The Many Faces of Cianci: The Journal’s Jihad by Artin Coloian
Thursday, January 28, 2016
This was originally written in 2003 and was resubmitted to GoLocalProv today.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTTHE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL’S Mike Stanton will soon be making the rounds at book signings and media interviews to hype his new book, The Prince of Providence. Announced with much fanfare last fall, this book — and perhaps a Robert De Niro-Michael Corrente movie to follow — has been the talk of the town. Offered the opportunity to review an advance copy, I came away disappointed, but not surprised.
In the acknowledgment section of his book, Mr. Stanton thanked me for my help, adding that I was more intent on finding out what he knew than telling him everything I knew. I can say with utmost certainty that he offered little then and even less in this book.
The Prince of Providence is a story woven directly from the pages of the Providence Journal. It reads like a chronology of Journal stories. If a high school student turned in a paper like The Prince, he would undoubtedly be brought to the principal’s office for submitting someone else’s work. It is very possible that Mike Stanton cut and pasted his way, putting his book together in the Journal archives, using news accounts directly from an array of reporters’ stories of the mayor’s public and private life. He thanks many of his Journal colleagues for their stories. I wonder if he will be sharing his advance with them. He owes them that much.
Caught in the trap of his own newspaper’s determined drive to bring down the mayor, Stanton showed balance and fairness the door when his publisher showed him the money. His book became a conclusion in search of a story — a study in Journal justice. Ignore and discredit the 28 not guilty counts and the dubious single count for the government, or should I say, the $20 million in taxpayer money spent to get the mayor. The Prince attempts to build a case that Buddy was really guilty of anything and everything that the Journal has printed about him over the past 33 years. Stanton takes all the "charges" thrown at the mayor since he took office and uses a host of discredited and disaffected individuals, who were all too eager to say what the author wanted to hear and "prove" to Providence’s voters that the Journal was right all along. How did Stanton do it? He searched for anyone who would attest to every piece of gossip, innuendo, and negative anecdote previously published, and tied it up in a nice, neat package.
I had more than a taste of the Providence Journal’s style of justice as I faced a litany of unidentified sources offering scathing accounts of my case in banner headlines across the front pages of the newspaper. Thankfully, my day in court resulted in a full exoneration from all charges leveled against me. My acquittal was a footnote in news accounts and the "sources" that gave theJournal its opening to "convict" me before my trial drifted into thin air.
The Journal bosses wanted a 400-page character assassination of the mayor, regardless of the bad characters they had to use to tell their story. After all, it is Mike Stanton’s hands that would get dirty, not the Hope Club types from the fourth floor on Fountain Street.
Buddy Cianci is many things to many people. A brilliant urban planner to some, a tough guy to others, a resilient personality, a smart politician, a controversial individual on some occasions, and often a warm and caring person. He is truly one of Rhode Island’s most memorable people and one of its most influential political figures. His fiercest adversaries respected his grit, his intelligence, and his determination to take on any and all challenges put before him.
Mayor Cianci never hid from the electorate or the media. Whatever battles he fought, he did so at the head of the line. I saw firsthand that leadership and courage as he carried out his responsibilities as mayor. I had the privilege of spending hours with him over the years. I marveled at his ability to bring people together, to jumpstart a huge economic development project, or settle a neighborhood dispute. He was always willing to put himself and his office in the forefront if it solved a problem or raised the hope of progress. He was willing to take the hits that came his way to fight the fights to improve the city.
To quote Teddy Roosevelt, "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of his achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold, timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
This quote represents the essence of our former mayor. Providence is a better place as a result of Mayor Cianci’s tenure in office. He was also the driving force for the progress that Providence has enjoyed over the past 30 years. Regardless of the barrels of ink in Journal warehouses, they will never be able to print over that fact.
Artin Coloian, Cianci’s former chief of staff, is a lawyer in private practice.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This piece was provided to GoLocal by Mayor Cianci's former Chief of Staff, Artin Coloian. It was originally published in the now defunct Providence Phoenix in August of 2003.
Related Slideshow: Cianci’s Coverage in the Providence Journal
A look at recent coverage of former Mayor and Mayoral candidate Buddy Cianci's coverage in the Journal.
Column - September 21
Politifact - September 21
Letter - September 22
Letter - September 23
Article - September 23
Editorial - September 23
Letter - September 24
Article - September 24
Article - September 24
Article - September 24
Editorial - September 24-
Column - September 26 
Editorial - September 26
Column - September 28
Opinion Piece - September
Letter - September 28
Editorial - September 28
Article - September 28
Politifact - September 28
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