This Week in Carolyn Ryan Journalism Realness

Is Carolyn Ryan engaged in a smear campaign against President Barack Obama, or is she only reporting the truth ? Public Editor's "AnonyWatch Review" weighs in.

Before we delve into the latest chapter of Carolyn Ryan's media bias, let's begin by first examining the obsession with "polish" by readers of mainstream journalism. By polish, we mean the fetish with exacting spelling, grammar, syntax, and punctuation on big-name news Web sites.

• RELATED : AnonyWatch, Chapter 2: A ‘Poisonous’ President and a Banker’s Secret Yogurt (The New York Times)

Earlier today on Facebook, a social media network friend of mine shared a status update in which she made the observation that typographical errors in mainstream media Web sites were distracting, and they degraded her perception of the quality of news being published on said Web sites. This led to a back-and-forth discussion of this topic. At the end, I raised some concerns about how an obsession with typos may distract from the fact that very few journalists (either mainstream or alternative bloggers) very rarely tell the whole truth, that the real quality of journalism may transcend typos and should be judged, instead, on the larger quality of reporting the truth. For example, Anemona Hartocollis, the metropolitan healthcare reporter at The New York Times, gets her copy published in a form that is generally free of copy errors, but her journalism is biased as all get out. Ms. Hartocollis's reporting is emblematic of the corporate agenda in mainstream journalism. Whenever Ms. Hartocollis reports about another community hospital closing in New York City, her reporting only represents the corporate speak of profits-and-losses, and she makes no attempt to humanize the healthcare cuts' impact on real people's lives. Because corporate public relations spin is devoid of any moral obligation, Ms. Hartocollis reduces all her healthcare reporting to be about dollars and cents, siding with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's and his budget axman, Stephen Berger's, desire to make scorched earth cuts to healthcare. As far as Ms. Hartocollis's reporting is concerned, she's never attempted to ever report about the human right to healthcare. Just because Ms. Hartocollis's copy is clean of typos, it doesn't mean it's anymore truthful than a Medicaid Redesign Team press release.

Another example I noted in the back-and-forth on Facebook today was that of a blogger, with whom I'm on the outs. She butchers the presentation of information on her blog like nobody's business. Sometimes, her stream of consciousness blog postings contain incomplete sentences, but more often than not she gets it right when it comes to exposing government and real estate corruption. Her reporting delves deeper than the reporting of some reporters published in The New York Times, for example. Another blogger I know makes big-time typos, too, and sometimes his text "disappears" because of slip-shod copying-and-pasting, but from his blog his readers can learn how to see the corrupt political chess pieces move on big social issues. I acknowledge that it is important to present information, especially journalism, in a way that is accessible to readers, but mainstream journalism, even factoring into account all the waves of "corporate layoffs," still have access to resources like copy editors, interns, other editors, and webmasters that can proof writing after it's been submitted. But, as have been noted time and again, mainstream journalism has come to reflect a corporate agenda that distorts the ability of mainstream journalists to report the whole truth.

Over time, astute readers of political reporting learn that to discover the truth, once must read multiple sources of the same story in order to "average," "balance," and/or "correct" the news. If readers were to solely judge writing on cosmetics, that criteria will short change readers on the truth. Obvious mistakes should be corrected, but some bloggers don't even have editors. So, I'll always defend bloggers before mainstream reporters. But even then, I don't look at polish as being the only criteria for realness.

Carolyn Ryan's use of anonymous sources to report about President Obama's political backlash in the final midterm Congressional elections

Two weeks ago, Washington bureau chief Carolyn Ryan oversaw a report published in The New York Times about Democrats's fears about "their midterm election fortunes amid President Obama’s sinking approval ratings." The article contained a passage with a shady anonymous attribution :

“One Democratic lawmaker, who asked not to be identified, said Mr. Obama was becoming ‘poisonous’ to the party’s candidates. At the same time, Democrats are pressing senior aides to Mr. Obama for help from the political network.”

