Salem-News.com Reporter in the National Enquirer?

"Even if this paper didn't exactly get it right, at least they sensed the importance of Sean Flynn" - Tim King

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - We all know life is full of surprises, after almost six years at Salem-News.com, people were more than a little shocked to see Tim King show up in the National Enquirer Wednesday, in a front page story no less!

Talk about a dubious honor. And it doesn't come without a big dose of irony. April Fool's joke? Well, no, not really, but it is an unusual day, we'll leave it at that.

Tim has been studying the life of Vietnam War Photojournalist Sean Flynn for many years. This adventurous son of Errol Flynn was captured by Communist forces in Cambodia on 6 April 1970, along with his friend and fellow newsman Dana Stone, and never seen again.

Many people have tried over the years to locate these two loved and missed chroniclers of the Vietnam War, but to this day their fate, along with their final resting place, remains a mystery, or does it?

It was revealed this week that a group of investigators from a firm in Tennessee, have been working closely with Sean Flynn's sister Rory Flynn, in the excavation of a suspected gravesite.

They recovered suspected human remains that will soon be tested with a goal of matching the evidence to a missing person, like Sean Flynn.

Tim King has worked as a photographer and war correspondent in
both Iraq and Afghanistan. In this photo, Tim, standing with his son
Sean King, is saying goodbyes before flying to Iraq, Summer, 2008

Salem-News.com was contacted by one of the men who recovered the suspected remains, Dave MacMillan, and also by a representative of Rory Flynn, Wednesday.

It was pointed out to us that everything has taken place with the blessing of not only the Flynn family, but also the Cambodian government.

The remains were documented before being shipped to the JPAC (Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command) laboratories in Hawaii where they will be evaluated and investigated, hopefully leading to information that can be used in the identification of a person who could, ultimately, actually be Sean Flynn.

But it is too soon to tell. Almost 40 years have already passed, a few more days or even weeks will pass quickly.

A story Tim wrote about Sean Flynn 15 may 2008, has been on the first page of Google under a search for this missing journalist's name, since shortly after it was published.

The recently article from 29 March was "picked up" by the National Enquirer, though they never let Salem-News.com know about it!

That is OK, they just followed standard media practice and attributed the information to the source, which was our group in this case. Consequently, Tim's name and Salem-News.com appear in the article, as well as quotes from Tim and a video Tim produced in May 2008 to the song by the Clash, "Sean Flynn" which is very interesting and mysterious, as the life of Sean Flynn was. It is included below.

The ironic part is that as this story titled "M.I.A. Errol Flynn Son 'Found'" was being published in the National Enquirer, Tim was writing "Reports Citing Discovery of 'Remains of Sean Flynn' Presumptuous and Misleading" to try and dispel rumors exactly like the one potentially started by the enquirer headline.

No, its not an April Fool's joke; Salem-News.com made the National Enquirer, we think we've seen it all now!

Asked what he thinks about it, Tim said he was teased earlier in the day by fellow writer Glen Bledsoe, who said he'll let Tim be the one to get all the ink in that publication.

"Even if this paper didn't exactly get it right, at least they sensed the importance of Sean Flynn", Tim King said.

"And we can't forget that Sean Flynn is one of dozens of missing western journalists in Cambodia, whose remains lie hidden where millions were murdered in recent years."

Nobody knows yet whether the remains are those of Sean Flynn, or even a person, according to Lt. Col. Wayne Perry with the U.S. Air Force. He is with JPAC and was in Cambodia when these suspected remains were uncovered, though he was in a different area and did not intersect with the party in Kampong Cham province where the searching for Sean Flynn occurred.

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tomganow@yahoo.com April 3, 2010 11:02 am (Pacific time)

This was my fav. clash song and I never put 2X2 togeather.I new Rory through a friend when I lived in Laurel Canyon in the 1970's she even got me Comp. tickets to see the "Yes" her boyfriend was drummer.I never heard about Sean but in 2003 I spent 5 weeks traveling around Cambodia alone so learned the dangers even then.When he went into the countryside at that time Hwwy#1 was the southern HoChiMin trail going from the port to the VietNam border to take supplies by ship from China to the VietCong and the King was setting it up with his buddies.So sad I will pray tonight fro them.Tom

dick siegel April 1, 2010 8:01 am (Pacific time)

Tim, as web editor of the NE.com that was my call which is why I attributed your ground breaking and long term investigation into the Sean Flynn mystery. There's a quote around the word "Found" in the header which puts into question the validity of the discovery claims-- The story made it much clearer hopefully to the reader.

The video tribute was very well made by you and I felt poignant to include.

Keep us posted on further developments. Thanks!

Tim King: Thanks Dick, that is kindly appreciated!

Domingo April 2, 2010 4:30 am (Pacific time)

Its a mystery. Now we are making history.

Hank Ruark April 1, 2010 10:01 am (Pacific time)

To al: Fact is fact, and that's what reporters do...find and share them for the good of all concerned. Publication in any national wide-circulated pages is real acknowledgment that story-fact needs telling true, and that's what Tim's did, for sure. Good for you, Tim -- "Way to go !". Profession bettered by precisely that kind of effort.

April Dunlap April 1, 2010 7:34 am (Pacific time)

Hey that's great to be acknowledged in a publication like that. It's like getting a new roll (xtra long) of tin foil for the head, no? In bigger national news that will have a positive impact on America's future, and no doubt giving a positive morale boost for tens of millions, and maybe hundreds of millions around the globe: "Rush Limbaugh to announce run for President in 2012 Chicago Sun-Sentinel.com ^ | 01 April 2010 | By Rafael Olmega Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh will be announcing his run for President of the United States when he returns to hosting his popular broadcast following the Easter Weekend. An anonymous source close to Limbaugh has revealed that he has been rapidly gearing up for the GOP nomination race while he as been away from the show this past week. His website only says that he is in a 'super secret location', jokingly suggesting he may be looking for health care alternatives. The source elaborated that Limbaugh's feelings about running for office have been slowly changing over the past year as the cost of having Obama in the Oval office has approached the pay cut he often cited as his reason for not running in the past. It is expected that his campaign will be a great boon for the conservative wing of the GOP, attracting millions of his fans. He has over thirty million listeners, and there are tens of millions more who because of work schedules cannot listen to his number #1 program. He literally has the largest base of dedicated fans, read voters, than any other possible candidate for elective office. There is absolute jubalization breaking out all over as this news spreads." Query: What happened to the radio program by salem-news?

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Salem-News.com Reporter in the National Enquirer?

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