Thomas Jefferson once said, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." Unfortunately, we are quickly becoming a government without newspapers. The Express Times has failed to provide any coverage for the last four meetings of Northampton County Council. It has failed to cover trials and other court hearings. This is good news for Executive John Brown, who is known for ignoring press inquiries and blatantly refusing to provide information requested by the legislative branch.
Online newspapers may eventually be the answer. Until that happens, the lack of scrutiny is bound to lead to local corruption and attempts to suppress or alienate the few independent voices that remain.
Updated 10:10 am: Should Public Subsidize an Unused Press Office?
Email to Executive and Council - Since The Express Times no longer bothers to cover the largest local government in Northampton County, and even fails to send reporters to cover criminal and civil proceedings, it has no need for the office that the County has supplied to it, rent-free, for decades. The newspaper has failed in its mission of informing the public, and should no longer be subsidized by the County.
John Brown is looking for ways to save money. This is one of them. The office should be converted into a photography center for those who file for passports but have no picture. The County can charge a modest fee for the picture.
Response from ET Editor Jim Deegan - Bernie is wrong.
Should you need any facts, information or if you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Response to Deegan - Do our eyes lie? The reality is that you have provided no coverage of the last four meetings of Northampton County Council, as well as numerous committee hearings. None. You have provided next to no coverage of the courts. This is a disgrace. There is no reason for the County to subsidize an office in the people's building that you fail to use. That area could easily be used for passport pictures. If you intend to start providing coverage, how about telling your own readers? Don't they deserve a little respect from you, instead of the lies you told about not laying off people in the newsroom?
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Monday, May 11, 2015
36 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
However the ET did cover a dine and dash at the Denny's in Allen Township.
ReplyDeleteThat's news!
This is old news. Nothing but a weak attempt from the childish little boy Bernie to take a whack at his better MR. Brown.
ReplyDeleteActually, is ET failing in its nonprofit charter by not covering local government meetings? It might take a law professor
ReplyDeleteto let us know but you raise a
very serious issue. Perhaps
a reader survey to see how many reporters are covering any of the township and borough meetings is in order?
They have missed a TON of stories lately. Their "reporting" is now limited to
ReplyDeletea) aggregating / reblogging
b) things they can do from desk / couch (ie typing up police reports and news releases)
c):things that generate tons of web hits such as prom photo galleries
Time to cancel my subscription is today. Seems Brownie is a favorite so time to unsubscribe.
ReplyDeleteCan the ET itself be given a Turkey award for its negligence in covering Norco?
ReplyDeleteBecause nothing of an interest happens at the County level. Its bureaucracy for the courts and human services. Yawn.
ReplyDeleteThis is old news. Nothing but a weak attempt from the childish little boy Bernie to take a whack at his better MR. Brown
ReplyDeleteYou are doing what you allege, hypocrite. It will be "old news" when the ET fixes the problem. Brown is out of control, as both Dems and Repubs on council have noted. Durkin showed in the last meeting that he is incompetent. Taxpayers need to be kept informed of what is going on at the highest local level of government.
"Actually, is ET failing in its nonprofit charter by not covering local government meetings? "
ReplyDeleteIt is a for-profit venture. It is provided an office withoit rent at the courthouse, which should be taken away. It is failing its mission to the public.
6:39 is the Blog Mentor, posting under ione of his many pseudonyms. He should be a little more concerned abiut the libel suit against him and thae fact that it may soon include a few additional plaintiffs.
ReplyDeleteBernie, I agree that the office at the Norco Government building should be pulled. Is the Norco beat even staffed anymore? Has anyone been using the office?
ReplyDeleteNobody is regularly covering that beat. There has been no county government coverage and next to no coverage of the courts. It is time that public tax dollars stop being wasted on an entity that no longer performs its role.
ReplyDeleteThe county beat has been abandoned for the moment. Local government coverage is spotty at best. Human interest and sports dominate the paper. Blood and guts gets press also along with whatever the Morning Call is chasing that relates to this area. NJ coverage a bit better then here. Follow the money..or lack of it.
ReplyDeleteDeegan likes to pee on your leg and tell you it is raining.
ReplyDeleteIf this issue is raised at a council meeting they finally decide to cover, will they cover this embarrassing story? Likely not. Will they ever write a critical word about their new landlord? Likely not. Newspapers are nearly dead. It's not a sound career path for anyone with journalistic skills. The newspaper that used to brag of Parnell Lewis and Peg Rhodin, is now down to Jim Deegan and Tony Rhodin, whose late mother would be embarrassed by his sloppy reporting and extraordinarily poor writing. He recently blamed an hilariously poorly written story on the early hour and absence of an editor. Middle school newspapers have more professionalism. Tom Shortell's departure left a very large hole that they have no plans to fill.
ReplyDelete@4:14 said..."However the ET did cover a dine and dash at the Denny's in Allen Township.
ReplyDeleteThat's news!.."
And they couldn't even get that right. The Denny's is in Hanover Twp., Lehigh County.
Lies my newspaper told me - here is how they spun or buried the latest round of layoffs ...
ReplyDelete*Company officials said the move announced Wednesday builds on the success of NJ Advance Media
*Many local employees of Penn Jersey Advance Publications will be offered jobs although there will be some job losses.
