf this morning.
I think they have a fair grievance about the orange badge exclusion. But The Earth Times went over the top with a series of outraged columns, and a particularly bizarre piece claiming that Klaus Schwab will destroy the Forum if he doesn’t bring it back to the bright lights of New York.