hard deadlines

Two weeks ago, someone threw a bag of dead fish on our front steps. Later that week, there was a late-night ring-the-doorbell-and run. Then last night, our front door was egged. Any one of these could just be neighborhood kids, having some fun. But taken together, I now consider them to represent a pattern of harassment, and any further episodes will result in the involvement of the Portsmouth Police Department.

I don't mind a reasonable amount of trouble. Comes with the territory. But I have always observed the line between public and private, and if you threaten the peace and security of my family, I will press charges.

Got that?

The Sakonnet Times reported this week on a dispute over auction proceeds from the Portsmouth Democratic Town Committee clambake being "held back" — in the Sakonnet Times's words — by the Portsmouth Democratic Womens Club.

I've been asked why I haven't covered this, and the simple answer is that as someone connected with the Town Committee, someone who has been to meetings which are not public, it's not my place to comment; that prerogative is, in my mind, reserved to those authorized to speak on behalf of the committee. Questions should be referred to the chair of the Town Committee, Len Katzman, or the president of the Democratic Womens Club, Angela Volpicelli (who is, curiously, not quoted in the article).

That said, however, I am willing to comment on the very public fact that news of the disagreement broke — oh, I'm sure purely coincidentally — at the same time as the charge by failed Democratic primary candidate Mary Correia that my affiliation with the Democratic Committee somehow makes me incapable of blogging "impartially."

You know, I'm tired of writing that whole description, "failed Democratic primary candidate Mary Correia," so from now on, I think I'll reach back to the Homeric tradition of epithets ("bright-helmeted Hector," usw.) and just refer to her as "FAIL" Mary. Goes nicely with her sister "Tailgunner" Gleason.

So anyway, FAIL Mary told the ProJo, "McDaid also serves as the webmaster of the Democratic Town Committee Web site, and she did not believe he could fulfill both roles impartially." Leaving aside the McCarthyite guilt-by-association, the tacit argument seems to be that partiality is incompatible with telling the truth.

This is nothing but a Rovian sleight-of-hand, designed to focus the audience on some attribute of the source, rather than the verifiable statements that come from it. (cf. Barack Hussein Obama) Journalists, I believe, should have a bias — a bias toward the truth, whether or not that seems to place them in one particular ideological camp. Consider the mainstream media in the runup to the Iraq War. Yes, they reported "impartially" on what their Administration sources fed them, but did they tell the American public the truth?

By coincidence, this very issue was just discussed in a piece by Glenn Greenwald in Salon. He quotes, at length, McClatchy Washington Bureau Chief John Walcott's recent speech on the occasion of accepting the I. F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence:

Relying on The Times, or McClatchy or any other news source, for all the truth is dumb, but it's infinitely preferable to the pernicious philosophical notions that there is no such thing as truth, that truth is relative, or that, as some journalists seem to believe, it can be found midway between the two opposing poles of any argument.[...]

Does the truth lie halfway between say, slavery and abolition, or between segregation and civil rights, or between communism and democracy? If you quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Winston Churchill, in other words, must you then give equal time and credence to Hitler and Joseph Goebbels? If you write an article that's critical of John McCain, are you then obligated to devote an identical number of words to criticism of Barack Obama?
— via Salon

Read Walcott's whole speech, "Truth is not subjective," here. He has some challenging words for partisan blogging, and I take his criticisms of political bias and its potential for self-reinforcing insularity quite seriously. But for me, the overriding theme is that reporters do not guarantee themselves truth through "objectivity":

There is not one truth for Fox News and another for The Nation. Fair is not always balanced, and balanced is not always fair.
— via McClatchy.com

Judy Crosby of Island Books introduces historian James Garman.

Local historian James Garman launched his latest book, Looking Back: Historic Tales of Newport County, with a talk and signing this evening at Island Books in Middletown.

Calling the study of history a "great investment," Garman urged more people to take an interest in our rich local stories.