Public editor Margaret Sullivan chastised Ms. Ryan for the use of an anonymous quote, an issue of recent concern to the public editor and the readers of The New York Times. In her defense, Ms. Ryan pieced together a weak defense in which she denied engaging in an hominem attack on the president. It's difficult to believe that Ms. Ryan, as editor, or Jonathan Martin and Ashley Parker, as the reporters of the subject article, would go out of their way to wrongly roll up responsibility for the flagging fortunes of the national Democratic Party on the president. But the larger political reality that Ms. Ryan and Ms. Sullivan ignored is how the Obama administration silences dissent through political machinations, maneuvering that every high-level elected official uses to control his or her own political narrative. Ms. Ryan was famous for espousing the political narrative propagated by former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn when Ms. Ryan used to serve as the metropolitan editor for the newspaper. But now, Ms. Ryan has perhaps learned to challenge power holders, and, by relying on the sentiments of an anonymous source, Ms. Ryan may actually be expanding the political reporting in The New York Times rather than just repeating the official party line of the politicians she's tasked to cover.

No doubt that Ms. Ryan's anonymous sources for the subject article really exist, because many Democrats are plainly fed up by President Obama's corruption scandals involving the National Security Administration, the Monsanto Protection Act, and other political controversies. The public editor was critical of Ms. Ryan's use of an anonymous source, but if Ms. Sullivan would like to further examine why Democrats are afraid to speak out against President Obama, perhaps the editors of The New York Times should examine President Obama's political persecution of liberal advocates and institutions he locks up in the veal pen ? In her further defense, after Ms. Ryan endured so much criticism about her biased reporting that benefitted Ms. Quinn, Ms. Ryan may finally be learning the truth about how journalism really works when one is fully reporting uncomfortable truths about the corrupt political machinations of an elected official. Some sources may not want to go on the record for fear of political retribution. Like a typo hear or their, sometimes journalism realness doesn't always come neatly packaged and wrapped. After President Obama's veal pen gets examined, maybe editors can turn their attention to Ms. Hartocollis's media bias ?

Obama Administration Is “Greatest Enemy" of Freedom of the Press

NYTimes Reporter : Obama White House Is ‘‘Greatest Enemy of Press Freedom’’ Today

From Poynter :

New York Times reporter James Risen, who is fighting an order that he testify in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA officer accused of leaking information to him, opened the conference earlier by saying the Obama administration is “the greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation.” The administration wants to “narrow the field of national security reporting,” Risen said, to “create a path for accepted reporting.” Anyone journalist who exceeds those parameters, Risen said, “will be punished.”

Exactly. @JoeNYLaw

— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) March 25, 2014

• RELATED : NYTimes Reporter : Obama White House Is ‘‘Greatest Enemy of Press Freedom’’ Today (Mediaite)

It's not known, though, if staff reporters at The New York Times are able to give voice to the serious constitutional violations by the Obama administration, then why won't the newspaper's political editor allow reporters to fully report the truth as news ?

John Liu sues New York City for blocking public matching campaign funds

"John Liu's campaign did nothing wrong," says lawyer Richard Emery.

John Liu, the former Comptroller for New York City, filed a federal lawsuit today against the City of New York, alleging that he was "denied the opportunity to compete on an even playing field with the other mayoral candidates, and his reputation was irreparably damaged," The New York Post is reporting, adding, that the Campaign Finance Board's decision to deny Mr. Liu $3.8 million in matching public dollars amounted to a “death sentence” to his mayoral campaign.

• RELATED : John Liu sues city for blocking $3.8M in public funds during mayoral bid (The New York Post)
• RELATED : Scott Levenson, NY-CLASS, Citizens United Super PAC Investigation (Updated) (NYC : News & Analysis)
• RELATED : Proposed NYS public matching dollars at risk of being gamed, just like with "model" NYC campaign finance system (NYC : News & Analysis)

Mr. Liu's complaint alleges that the Campaign Finance Board unlawfully “crippled” his bid to become the city’s first Asian-American mayor by citing the court convictions of others, even though Mr. Liu himself was never charged with any wrong-doing.

