Lee Enterprises backs off hire of GateHouse sales executive as regional publisher after questionable tweets come to light

Two days ago Lee Enterprises named GateHouse Media sales executive Paul McArthur as its regional publisher for western Montana, but reversed its decision yesterday after his past social media activity, some of which disparaged mainstream news coverage, came to light.

One of McArthur's tweets

"Within hours of news reports about McArthur's appointment Tuesday, his past tweets and Twitter 'likes' on topics ranging from the news media to Islam to the weight of flight attendants were being widely shared — and criticized — on social media," Tom Bauer reports for the Missoulian., a Lee daily. "McArthur 'liked' tweets posted by conservative commentators criticizing mainstream news coverage as unfair or inaccurate, including a quote from Dinesh D'Souza that 'the press isn’t so much the enemy of the people, more that it’s the enemy of the truth.'"