By Mark Baratelli
Text the writer at 407-308-1417
The day after Orlando Weekly's 2016 Annual Best of Orlando party, Selman Markovic, owner of the Copper Rocket Pub in Maitland, published an epic Facebook post (which has since been deleted) and created this online petition asking for Orlando Weekly Editor Jessica Bryce Young to disclose their Best of Orlando vote tallies.
The owner said the "voting is fake," the "most important awards" are chosen by their editorial staff...it’s a dark and distressing reality when an honest campaign, by the people, is shut down because it does not fit in with the editorial staff opinions."
Markovic says he created paper ballots for his patrons to use for the voting. The bar owner shared photos of the paper ballots in the comments and even says "We have physical proof of thousands of votes..."
Below are the reasons why Markovic feels like the vote is rigged as outlined in his Facebook post (scroll for the rant):
1. "Orlando weekly does not use a third party system for their voting. This year they simply used software to collect the data called, Second Street. Their editorial staffs, all 4-5 of them, were still in charge of tallying 'votes...'”
2. "The exact same businesses that did not campaign at all, also had over 100 articles written about them by the Orlando Weekly staff editors and reporters..."
3. "Is it a coincidence that businesses that did not campaign for any votes won first, second and third place in the biggest categories? Though strange, we can’t simply assume anyone is cheating just because they didn’t even campaign..."
4. "What if I told you about a local business that collected several thousand, with a capital T, votes from its customers in the very same categories that would normally go to their usual winners?"
5. "The exact same business’s that did not campaign at all, also had over 100 articles written about them by the Orlando Weekly staff editors and reporters? The editorial staff have made no secret to anyone who their favorite places to hang out are, and they tell all of us on a weekly basis to go there too."
6. "Orlando weekly does not release any stats at all as to the number of votes any business receives, ever."
Former Orlando Weekly employees Erin Sullivan and Ashley Belanger gave some behind the scenes on how the voting works in the comments section below the rant.
Belanger stated, "As someone who has counted the votes in the past for the category you belong, I can confirm there is not only no rigging to this system, but we spend countless hours into making sure that the votes are counted and represented, even when we disagree and roll our eyes at repeat winners, year after year."
Former Editor Sullivan shared why the papers don't share exact vote numbers publicly. "I can say why I personally would never want to show those numbers when I was the editor: Because no matter what you do or how you do it, when you run this poll you get raked over the coals by businesses who are hurt, upset or angry that they didn't win. And when they see how badly they didn't win, they accuse you of not counting all of their votes. Or if they see how massively somebody ELSE won, they accuse that person of cheating or ballot stuffing, paying for votes or otherwise being a terrible business. If they did the ballot stuffing and got caught, they then cry foul because they advertise. The list goes on and on, and the conversations sometimes degrade into accusations of illegal activity and border on defamation. I've worked for three alt-weeklies in different cities, and the words may be different, but the song is always the same. Sadly, this poll always brings out the worst in people, and while it's a fun issue to read if you're a reader, it's often an absolute nightmare if you work for the publication."
She went on to share why they used a third party vote-counting system. "We used to do it in-house, and we had our own software that tallied the votes and it took FOREVER. Like, weeks. Then Second Street Media developed a polling software that we switched to, because it became the "industry standard" for a lot of media companies and it's used by lots of weeklies for their polls. It tallies the votes for you in a preliminary way, but then the editors have to go in and make aaaaaalllll of the votes match up right. So if Le Coq Au Vin gets 600 votes, and La Cock Oh Vine got antoher 150, then Le Coq got another 1,000, the computer can't tally that. You have to do it manually.
