A nasty fight between the news staff and the owner of a local paper here has created some new casualties: readers, the New York Times reports.
Eric Zahm, a local hairdresser, moved a sign in his window protesting the actions of the owner of The News-Press after he received a cease-and-desist order from her.
Take, for example, Eric Zahm, a hairdresser who hung a sign in his window taking Wendy P. McCaw, owner and co-publisher of The Santa Barbara News-Press, to task for not recognizing a vote to unionize her news staff.
Within days, Mr. Zahm got a letter from a lawyer for Mrs. McCaw, warning him that the sign , which read, “McCaw Obey the Law” , could get him sued for defamation.