The investigation into Mr. Liu's campaign finances originated in a report published in 2011 by The New York Times at a time when Mr. Liu was attracting serious attention and support for his expected mayoral campaign in 2013. Many activists have alleged that the editors of The New York Times preferred the mayoral candidacy of former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. After the Campaign Finance Board denied Mr. Liu's public matching funding dollars, former Speaker Quinn received the glowing endorsement of The New York Times' editorial board.

In a further example of the politicization of the Campaign Finance Board, city campaign finance regulators appeared to obsess over Mr. Liu's troubled donations, identified as only 35 out of over 6,300 donations, but city campaign finance regulators did nothing to scrutinize the corruptive influence of super PAC's in the 2013 municipal election.

In a video made last year by The Queens Courier, Mr. Liu described how investigators deceived his campaign workers into accepting tainted donations. Essentially, he was the victim of entrapment.

2014-03-12 John Liu v NYC Campaign Finance Board - USDC-SDNY COMPLAINT (Stamped Copy) by Connaissable

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QUESTIONING THE NEW YORK CITY CAMPAIGN FINANCE BOARD With John Liu's lawsuit against New York City over conflicted city campaign finance regulators, this makes three federal referrals of elections violations, forcing Mayor de Blasio to lawyer-up, recruit special inside election counsel. After a wave of federal complaints that have been lodged over electioneering violations in last year's municipal elections, Mayor Bill de Blasio has hired a special legal advisor specializing in election law. RELATED : Henry Berger, a longtime election lawyer, previously served as election counsel to Bill de Blasio during his 2009 public advocate campaign, has been appointed to be "special counsel" to the mayor. (Election Lawyer Hired As Special Council To Mayor Bill de Blasio * City & State) Since Mayor de Blasio and City Council Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and/or their political operatives, are entangled in some of these federal complaints, it should come as no surprise that Mayor de Blasio is now maneuvering to use his public office to defend himself against allegations of wrong-doing that took place during the electioneering of last year's municipal elections.

The three federal complaints lodged following last year's municipal elections : GOP consultant E. O'Brien Murray argued to the State Department that Patrick Gaspard, a former top White House aide with a deep history in Gotham politics, violated the federal Hatch Act by getting involved in Mayor de Blasio's campaign -- and City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito's subsequent election as speaker -- while representing the U.S. in South Africa. (GOP Operative Files Hatch Act Complaint Against U.S. Ambassador Patrick Gaspard * The New York Daily News) Louis Flores, a local political gadfly who ran a blog and wrote a book criticizing Christine Quinn, has filed a complaint with U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s criminal division against Scott Levenson and The Advance Group consulting firm, which came under deep scrutiny during the mayoral campaign. (Federal Complaint Filed Against The Advance Group for Election Work * Politicker) Former New York City Comptroller and failed mayoral candidate John Liu has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and its Campaign Finance Board. He says the board unfairly crippled his campaign by denying him matching funds in last year's race for mayor. (Ex-NYC mayor hopeful sues Campaign Finance Board * AP/The San Francisco Chronicle)

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The New York Times still has its head stuck in the sand on Christine Quinn

85% of Democratic primary voters rejected Christine Quinn in the mayoral election, but The New York Times still defends its baseless endorsement of a corrupt political hack.

In it's hasty review of political lowlights of 2013, The New York Times reporters Andy Newman and Annie Correal included a brief reference to Christine Quinn's loss in the Democratic mayoral primary.

The newspaper's reporters prefaced the mention of Ms. Quinn's campaign loss by framing her political career as showing "No major ethical lapses here."

The reporters seem to ignore Ms. Quinn's backroom machinations, her term limits betrayals, her enabling of 10 hospital closings in New York City during her speakership, and her slush fund scandal, amongst other ethical lapses, as documented in "Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn."

