'Don Coyote' now has a blog when 'he' can expand on the one- or two-line cheap shots and snide comments 'he' leaves daily in The Post-Star. Then again, I suppose fair is fair: the paper is now letting readers comment on issues anonymously (while slashing the word limit for those with enough guts to sign their name), so maybe it follows their dumbing down trend to let (presumably) reporters do the same.
While giving plenty of voice to wild canines and FRONT PAGE fluff pieces on dogs jumping off a bridge in Scotland (Aug. 4), the paper is rejecting letters for no rhyme or reason. Though a conspiracy theorist might argue that there is perfect rhyme and reason.
The paper would surely retort that because they get criticized by both liberals and conservatives, lefties and righties, then they must be doing a good job. This sort of self-satisfied complacency is wrong. Dr. James Dobson might think President Bush 'too liberal,' but that doesn't make it so. The extremes are not a good guide for figuring out the middle.
First, the paper refused to run a fairly tame letter to the editor by Glens Falls mayoral candidate Esmond Lyons. This sort of thing makes it difficult for Lyons, Bill Berg and Roy Akins to get any exposure whatsoever, given the Post-Star's de facto policy of ignoring non-Republican mayoral aspirants in their news articles. They ran yet another piece on Tuesday on the GOP establishment's pick Bud Taylor.
The main tactical difference between the candidates is that Taylor and GOP rival Peter McDevitt have gone to great lengths to smear each other. While Lyons and the others have not. Lyons has run a campaign based on the radical premise that his ideas are good enough to stand on their own, without taking undignified cheap shots at the others. I guess this doesn't make good enough copy for our self-proclaimed Hometown Newspaper.
More recently, the daily refused to run a letter by Lyons' supporter Matt Funiciello, a local business owner. The paper refused to run the letter citing 'factual errors.' But the paper refused to specify what the alleged factual errors were despite requests, according to Funiciello.
Since the paper was criticized in Funiciello's letter, it's odd that they refused even the formality of defending themselves by detailing the alleged factual errors. That they didn't is either astonishing or revealing.
But since this blog doesn't have a Republican-only or pro-Bud Taylor policy and since I could not find any factual errors in Funiciello's letter, I am publishing it here (with permission). In his blog, Funiciello elaborates on the facts and substantiates the assertions he uses in his letter.
Dear Editor:
Our “hometown newspaper” is hosting what they call a “mayoral debate” on September 7th. Only two of the five candidates have been invited. When questioned about this un-American behavior, they claimed that the event is really a “primary debate” (even though they call it a “mayoral debate”). They say that a “forum” may be held sometime in the future where other candidates “may” be “allowed to participate”.
Does the Post-Star really see the huge non-Republican majority of its Glens Falls readership (61%) as totally irrelevant? They consistently withhold any substantive information about the Independent and Democratic candidates while dosing us daily with the squabbling between the two “conservative” camps. Esmond Lyons, Bill Berg and Leroy Akins have been virtually ignored. Why?
If you’re a business owner or an artist, Esmond Lyons is you. If you are a worker or someone who chooses not to live off the backs of others, Esmond is you. If you enjoy walking or biking and you understand that our downtown needs to be preserved, not sold off to the highest bidder, your vote's wasted on anyone else. Esmond is with us on all these major issues and many others that the Post-Star can’t see as locally relevant, like the impending energy crisis and how it will affect us in “Hometown USA”. You can learn more at EsmondLyonsForMayor.org.
If you want to see all five mayoral candidates in an un-manipulated setting, the Glens Falls Labor Council and The Informed Constituent (an independent news-monthly) are hosting a real debate at the Wood Theater on September 12th at 7:00 pm. Come hear all the candidates speak their minds and when you’ve heard all of them, I’m fairly confident that you’ll be voting for Esmond. That’s precisely why you haven’t heard much about him in our “hometown newspaper”.
Sincerely,
Matt Funiciello
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