The Standard does not normally respond to comments made on social media platforms; however, in your Facebook post dated Oct. 29, 2021 you referred to a news article that The Standard Newspaper published as a ‘Hit Piece’.

In your post you write:

“A ‘hit piece’ is an attempt to turn public opinion against someone or something under the guise of objective reporting, and it is the lowest form of journalism. And there is always an agenda behind it – Travis Lingenfelter”.

You also added:

“They tried it when we placed the Kingman Airport on a track of renewed success, and several other times since then.”

Are you implying within this post, “They tried it when…”, that the word ‘They’ refers to The Standard Newspaper?
You concluded your post by writing:

“Practice hit piece journalism … win stupid prizes. #ProjectVeritasStyle #StandFirmForYourself”

For the record, The Standard Newspaper does not write or publish ‘hit pieces,’ nor does it have any ‘agenda’.

Rather than a phishing expedition, as you coined it, Dave Hawkins’ questions to you stemmed from multiple tips and concerns brought to The Standard’s attention from high-ranking Mohave County officials, who share concerns about the possible conflict of interest at hand with KDP.

You, Supervisor Lingenfelter, are an elected, seated Mohave County District 1 Supervisor, which means you have been ascribed as a public official. Position necessitates responsibility. The first, and perhaps the most important, of these responsibilities is to be transparent in all things that concern and/or affect the job and its duties for the position which you were elected to perform as a County Supervisor.

It is—and always has been—the responsibility of the Fourth Estate to ask the hard questions, to speak truth to power. Journalists are by definition informers, questioners, correspondents, interviewers, investigators, and researchers.

The Standard denies any attempt to “turn public opinion against” you or anyone “under the guise of objective reporting”. The Standard was, in fact, reporting objectively by asking you to confirm, deny, or explain your involvement in the loosely referenced Kingman Development Project (KDP).

Dave Hawkins, a 38-year seasoned journalist, reached out to you for input and clarification concerning a slide show accreditation presented by Bill Lenhart that included your name and ‘Principal’ following it.

You must know that, if accurate, Lenhart’s slide show could prove very damning. It could be contrived as a conflict of interest since you were advocating so strongly for a company that you may or may not have had an interest in.

Hawkins was and continues to perform his journalistic duty by pressing you to provide your comments and thoughts on the matter.

It simply was in your best interest to answer the question(s) truthfully. I don’t know what that truth would have been. What I do know is that since you chose to avoid or duck the question and threaten to sue The Standard and/or Dave Hawkins (per your text message response), well frankly, it makes you look bad. Rather, you could have simply answered the questions regarding a personal timeline of your activities with KDP.

You could have answered in any number of ways:

You could have said the slide presentation was simply inaccurate.

You could have said that the slide show was embellished to have the appearance that there was political weight behind the project.

You could have said you didn’t authorize the use of your name and was hoping nobody saw it and would not be brought up.

You could have said that it was an oversight on Lenhart’s part and that you had asked him to take it off and he didn’t.

You could have also said that it was a complicated situation and that you needed more time to discuss it or that you would comprise a letter and forward it to us.

The fact of the matter is that you didn’t make any comment. Instead, you threatened to sue The Standard, inferred that The Standard was on a ‘phishing’ (sic) expedition, and accused The Standard of having an ‘agenda’ since there ‘always is one’.

The Standard has no ill feelings toward you, Supervisor Lingenfelter. We recognize the positive contributions you have made to and for Mohave County. The Standard will not, however, allow you or any other elected official to make open-ended accusations, threats, and slanderous remarks to go unchecked. The Standard has a 30-year-plus reputation for investigating and printing the truth.

Debating issues over a social media platform such as FaceBook has zero credibility. Therefore, as a professional news agency, The Standard welcomes you to pen your side of the story; we will gladly publish it and provide you equal space and position.

Matthew Wanner

President/CEO, Mohave County Newspapers, Inc.