In its round-up of political lowlights, The New York Times seems to rationalize that the corruptive influence of money in politics that marred John Liu's Democratic mayoral campaign didn't also play out during Ms. Quinn's political career when, for example, by January 2013, executives from developers and landlords had donated over $800,000.00 to Ms. Quinn's political campaign for the 2013 election cycle, representing by one estimate to be 14% of the $6 million that Ms. Quinn had raised as of that point for her next political campaign. By this time, Ms. Quinn estimated that New York City had lost a total of 300,000 affordable housing units, and she blamed politicians up in Albany, even though as the City Council speaker, she was in a position to make a difference. But Ms. Quinn failed to deliver greater protections for Mitchell-Lama residents, and she herself accepted lower affordable housing requirements at the Hudson Yards project. Near the end of Mike Bloomberg’s mayoralty, it was reported that the billionaire mayor had managed to rezone 37% of the land in New York City. Under Ms. Quinn's leadership, the City Council failed to seize on this opportunity to make affordable housing a priority. As speaker of the City Council, Ms. Quinn had the most influence over land use issues, and the large role that real estate developers had in her campaign finance war chest suggests that Speaker Quinn wasn't about to stand up to developers when they were such a large source of campaign contributions.

So, when The New York Times talks about the corruptive influence of money in politics, it will condemn Mr. Liu for it, but it will stick its head in the sand when it comes to Ms. Quinn. Many believe that the editorial bias that favors Ms. Quinn stems from the former metropolitan editor, Carolyn Ryan, who has since been promoted to the politics editor and has been moved out of town to Washington. Activists have staged protests in the past to denounce Ms. Ryan's editorial bias that seemed to favor Ms. Quinn (VIDEO 1) (VIDEO 2) (VIDEO 3) (VIDEO 4).

U.S. Attorney Bharara is Being Pressed to Help Uncover Corruption

What Happen to the BOE Machine Count Due Out Sunday Night ? Where Is the City Council Hearing On the Missing Vote Count ?

Where's the demand that @ChrisCQuinn hold @NYCCouncil hearings on @BOENYC broken lever voting machines and botched vote counting ?

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) September 18, 2013

Preet Bharara Begs the New Media Companies to Do What the Old Media Has Not Done, Investigate Corruption

From True News From Change NYC :

Bharara: New Media End NYC's Journalism of Sheep

• Public corruption, based on all evidence, appears rampant,” Bharara told the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption at its first public hearing. “And the ranks of those convicted in office have swelled to absolutely unacceptable levels.” \Earlier in the day, Bharara’s office moved to take away the pensions of state officials convicted of corruption. The office filing seeks to include pensions as part of the property It comes in the case against state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), who stands accused of scheming with officials in New York City and Rockland County to raise funds for his one-time attempt to switch parties and run for mayor as a Republican. Letting felons collect state pensions is a “a galling injustice that sticks in the craw of every thinking New Yorker,” Bharara planned to say Tuesday night in a speech before Gov. Cuomo’s new anti-corruption Moreland Commission.
• Bharara planned to say Tuesday night in a speech before Gov. Cuomo’s new anti-corruption Moreland Commission. * Preet Bharara hopes for more muckraking in Albany (Capital New York) Albany has been fertile ground for investigative journalists in recent years, with two governors embroiled in ethical woes, and a number of legislators either indicted or forced to resign. With each press outlet that closes or downsizes, opportunities to ferret out fraud and waste and abuse are lost.
• Preet Bharara: “fresh news outlets like BuzzFeed … bent on doubling down on political investigations will provide grist” 4 corruption probe Bharara, SDNY US Atty, bullish on @buzzfeed, @politico/@ capitalnewyork, & new @WashingtonPoint, in testimony tonight to Moreland Commission * In testimony, Bharara laments loss of investigative journalists, and puts high hope in new outlets and revived old. * Bharara says pensions of corrupt officials should be tapped (Capitol Confidential) * U.S. Attorney To Commission : Political Corruption Is Out Of Hand In N.Y. State (WCBS)
• While Bharara Was Speaking Last Night At the Moreland Commission Hearing This Is What the Political Director of the Times Was Tweeting :

My goodness. Among blacks, de Blasio leading Joe Lhota 86 to 3 percent. http://t.co/ChGwIdUwBz

— carolynryan (@carolynryan) September 17, 2013

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Carolyn Ryan Update

SIDE BAR : Is it me, or do other folks agree that Carolyn Ryan doesn't get it ? Do you think she never will ? She reminds me of some of the people, who I saw promoted at my last job, who were given supervisory roles, because they were dumb or were known to fold, and they could be counted on to let the power players have their way.

