Oct. 9, 2018 – California Congressman Devin Nunes sent a 38-page magazine, titled The Fresno Bees: The dirty little secrets of the Valley’s propaganda machine, to 100,000 constituents denouncing the publication’s coverage of his time in office since 2003. This mailer represents the congressman’s most recent effort to discredit the newspaper, which notably includes an attack on veteran journalist Lewis Griswold, who has covered Nunes’ political career since the late 1990s.
Estimates from an industrial printing service suggest that the cost of printing and distributing the mailer likely exceeded $65,000. Despite these series of attacks, The Bee has refused to retract any of its coverage of Nunes’ career. “So no matter what you tell people, no matter the falsehoods you plant, we’re not going anywhere,” Bee journalist Marek Warszawski wrote in a Wednesday opinion article. “We’re not backing down. Our commitment to our mission and our readers is as strong as ever.”