T.O. Acorn’s Kyle Jorrey dropped by on Twitter to let us know he likes the idea of our #FactCheck – Thousand Oaks Local News, Oxnard Local News, Simi Valley Local News, Ventura County Local News

Kyle B Jorrey Tweet #FactCheck Mike Dunn CVUSD — **On Twitter, Kyle “mentioned” our Twitter account concerning a #FactCheck about Mike Dunn’s Tweet from July 30, 2018.**

Preface: On August 9, our newspaper made a public announcement (see here) about adding a #FactCheck Page to our website and invited people to send requests to fact check websites, social media posts or articles. On August 10, Kyle Jorrey (Editor of the Thousand Oaks Acorn) sent a fact check request to our Twitter Account (@TheVoiceCa). Taking him seriously, we responded and published our analysis which you can see here. Following that response, Mr. Jorrey took to Twitter to evaluate our response publicly.

What else did Kyle want to convey? He wanted us to #FactCheck Mike Dunn’s statement about CVUSD being #1 school district in Ventura County.

Except, not really. Mic Farris, a tweeter commonly seen in exchanges with Kyle that may lead some to believe his comments are orchestrated, was interestingly interjected into the conversation. This “data science leader” friend (who has a background image on his Twitter account with a PWC logo and his name on a slide) to tell us that Mr. Dunn made a false statement because he cited Zillow as the data source.

Mic then proceeded to tell us that he punched in “CVUSD” on a Zillow search bar and it showed Oak Park as Number 1…. kind of. It showed some Los Angeles Data too and other geographies. But those are just facts, let’s not worry about Mr. Dunn stating CVUSD was the highest ranked in Ventura County, not LA County. He also pointed out that Its Zillow Inc not Zillow Corporation and that Zillow’s ticker symbol is ZQ and its Class A share are traded on the NASDAQ not the NYSE.

Folks, this is how our trusted media is using social media to redirect our focus to split hairs and miss out on key messages from our elected officials. They are doing it all around us in Sacramento, in Washington D.C., and it is so disappointing to think it is happening here in our community.

On Twitter, Kyle Jorrey’s profile includes his employer, the Thousand Oaks Acorn and his role as Editor along with the statement, “Opinions expressed here are my own.”

In the end, Kyle thanked us and congratulated us on the exclusive with John Andersen, presenting himself as a “good sport.”

Then he and Mic went off into Twitter-land and continued to tweet about their version of what was said and their notion of what a #factcheck really is.

Every Employee of The Acorn we have seen who is on Twitter states on their profile, “Opinions expressed here are my own.” However, before and after that statement are references to their role at The Acorn, along with The Acorn website. Is Kyle using his role as editor of a local newspaper to bolster his personal opinions? If you disagree, does he call in friends for “back-up”? I certainly hope this is not the case.

My goal in creating a #FactCheck page for Ventura County readers was to clarify things that can easily be misleading in articles or social media or on websites. We have clearly struck a nerve with people who may actually be intentionally contributing to or even creating such misunderstandings.

Mic Farris, shown as a follower of Kyle Jorrey of the Thousand Oaks Acorn, includes a picture of himself at a PWC Conference with the headline on the backdrop, “Global Data & Analytics Leader Conference” and with his name on a slide deck that says, “Mic Farris- US Assurance Director.” His Twitter profile states “Decision #Analytics and #DataScience Leader – focused on #AI, #science, #BigData, and channeling inner geekness! / UCLA alum / Opinions my own.”

It’s no coincidence that the Right to Free Speech is our very First Amendment. It all starts there. In our effort to honor that right, we want to expose truths, not sidestep an important fact to play word games about which shares are traded by a public company. It challenges democracy to turn the media into a bully pulpit for the ideas of a select few who have a long track record of silencing the voices of those they disagree with. The Voice La Voz Newspaper stands here as YOUR VOICE to expose what has been placed in the shadows. #GameOn

Everyone deserves a chance to be heard even if our opinions disagree with Kyle Jorrey and Mic Farris.

#FirstAmendment

#YourVoiceForTruth

#ExposeTheDeceptions

#YourVoiceInVenturaCounty

Ventura County Local News. Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Ventura, Santa Paula, Moorpark. Visit us for the latest local news information for Ventura County at www.thevoicecalifornia.com