A Little Balance Please

(originally published in the Fourth and One Fifth May 2014 issue)
 
An explanatory note: I sent a slightly longer version of this as an email to Northumberland News. I would have sent a similar email to Northumberland Today but there is no email address listed for the editor. My concern is that those who still read our local newspapers are being fed a highly slanted and incomplete version of what is actually occurring with our Port Hope municipal government. The reply from the writer said “We always ensure we are fair and balanced in our reporting”. What do you think?
 
“Please take this email in the vein of constructive criticism. I hope to start a dialogue that will hopefully result in more balance in your reporting of Port Hope municipal affairs.
 
I have been a Port Hope resident … for the past ten years. While you have usually provided more balanced reporting on Port Hope municipal affairs …, that balance seems to be eroding and has hit a new low point with your “article” on the 2014 budget. The reason that I hesitate to call it an article is that it is just a rework of segments of the press release from the municipality.
 
Consider the following

• There is no original content and no evidence that the actual budget documents were even examined. … Are you aspiring to be a newspaper or a municipal press secretary?
• No note was made that the total tax increase (levy plus assessment) was actually 6.7%, with a corresponding increase in spending. This is the highest tax and spending increase since 2006 for a town that is already over-taxed. Isn’t that news?
• No attempt was made to look at the obvious discrepancies and misleading facts in the press release. How can you repeat, without question, the assertion that the budget is “sustainable” when the non-LLRW reserves are being depleted by about 37% in just two years?  
• No attempt was made to ask questions of council or staff about the budget, either at council or after. I asked and was told by the Mayor, Mr. Baxter the CFO, and Counsellor Austin that no one had asked questions.
• There never seems to be any effort to connect the dots – checking for consistency and accuracy between council’s words and actions over time. For example, council is fond of alluding to the Strategic Financial Plan as though they have implemented it, when in reality the unfunded capital liability has increased by over $6 million in the past two years. They had an excellent plan produced, then hopped in the car, hit reverse, and gunned the engine. The 2014 budget eases up on the throttle a little, but only by about 4%. The problem is much worse than when they started this process.
• Many things are just not reported, such as questions of council.  For example, the fact that a councillor could not answer a basic question about the most important event in his portfolio this term may not be newsworthy. But when he couldn’t answer the exact same question two weeks later, even after listening to the answer from staff, would certainly be of interest to most Port Hopers.

 
There have been rumours that the two papers have been “muzzled”, either directly by the town to stop unflattering reports, or by the papers themselves, to curry favour (and advertising dollars) with the council and municipal staff. Articles like this give credence to such rumours. 

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