Below is the full Copper Rocket Facebook post by Markovic and below that are the Facebook comments as of Thursday afternoon:
"An open letter to the Editor of Orlando Weekly:
For 25 years, you have been the pulse of Orlando’s art, culture, and alternative news yet for being the “people’s paper” free to anyone that wants one, you’ve become drunk on your own influence. You now host more events and parties than a fraternity of UCF, you maintain a small core paid staff, and “employ” hundreds of unpaid interns to manage your events, and that small paid staff of editors have enough bias collectively to make Donald Trump as border patrol agent or Hillary Clinton as an ethics advisory, look legit as hell, respectively. When did you become this way? Have you always been this daft in your choices of articles? Do you feel your 4-5 paid voices are more important than several thousand Orlando residents? Maybe, but let’s get to the issue at hand. Orlando Weekly runs the largest public opinion vote for its dining, drinks, music, nightlife, arts, and culture each year called, “The Best of Orlando”. The people, the residents of Orlando, are asked each year to cast their votes for the very best Orlando has to offer, and each year, Orlando Weekly throws the “Biggest Party of the year” to honor the winners, as they shut down a block of downtown Orlando and bask in their own glory for hosting such an amazing event. There’s just one problem. The voting is fake. Out of 100 categories people can vote in for their favorite places to get a bite to eat, maybe a drink or two, catch a music show, and so on, only about 80% of the categories are actually people’s choice, while the biggest and most important awards can’t possibly be left to the people to decide. I mean, come on, what do people know about their local community anyway, right? Instead, the editorial staffs of the Orlando Weekly simply chose the biggest category winners themselves and couple it with additional awards called “Staff Picks”. I know what you’re thinking, Nooooo. That can’t possibly be true. Orlando Weekly is too cool to do something like that! Sadly, the evidence is a bit overwhelming. Orlando weekly does not use a third party system for their voting. This year they simply used software to collect the data called, Second Street. Their editorial staffs, all 4-5 of them, were still in charge of tallying “votes”. Is it a coincidence that businesses that did not campaign for any votes won first, second and third place in the biggest categories? Though strange, we can’t simply assume anyone is cheating just because they didn’t even campaign, but let’s look at another fact. The exact same business’s that did not campaign at all, also had over 100 articles written about them by the Orlando Weekly staff editors and reporters? The editorial staff have made no secret to anyone who their favorite places to hang out are, and they tell all of us on a weekly basis to go there too. Well that seems like a big coincidence, but still not proof. Well, how about this. What if I told you about a local business that collected several thousand, with a capital T, votes from its customers in the very same categories that would normally go to their usual winners? You would think as a fair public opinion poll, the establishment with the most number of public votes, wins? Sadly, no. Orlando weekly does not release any stats at all as to the number of votes any business receives, ever. You can contact their office and simply ask how many votes did so and so get in 2013, 2014, 2015 or now in 2016 and their answer is simply, “We do not disclose the number of votes”. A quote from the editor in charge was simply, “Other papers, like the Orlando Sentinel, don’t disclose the numbers in their polls, why should we?” Actually, the Orlando Sentinel does post their numbers, and most of their voting is with live results as people vote. Who does Orlando Weekly think they protect by hiding this sensitive people’s choice community award data from? Russia? I make light of this matter, but it’s a dark and distressing reality when an honest campaign, by the people, is shut down because it does not fit in with the editorial staff opinions. We feel like Bernie Sanders right now. We never stood a chance. =(
We have physical proof of thousands of votes; all we are asking for is transparency for the name you bare on your cover and city you write for. Disclose the actual results of the people’s poll; past, present and future. Use an actual third party vendor. Post the actual votes tallied like Orlando Sentinel does in the public polls. We all know you can afford it, simply cut down on the 100 parties you throw each year. A small local business challenging a large circulation paper in a major U.S. city is nuts. If you decide to bury us in negative press, we have no course of response. If you decide to attack me personally, my character let me save you some investigative journalism time. I am nowhere near perfect. Im actually kind of shit, really. I’ve been bad to people, bad in relationships, yes I’ve been arrested, you’re damn right I inhaled when it comes to drugs, and I have bad grammar. Being a shit, doesn’t make me wrong or a sore loser. The love and support of our customers and staff, which makes our place awesome, is why I wrote this letter. You defrauded them, and now you’re on my shit list. If you’re a business that feels it’s been defrauded like us, use the #comecleanorlandoweekly and tell us your story. We know we are not the only ones. In closing, we would like to ask for everyone’s support in signing a petition we are creating for transparent results in all future public opinion polls done by Orlando Weekly.. The residents of Orlando deserve it.
We have physical proof of thousands of votes; all we are asking for is transparency for the name you bare on your cover and city you write for. Disclose the actual results of the people’s poll; past, present and future. Use an actual third party vendor. Post the actual votes tallied like Orlando Sentinel does in the public polls. We all know you can afford it, simply cut down on the 100 parties you throw each year. A small local business challenging a large circulation paper in a major U.S. city is nuts. If you decide to bury us in negative press, we have no course of response. If you decide to attack me personally, my character let me save you some investigative journalism time. I am nowhere near perfect. Im actually kind of shit, really. I’ve been bad to people, bad in relationships, yes I’ve been arrested, you’re damn right I inhaled when it comes to drugs, and I have bad grammar. Being a shit, doesn’t make me wrong or a sore loser. The love and support of our customers and staff, which makes our place awesome, is why I wrote this letter. You defrauded them, and now you’re on my shit list. If you’re a business that feels it’s been defrauded like us, use the #comecleanorlandoweekly and tell us your story. We know we are not the only ones. In closing, we would like to ask for everyone’s support in signing a petition we are creating for transparent results in all future public opinion polls done by Orlando Weekly.. The residents of Orlando deserve it.
Your move, Goliath. We are David, we have a rock, and we have great aim!
Sincerely,
Selman Markovic
Executive Janitor of The Copper Rocket Pub, and generally a shit guy."