*Turning to NJ Advance Media to produce all content will better position both the newspaper and lehighvalleylive.com to focus on a real-time approach to distributing news, sports and entertainment content
Are you dizzy yet? Because I am about to throw up.
"Should you need any facts, information or if you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me."
ReplyDeleteThis from the man who reported (erroneously) about Eaton Police visiting the Sonic in Lower Nazareth.
What a hack.
As they've discontinued covering county government, how will they arrive at general election endorsements for county offices? Dart board? Secret Santa? One-potato-two-potato?
ReplyDeleteThat was Deegan's reply? Really?
ReplyDeleteI wrote him about this topic two days ago, and received no reply at all. At least you got something - but it doesn't say anything. Kind of like when Brown speaks.
Is the ET going to cover council meetings and Brown's activities, or not?
6:39 is a Lehigh Valley Nobody with a 9 year old obsession. Or the obsession of a 9 year old - take your pick.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you're rushing to judgment, Bernie. Their online effort just posted NorCo deed transfers from November of last year. Perhaps they're just sneaking up on county government news and will get to it eventually?
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your writing and your insights into county government. But when I talk to neighbors and coworkers I find much indifference. I guess they all feel that there is much info to read on local government and school districts that their brains are at near capacity. County government does not have that immediate effect on most. I suspect that the newspapers know that because they monitor what people read on line and tend to cater to that appetite/ Unfortunately that means less county news. I know that you are upset with Brown as many county watchers are, but that feeling just does not play out. To sum it up the county just is not that important as the local town or school district. Whaat else can I say.
ReplyDelete"Deegan likes to pee on your leg and tell you it is raining."
ReplyDeleteSo does O'Hare. Potato-potato.
Then The Exporess Times should have no problem seeing its courthouse office closed.
ReplyDeleteIf you go back forty years, almost every paper transaction filed in the courthouse was published in the local paper-marriage licenses, divorce papers, law suits, etc. That has stopped. The only news from the county is the squabbles between and among county council and the exec and all other elected. The only justification for an ET office would be their coverage of court cases which is probably the reason the office was created. No one ever paid any attention to anything else except the occassional corruption scandal
ReplyDeleteThen close the office.
ReplyDeleteClose the office. Times change and newspapers are going the way of the buggy whip. Court cases are newsworthy, but don't require tenant space for journalists. The cost of county business pales in comparison to school districts and the state legislature. Sadly, they don't cover that stuff very well, either. It's never been a good paper. In the 60s and 70s, they regularly suffered printing press problems and would be hours late. Grammar and spelling have been problematic for decades. Good reporters have traditionally started careers in Easton and moved on to bigger and better things. If you're past your twenties and still work there, you're either leaving for a better position, shortly, or you're just not very good. Regarding the county endorsement comment, if their editorial board conducts candidate interviews, where will they have gathered the information necessary to ask meaningful questions? The Morning Call? Lehigh Valley Ramblings? WFMZ?
ReplyDelete"The only news from the county is the squabbles between and among county council and the exec and all other elected."
ReplyDeleteThese are not little "squabbles". We're talking about major SNAFUs. Do they merit having an office there for a reporter? Maybe yes, maybe no. But there needs to be coverage of council meetings so taxpayers know what is happening - especially under wingnut JB.
I am still waiting for Deegan to explain the statement "Bernie is wrong."
ReplyDeleteAbout the Mets' chances this year? Sun won't shine tomorrow? What is Bernie wrong about?
Here is the information I want to know - will the ET not be covering council and the Executive anymore, or will they?
Hokie Joe says......
ReplyDeleteThe time has come for them to leave the space in the courthouse. The Morning call is also suffering but at least they are trying to do a respectable job reporting. The news media is hurting. There was a time when you couldn't hold a meeting in the courthouse without having at least six or seven reporters from various news outlets asking you questions. For example, radio stations WAEB, WEEX, WEST, WHOL, along with newspapers like the Morning Call, The Globe Times, The Easton Express, and even some of the weeklies like the Bethlehem Bulletin and the Valley Voice would be at the Courthouse along with Channel 69, Service Electric TV 2, Twin County and sometimes Blue Mountain. They all provided a valuable community service in the Lehigh Valley by the way they reported the news from the Courthouse. All of them covered County issues. They fought to get the news out of the Courthouse. You wouldn't dare overstep your bounds and do the crap that Executive Brown does because you would have been minced meat. You're right Bernie, if you are not going to use the space for what it is intended then it is time to give it up.
I'd love to be a part of a local news organization. It would take a huge amount of capital and manpower to get it going, but I suppose it could be done. Maybe the fine folks of WGPA would allow regular reports. The Home News and Town and Country Gazette might help with publishing... consistently in the top Arbitron ranked radio stations in Philly is none other than KYW News Radio, 1060AM. If it's done right, people will read and listen.
ReplyDeleteThe Blog Mentor is a douche. He looks like a douche too.
ReplyDeleteWTF is with Deegan? Bernie is wrong. OK, Jimbo, then what is correct? Will you be covering our county politics or not? Total f'ing silence.
ReplyDeleteanon 2:12, he who dabs it, is it!
ReplyDeleteI have already discontinued my subscription. I was asked why I was discontinuing at that time and I told them due to no county courthouse news. Common on Express, the people need to know what John Brown is up to!
ReplyDelete