It's in a lot of powerful people's best interests to install a weak link in a powerful post, so that the powerful people can run roughshod over the system. Having somebody disconnected from the serious problem of corruption be installed as the politics editor of The New York Times sure seems to help propagate corruption. Imagine their delight at the prospect of installing Ms. Ryan as executive editor of The New York Times ?

Explication of The New York Times Mayoral Endorsement of Christine Quinn

Queers Against Quinn respond to @nytimes endorsement of @Quinn4NY https://t.co/E9IjDCe4iR @colvinj @SallyGold @Azi pic.twitter.com/gPc2aoFt2t

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) August 24, 2013

The New York Times Mayoral Endorsement : Christine Quinn, the Democratic Choice

Following is a line-by-line explication of editorial in which New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is endorsed by the Editorial Board of The New York Times :

WHAT THE NYTIMES WROTE	WHAT THE NYTIMES MEANS
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is almost gone.	Real estate developers and big business interests are worried about who is going to carry out Mayor Bloomberg's policies for the next eight years.
At year’s end there will be nothing more he can do to shape, alter or improve the City of New York.	The Editorial Board has been tasked by Mayor Bloomberg to help elect Christine Quinn.
It’s the end of 12 years of governing under one man’s singular, often inspiring, sometimes maddening priorities, which were as big as a rising ocean and as small as your soda cup.	The Editorial Board is afraid of calling out Mayor Bloomberg for the dictatorial ways that he has run New York City. He wouldn't have made it to three terms, unless Christine Quinn violated the two voter referenda that imposed term limits, something the Editorial Board is trying to cover up.
It was a vision that succeeded brilliantly, but incompletely.	The Editorial Board believes that Mayor Bloomberg should have done more to help the 1%.
But don’t worry, New York.	The Editorial Board doesn't want the Real Estate Board of New York or the Partnership For New York City, our last two groups of major advertisers, to worry.
Mr. Bloomberg’s is hardly the only way to run a city, and the excellent news is that there is a candidate who is ready to carry on at least as well as he did.	The Editorial Board is going to help Mayor Bloomberg anoint his own chosen successor.
She is one of seven Democrats who have been toiling for months in the primary race, standing before voters day and night in a marathon of civic engagement.	The Editorial Board believes that even through Christine Quinn has been in public office for 15 years, she has had to hurry up and do her "wawk and tawk" tour to try to introduce herself to the taxpayers paying for her political slush fund.
A common complaint is that this year’s candidates look small, like dots on the slopes of Mount Bloomberg.	The Editorial Board thinks that even though the crop of candidates are not billionaires, if we have to do with peons, we can accept Christine Quinn, because she's proven to have sold her soul to big business interests, which is the only thing that the Editorial Board cares about, frankly.
But that isn’t fair; all but a few are solid public servants running substantive campaigns.	The Editorial Board has to give lip service to the other candidates, so voters could fool themselves into thinking the editors might possibly consider a candidate other than Mayor Bloomberg's heir apparent.
Though the race was crashed, and distracted for a few irritating weeks, by the unqualified Anthony Weiner, it has since sobered up, and voters are paying attention.	The Editorial Board did its best to keep focusing on Anthony Weiner in a negative light, so that the editors could dispatch him as quickly as possible, so that the editors could focus on fluffing Christine Quinn's sagging campaign.
It is clear by now — and last Wednesday’s debate made it even clearer — that the best in the group is Christine Quinn.	The Editorial Board is trying to make this hard sell of Christine Quinn, so we will go to any lengths to push her campaign on voters.
Ms. Quinn, the City Council speaker, offers the judgment and record of achievement anyone should want in a mayor.	The Editorial Board believes that Christine Quinn has a corrupt enough record that she will nicely fit into the broken political system.
Two opponents — Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, and William Thompson Jr., former comptroller — offer powerful arguments on their own behalf.	The Editorial Board wants to give these two fools more lip service, yadda-yadda-yadda.