Published by Hamilton Printing here in Island Park, Garman's new book provides an illustrated look at historical moments from all of the communities on Aquidneck Island, with images culled from the scores of photo albums he's collected over the years.

You can find a nice writeup by Bruce Burdett in the Sakonnet Times about Garman and the new book. Why not pop down to Island Books on East Main Road and pick up a copy?

Failed Democratic primary candidate Mary Correia takes a backhand swipe at this blog in a statement reported in today's Providence Journal:

Correia said in a statement that she has been criticized for not responding to a questionnaire submitted to candidates for elective office by John McDaid, who runs a blog on issues of community interest.

Correia said McDaid also serves as the webmaster of the Democratic Town Committee Web site, and she did not believe he could fulfill both roles impartially.

McDaid said he posted all the responses in their entirety on his blog. He said he does not see any conflict between his role as a blogger and as a webmaster for the Democratic Town Committee.
— via Providence Journal

Gee. If there are any visitors to my blog who have doubts that I express a point of view, they clearly can't have been reading very long. I am a Democrat and I contribute my time and money to support Democrats. I don't think anyone who even briefly glances at this page could miss that. (And, uh, not to put too fine a point on it, but isn't Correia a Democrat?)

So-called "impartiality" represents one kind of editorial stance, but citizen journalism has different standards. Just like oral storytelling is different from writing a novel, online journalism is not print. It's a different beast, with different rules.

That said, in this particular case, I made it quite clear that the purpose was to get the candidate's words, unfiltered and reproduced at any length they chose, in front of the public, something that you can not do in print. Here's my original note to everyone who filed candidacy papers. As you can see, I sent the questionnaire to Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, and promised to run exactly what they said.

Here are the responses from Town Council and School Committee candidates. In addition to the endorsed Democratic candidates, Terri Cortvriend (D, undendorsed), Keith Hamilton (R, endorsed), and Thomas Vadney (D, unendorsed) responded. I stand by the integrity of this process. I posted exactly what people contributed, and I challenge Ms. Correia to prove otherwise.

Did I ask the candidates follow-up questions? Yes, where I felt there was a need for more clarity. That's a reasonable expectation from any journalist, print or online. Could that be the reason some candidates chose not to respond?

I reiterate my offer, as I did personally to two of the Republican candidates, Jeff Plumb and Joe Robicheau when they stopped by my house last week. Happy to resend the questionnaire to any candidate who needs it.

If Ms. Correia wants to run a campaign by press release and letters to the editor, only do interviews where friendly faces lob softballs, and blame the media, may I suggest a great model in the current national campaign of Sarah Palin.

Eileen Spillane at RI Twelfth is reporting that the Providence Journal is cutting back on local news, with at least one reporter from our area being laid off. A source familiar with the process confirmed the details.

Guess we'll have to wait for official word on what this will mean for local editions of the paper, but my source indicated that these could be gone as soon as next week, as hard as that may be to believe.

"Robicheau" truck on Park Ave.

Supporters of Republican Town Council candidate Joe Robicheau (editor of the PCC Newsletter) parked a truck on Park Ave and Gormley this morning with a big sign for their candidate, and that makes me really sad.

My sense is that here in Portsmouth we have, irrespective of party, generally opposed the visual pollution of lawn signs and other eyesores for local races. Even the non-partisan Preserve Portsmouth folks took heat over their signage, and they had a much bigger name-recognition hill to climb. So there's really no excuse for the Democrats or Republicans. Do they have the free speech right to do this? Absolutely. But we have the free speech right to complain right back. Nobody wants an arms race of lawn-sign proliferation that makes Portsmouth an ugly place.

I know that Republican Town Committee chair Frank Oliveira cares deeply about our town, and I call on him to ask his Party's endorsed candidates to respect our traditions.

Looking to vote in the November election in Portsmouth, Rhode Island? Today's the deadline. RI Secretary of State has the info. According to the list, Town Hall is open until 4pm. Why not stop by on your way to the Harvest Fair?