A Conversation with Will Folks of FitsNews

As soon as I finished writing on Wednesday, I reached out to Mr. Will Folks of FitsNews to ask about his organization, his career, and the controversy surrounding him and former state representative Ryan Bingham. These are his replies to some of my questions. If you read that article about him on Wednesday, make sure to look at question 3.

 1. Where do you fall on the political spectrum? Based on what I have read from you it seems that you are more of a centered republican. I wanted to clear that up before we continue.

Not sure what I am. The spectrum is always shifting, and not in the right direction I'm sad to say.  And the political labels - especially the partisan ones - have become increasingly meaningless.  As for me, I believe in free people and free markets and I don't think either major party comes close to faithfully representing those things right now - at any level of government.

2. So how did you go from being in an alternative rock band to running a blog site? What led you from point A to point B?

Ha! You've done your research. The proudest I've ever been was back in the late 1990s when our band gave a concert and it got reviewed by the local alternative newspaper.  The article compared my bass playing to that of Mike Mills from R.E.M. - one of my idols.  It's safe to say everything has been downhill since then.  And in truth it's been A to B to C ... as I spent about four years between the band and the website serving as the press secretary to a guy running for governor of South Carolina. You may have heard of him. His name is Mark Sanford. I was his spokesman for about four years.

3. Why, in the case of Mr. Bingham, do you refuse to give up your source? Is there something to the story that could endanger this source?

It's simple: I promised confidentiality to these sources and they have not released me from my bond.  Unless and until they do, I cannot betray them.  The irony in this case, though, is that confidential sources are not even the main focus of his libel complaint. His primary beef with me revolves around allegations that were made on the record by a source who willingly provided a copy of the documentation for his claims. The confidential sources he is seeking are tangential to the complaint and in one case totally irrelevant to it.  Furthermore, the investigation in which Bingham was referenced by the confidential sources is ongoing.  We don't know what the outcome of it will be.

4. I like your slogan, "Unfair. Imbalanced." I'm guessing that it's a dig at Fox News. Why did you pick this phrase?

Well I don't really watch cable news so I don't know how much I would be 'digging' at them. Fox News was very biased toward establishment GOP candidates during the 2016 primary election - during and around the debates in particular - but again all of those cable networks are just noise as far as I'm concerned.  Mindless bloviation.  The tagline for my website?  It's funny I guess but after nearly a decade maybe it has outlived its usefulness.  Maybe I need to think of something better. But if people take it as a 'dig' at Fox News that's fine because all of those cable networks are just regurgitation of partisan pablum.

5. What are your goals for FitsNews in the future?

Never really thought about it. I guess to keep growing it, to keep bettering it ... I will say that one fundamental realization I have come to is that as much as I love getting my own views out there and convincing people that I'm right, I love the marketplace itself more. The exchange of ideas. I think as the site evolves I hope it will have more of a marketplace feel to it and not just be me raging against the machine all day.

6. Last, but certainly not least, where did the name "Sic Willie" come from?

Well I always liked Bill Clinton's "Slick Willie." And this is close to that.  Reporters often use (Sic) when they are referencing something that is spelled incorrectly in an original source.  I just thought it was a funny connection to make.  Whether it was actually funny or not - it stuck.  Wherever I go I have as many people call me "Sic" as call me by my real name.  Of course there are people who call me lots of other things, too!

I hope these answers helped clarify some of what I wrote about on Wednesday. I also would like to thank Mr. Folks for being so cooperative and responsive.