But Ms. Quinn inspires the most confidence that she would be the right mayor for the inevitable times when hope and idealism collide with the challenge of getting something done.	The Editorial Board believes that Christine Quinn will be a perfect puppet to her REBNY and PFNYC masters.
Ms. Quinn has been an impressive leader since her days as a neighborhood advocate and her early years on the City Council.	The Editorial Board believes that Christine Quinn has fully sold out and betrayed her activism roots by now. She's gotten that shit out of her system, and she is a complete "Yes Woman" to her campaign contributors and special interests.
We endorsed her for the Council in 1999 as someone “who can both work within the system and criticize it when necessary” — a judgment she has validated many times since.	The Editorial Board analyses this as meaning that Christine Quinn will do what she is told by big business, and she will continue to undermine democracy and shred the social safety net when instructed.
She has shepherded through important laws protecting New Yorkers’ health, safety and civil rights, including measures banning public smoking, protecting tenants and small businesses, and battling slumlords.	The Editorial Board wants to remind big business interests that Christine Quinn has a record of doing what Mayor Bloomberg told her to do.
She sponsored the sweeping 2007 legislation that made the city’s exemplary campaign-finance laws even stronger.	The Editorial Board is only telling you a half-truth here, because Christine Quinn also weakened campaign finance laws this very year to benefit outside groups being able to spend unlimited amounts of money to further corrupt political campaigns.
She pushed successfully for a state law making kindergarten mandatory for 5-year-olds — giving thousands of poor and minority children a better start on their educations.	The Editorial Board likes it when Christine Quinn focuses her campaign on childish issues, because that helps voters forget her betrayals on term limits and her corrupt record with slush funds.
As speaker, Ms. Quinn has been a forceful counterpart to Mr. Bloomberg, and has turned the Council from a collection of rambunctious, ill-directed egos into a forceful and effective legislative body.	The Editorial Board believes that Christine Quinn subjugated herself to Mayor Bloomberg, and she used her slush funds to reward and punish her political allies and enemies like a good political boss should do.
In wrestling with budgets she has shown restraint that runs counter to lesser political instincts.	The Editorial Board is most impressed that Christine Quinn was able to focus on a political agenda that favoured the 1%, even when it meant driving up poverty and homelessness in New York City during the Bloomberg-Quinn administration.
She fought, for example, for a Bloomberg plan to keep a year’s surplus as a rainy-day fund.	The Editorial Board liked that Christine Quinn didn't use surplus funds to fight poverty or homelessness.
There was fierce opposition from Council members who wanted to spend the money.	The Editorial Board congratulates Christine Quinn turned her back on the needy, especially LGBT homeless youth, which is not an easy thing to do, given her identity. Let's give her some credit for that !
Ms. Quinn was right, and the city had a cushion when the recession hit.	The Editorial Board is impressed that Christine Quinn found ways to prevent tax hikes on the 1%.
Mr. Bloomberg has raised expectations that hard decisions should be made on the merits — that the city needs a mayor who is willing to say no.	The Editorial Board is endorsing Christine Quinn in part because Mayor Bloomberg told us to, and plus we may need to be bought out by Mayor Bloomberg if the newspaper business keeps losing money.
More than with the other candidates, that description fits Ms. Quinn.	The Editorial Board believes that Christine Quinn is the most corrupt candidate, and the extremes that she will go to embrace corruption is why Mayor Bloomberg respects her so much, that's what he told the Editorial Board during our back room meeting.
As an early leader in the campaign, with a target on her back, she has faced anger and derision without wavering.	The Editorial Board has tried to keep extending political cover to Christine Quinn, so that she wouldn't suffer such a steep drop in the polls.
We admire her staunch support for the city’s solid-waste management plan, which is good for the whole city but bitterly opposed in some neighborhoods.	The Editorial Board picked this lousy issue to focus on, because the editors didn't want to touch the slush fund scandal.
