Republican Party of Fla. has paid Texas company over $68,000 to manage Rick Scott's Facebook account

When Rick Scott was campaigning for Governor, he promised to create more jobs in Florida.

So, why is he paying a Texas company to manage his Facebook account?

To be more precise, according to the Miami Herald's Mary Ellen Klas, the Republican Party of Florida has paid Texas-based Harris Media more than $68,000 to manage Scott's Facebook page.

That fact came to light today after Herald managing editor Rick Hirsch fired off an email to the RPOF upon learning that a doctored image of a Miami Herald front page had been posted on Scott's Facebook page.

Click to enlarge.

From the Herald's "Naked Politics" blog:

Rick Scott's Facebook feature of Miami Herald headline: not quite

The Miami Herald headline on the Facebook page of Gov. Rick Scott shouts: "New law helps put Floridians back to work." It is dated Monday, April 9 with the inexplicable dateline of Guatemala City.

It was a fake headline pasted over a real story by Herald reporter Nancy San Martin from the Herald's International edition, dated March 5, 2007. The real headline read: "Murders highlight rise in crime in Guatemala."

Rick Hirsch, managing editor of the Miami Herald, alerted the Republican Party of Florida of the fake headline and asked them to take it down. The party pays Harris Media to manage the governor's Facebook page.

Brian Hughes, RPOF spokesman, said he was not aware of the post but had it removed immediately. "It was overzealous graphics,'' he said.

"The posting of a fraudulent front page of the Miami Herald is unacceptable,'' Hirsch said. "Not only is it a fraud on the public, but it is trademark infringement for use of our masthead in a fake edition, and copyright infringement for those portions of the front page that were not fabricated."

Texas-based Harris Media has managed the governor's Facebook account since the 2010 campaign and the company touts its success at promoting the governor through the social media site on its web site. Since Scott took office, the RPOF has taken over payments to the company, paying it more than $68,000 to handle the Facebook and Twitter accounts just in the first 12 months the governor was in office.

Note to Harris Media: If you're going to "phony-up" a newspaper front page, at the very least, it should look believable.