de Blasio spox tells PR underlings about "combative media environment," advises "attack" strategy to control media coverage

de Blasio administration PR staff told to "attack" the media in "incredible" and "truly historic" pep talk

RELATED Following bombardment of bad press, Mayor de Blasio spinning his way back to illusion of competency (NYC : News & Analysis) 'We need to attack, not react,' de Blasio press secretary tells PR staff in pep talk (The New York Daily News)

Mere weeks after Ginia Bellafante excoriated the de Blasio administration's record of accomplishment in a Sunday edition of The New York Times, the mayor's spokesman, Phil Walzak, strikes back ! “We need to attack, not react – no bunker mentality,” City Hall Press Secretary Phil Walzak said at a Thursday gathering of about 50 city agency PR staffers, according to a tipster to The New York Daily News, adding, "Be aggressive. Tell your story loudly and proudly," before he noted that, "We live in a very combative media environment." Mr. Walzak's instructions to "attack" the media came the same week when the de Blasio administration continued to deny reporters access to the police arrest report for City Hall supporter Bishop Orlando Findlayter, even though the court system reached a disposition of Bishop Findlayter's case in his favor, as City Hall expected. Bishop Findlayter peaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for being sentenced to time served. Apparently, denying Freedom of Information Law, or FOIL, requests is now part of City Hall's efforts to "attack" and "control" the media. Is the de Blasio administration afraid of being held accountable for delivering on a progressive reform agenda that combats public corruption ? Many New York City-based political bloggers and reform activists wonder if Mayor de Blasio's new-found aggression towards media scrutiny of his administration has anything to do with the public corruption scandals playing out right now from City Hall all the way up to Albany.