She has been willing to challenge the mayor’s misjudgment and insensitivity, as when he tried to require single adults to prove their homelessness before they were allowed to use city shelters.	The Editorial Board mentions the only thing Christine Quinn has done to address a small part of the homeless problem, so that the editors could keep running the façade of a "liberal newspaper."
Mr. de Blasio has been the most forceful and eloquent of the Democrats in arguing that New York needs to reset its priorities in favor of the middle class, the struggling and the poor.	The there is no way that the Editorial Board could ever support a candidate that wants to help the poor.
His stature has grown as his message has taken root — voters leery of stark and growing inequalities have embraced his message of “two cities.”	The Editorial Board endorsed Christine Quinn so that we could shift the campaign conversation to be about identity politics, not about income inequality.
He has ennobled the campaign conversation by insisting, correctly, that expanding early education is vital to securing the city’s future.	The Editorial Board picked early education as an issue for Mr. de Blasio, because that's an issue that provides the editors with some political cover in the Christine Quinn endorsement.
And yet, Mr. de Blasio’s most ambitious plans — like a powerful new state-city partnership to make forever-failing city hospitals financially viable, or to pay for universal prekindergarten and after-school programs through a new tax on the richest New Yorkers — need support in the State Capitol, and look like legislative long shots.	The Editorial Board has brought back Anemona Hartocollis to continue to write shoddy and entirely biased reporting to undermine Mr. de Blasio's platform on saving community hospitals.
Once a Mayor de Blasio saw his boldest ideas smashed on the rocks of Albany, then what?	The Editorial Board was told by Mayor Bloomberg that he would pull strings with the state GOP politicians up in Albany to undermine any candidate other than Christine Quinn.
Mr. Thompson, meanwhile, who nearly defeated Mr. Bloomberg four years ago, has run a thoughtful campaign grounded on the insights he gained in important elective and appointed posts in New York City.	The Editorial Board can't take Bill Thompson seriously. His wife has taken millions in charitable donations from Mayor Bloomberg. There's no way that the Thompson family isn't already indebted to Mayor Bloomberg, even the editors would figure out this much.
A former president of the old Board of Education, Mr. Thompson argues that he is the best candidate to fix the city schools, but his close ties to the United Federation of Teachers, not always a friend of needed reforms, give us pause.	The Editorial Board was told by Mayor Bloomberg that the next item on our political agenda is to bust up the teachers' union.
The teachers’ union is one of the municipal unions itching for retroactive pay raises in contracts that expired under Mr. Bloomberg and need renegotiating.	The Editorial Board is going to start a campaign to deny the teachers' union any pay raise.
For all the growing testiness of the campaign, the Democrats share much common ground.	The Editorial Board believes that enough real estate and big business campaign donations have steered the Democratic candidates into adopting campaign platforms that embrace an ideology of neoliberalism.
All agree on equality, opportunity and fairness.	The Editorial Board doesn't give a shit about equality, opportunity and faireness -- except as it would apply to our dwindling list of advertisers.
They concede that the best of the Bloomberg years — the economic diversification and growth, the astounding drop in crime, the transit innovations, the greener and cleaner public spaces, and big plans for the future — must be preserved.	The Editorial Board wants a mayoral candidate that will continue Mayor Bloomberg's policies of gentrification, stop and frisk discrimination, higher transit fares for commuters, the sale of more parks for sports stadiums, and more zone-busting real estate development.
And they agree that the worst must be corrected — starting with the Police Department’s unconstitutional use of stop-and-frisk, which has abused and humiliated hundreds of thousands of innocent New Yorkers.	The Editorial Board believes that stop and frisk should be ended in the outer boroughs, but its use should continue in Manhattan, perhaps even increased.
Ms. Quinn has no specific plan to require the richest New Yorkers to pay more in taxes in service of important civic goals (she says she will raise taxes as a last resort), but neither has she made a long list of unrealistic promises.	The Editorial Board is happy to see that Christine Quinn will keep sparing the 1% from having to pay their fair share, and, even better, Christine Quinn isn't making any promises to the poor or working classes of New York City. If low-income New Yorkers can't afford to live in New York City, they can always move to New Jersey.
