GotZoom
Senior Member
I like the idea...but...City money? And it the contract for the paper was a awarded without competitive bidding. Something stinky........
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Published: October 24, 2005 10:48 AM ET
NEW YORK A start-up newspaper called the Newark (N.J.) Weekly News has signed a one-year, $100,000 contract with the Newark city council to publish "positive news" about the city, according to a report in Monday's Star-Ledger.
Newark Weekly News owner and editor Howard Scott explained argued in the Star-Ledger that the arrangement is similar to the way large newspapers are paid to print the legal advertisements that municipalities are required by law to publish.
"'Do we have critical reporters on staff? No. Do we have investigative reporters? No,'" Scott told the Star-Ledger. "'Our niche is the good stuff. People have come to know it and they love it.'"
But the arrangement has raised the ire of media watchdogs. Roy Clark, a senior scholar at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, told the Star-Ledger, "If you are publishing government propaganda in the guise of neutral, detached reporting, that's about as unethical as you can get short of putting a hit out on somebody."
The move comes at a time when the media is under increased scrutiny for accepting government money and government-produced video news releases. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office released a report in October accusing the Bush administration of violating laws prohibiting the use of covert propaganda. At issue were secret payments to conservative broadcaster/columnist Armstrong Williams, who was hired to promote the Bush administration's education policies.
Williams failed to disclose he was on the government's payroll, and is reportedly in negotiations to return a portion of the $240,000 he received from the U.S. Department of Education because he didn't fulfill part of the contract requiring him to promote the No Child Left Behind Act.
According to the Star-Ledger's report, written by Jeffery C. Mays, Scott, pitched his good-news contract proposal to the city on Oct. 12.
"We have found oodles and oodles of positive news not identified by your paper of record, The Star Liar, I mean Star-Ledger," Scott said during his pitch.
According to the contract, Legacy Media Group, which owns Newark Weekly, will work with the city's public information office to publicize "positive aspects of the city, as may be requested by the Office of the Mayor or the Municipal Council."
The Star-Ledger reports that Newark Weekly must "generate stories based on leads from (the) Municipal Council and Administration, namely Donna Purnell (the city's acting communications manager and James' spokeswoman) and Brenda Jones (a communications staffer), which will run in Visions Metro Weekly/Newark Weekly news for distribution to the community."
The contract was awarded without competitive bidding.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001350333
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Published: October 24, 2005 10:48 AM ET
NEW YORK A start-up newspaper called the Newark (N.J.) Weekly News has signed a one-year, $100,000 contract with the Newark city council to publish "positive news" about the city, according to a report in Monday's Star-Ledger.
Newark Weekly News owner and editor Howard Scott explained argued in the Star-Ledger that the arrangement is similar to the way large newspapers are paid to print the legal advertisements that municipalities are required by law to publish.
"'Do we have critical reporters on staff? No. Do we have investigative reporters? No,'" Scott told the Star-Ledger. "'Our niche is the good stuff. People have come to know it and they love it.'"
But the arrangement has raised the ire of media watchdogs. Roy Clark, a senior scholar at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, told the Star-Ledger, "If you are publishing government propaganda in the guise of neutral, detached reporting, that's about as unethical as you can get short of putting a hit out on somebody."
The move comes at a time when the media is under increased scrutiny for accepting government money and government-produced video news releases. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office released a report in October accusing the Bush administration of violating laws prohibiting the use of covert propaganda. At issue were secret payments to conservative broadcaster/columnist Armstrong Williams, who was hired to promote the Bush administration's education policies.
Williams failed to disclose he was on the government's payroll, and is reportedly in negotiations to return a portion of the $240,000 he received from the U.S. Department of Education because he didn't fulfill part of the contract requiring him to promote the No Child Left Behind Act.
According to the Star-Ledger's report, written by Jeffery C. Mays, Scott, pitched his good-news contract proposal to the city on Oct. 12.
"We have found oodles and oodles of positive news not identified by your paper of record, The Star Liar, I mean Star-Ledger," Scott said during his pitch.
According to the contract, Legacy Media Group, which owns Newark Weekly, will work with the city's public information office to publicize "positive aspects of the city, as may be requested by the Office of the Mayor or the Municipal Council."
The Star-Ledger reports that Newark Weekly must "generate stories based on leads from (the) Municipal Council and Administration, namely Donna Purnell (the city's acting communications manager and James' spokeswoman) and Brenda Jones (a communications staffer), which will run in Visions Metro Weekly/Newark Weekly news for distribution to the community."
The contract was awarded without competitive bidding.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001350333
