The North Shore Leader
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner | Lally Communications |
| Publisher | Grant M. Lally |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Locust Valley, New York, United States |
| Website | TheLeaderOnline.com |
The North Shore Leader is a weekly newspaper that serves the North Shore area of Long Island, New York.[1] As of 2022, The Leader has a reach of around 20,000 people.[1]
The newspaper was founded in 1955 by John W. Knott Jr. It was acquired by the Lally family in the late 1990s.[2]
Congressman George Santos
[edit]Questions about American politician George Santos's finances emerged in September 2022 in The North Shore Leader,[3] with no other news outlet reporting on the story before the election.[2] In the October 20, 2022, edition of the newspaper listing political endorsements, it stated: "This newspaper would like to endorse a Republican for US Congress in NY3 (Oyster Bay, N Hempstead, NE Queens). But the GOP nominee – George Santos – is so bizarre, unprincipled and sketchy that we cannot."[4] The paper's publisher himself ran as a Republican for the same seat in previous years, and their coverage was inspired by tips from those active in local business and party politics.[2]
On December 19, 2022, The New York Times published an exposé related to the issues around Santos, leading to a follow-up piece in The Leader titled, "The Leader Told You So: US Rep-Elect George Santos is a Fraud – and Wanted Criminal."[5]
In December 2022, the paper was named as a recipient of an Americana Award from Semafor for "The Cassandra prize for best unheeded warning" regarding its reporting on Santos.[6]
On January 5, 2023, publisher Grant Lally gave an interview to WNYC public radio describing more details about Santos: "He took one local political leader on a 5 or 6 hour odyssey, across the North Shore of Long Island pointing out lavish homes and claiming he owned them... It was lie on lie on lie on lie."[7]
In a January 9 television interview with PBS NewsHour, he spoke of the reaction of other publishers of small newspapers: ". . . they're very cheered by this development that we were able to break this story. And it is now a national story, unfortunately, but it is a national story. And we broke it. And it has reenergized a lot of the local newsrooms here in New York, but, also, I think, global — around the U.S."[8]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Cohen, LS (December 20, 2022). "George Santos Story Broke by Local LI Newspaper Months Ago". LongIsland.com.
- 1 2 3 Ellison, Sarah (December 29, 2022). "A tiny paper broke the George Santos scandal, but no one paid attention". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
a tiny publication on Long Island […] The North Shore Leader wrote in September, when few others were covering Santos, about his "inexplicable rise" in reported net worth — from essentially nothing in 2020 to as much as $11 million two years later. […] no one followed its story before Election Day.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ Daly, Maureen (November 1, 2022). "Santos Filings Now Claim Net Worth of $11 Million". theleader. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ↑ "Endorsements for U.S. Congress" (PDF). The North Shore Leader. Vol. 76, no. 3. October 20, 2022. p. 4.
- ↑ Fitzgerald, Niall (December 20, 2022). "The Leader Told You So: US Rep-Elect George Santos is a Fraud – and Wanted Criminal". theleader. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ↑ Weigel, David (December 30, 2022). "The Inaugural Americana Awards". Semafor. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ↑ "The North Shore Leader is a tiny LI newspaper who says George Santos has been lying to their community for years". WNYC. January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ↑ "Small, local paper uncovered and reported George Santos scandal before November election". PBS NewsHour. January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.