The biggest challenge has not been talked about much — next year the new mayor will have to confront a budget crisis with no money to spare and all those expired municipal contracts to settle.	The Editorial Board is salivating at the opportunity that Christine Quinn will have to bust up a few municipal unions.
The mayor we will need then will not be the police reformer or education visionary, but a skilled and realistic negotiator.	The Editorial Board doesn't want Christine Quinn to reform the police department. As stated, the editors prefer to continue stop and frisk discrimination and police brutality as a way to drive out undesireables from the five boroughs, or from Manhattan, at least.
Some positions Ms. Quinn has supported are unwise or objectionable.	The Editorial Board is thrilled that Christine Quinn so readily adopted neoliberal and racist policies without complaint.
She has been too strong in supporting Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, the architect and stoutest defender of stop-and-frisk.	The Editorial Board expects that Christine Quinn will expand the use of stop-and-frisk.
She has supported, too blindly, Mr. Kelly’s practice of spying on Muslims at prayer, a similar false choice of public safety over the Constitution.	The Editorial Board finds this kind of discrimination excusable, and notice how the editors didn't mention how the NYPD also menaces people of color and LGBTQ and gender non-conforming New Yorkers. Basically, the editors don't care about civil rights and civil liberties violations.
She can become mumbly when talking about things that the real estate industry opposes, like changing zoning laws to require construction of affordable apartments.	The Editorial Board likes that Christine Quinn won't bite the hand that feeds her.
She has a reputation for shouting, but has shown a capacity to listen, and to be persuaded to change her mind — attributes we will count on seeing more of if she is elected.	The Editorial Board is already receiving estimates and bids for the installation of sound proofing in Gracie Mansion.
We had already made up our own minds in favor of Ms. Quinn, but the Wednesday debate would have clinched it anyway.	For years, the Editorial Board has been instructing reporters to write their articles from a point of view of bias that fluff's Christine Quinn's image and her campaign.
Candidates were asked what legacy they wanted to leave after two terms.	The Editorial Board has arranged it for fix to be in so that Christine Quinn can serve two terms as mayor.
“More people in the middle class,” Ms. Quinn said.	The Editorial Board helped Christine Quinn with this lip service.
It was a perfect answer, and she could have left it there.	The Editorial Board told Christine Quinn to shut her mouth and not ruin her interview with the editors.
But, Quinn being Quinn, she threw in supporting details.	But being the big mouth that she is, Christine Quinn went on tawking and tawkig and tasking, so much so that many editors put on their earphones and started listening to the latest Lady Gaga song on their iPhones.
She wants 40,000 more apartments the middle class can afford to live in.	The Editorial Board did hear that Christine Quinn has a plan to help funnel tax breaks and low-cost loans to developers, so that taxpayers could subsidize real estate profits to some of her campaign donors.
She wants to repair crumbling public housing, providing “quality conditions” for 600,000 people.	The Editorial Board promised to help support Christine Quinn carry out Mayor Bloomberg's plan to allow the development of luxury high rises on the last little bit of open space in NYCHA housing projects.
She wants to make the school day longer and replace textbooks with electronic tablets.	The Editorial Board also liked what it heard when Christine Quinn said that she wants to outsource teachers to a series of computer learning modules in 45 minute segments.
At the buzzer, she threw in: make the city “climate-change ready.”	The Editorial Board is looking forward to finding out how Christine Quinn has funnel more tax dollars to real estate developers that keep wanting to build along the rivers and beaches of the five boroughs. The editors view this as a risky proposition, but Christine Quinn seems to be obsessed with making more and more back room deals with real estate developers. The editors want to see how much she can get away with.
A lot of good ideas that, in Ms. Quinn’s case, add up to an achievable vision, and one we would be glad to see come to pass.	The Editorial Board is going to help Christine Quinn win by running more fluff pieces about her new luxury condo, her week-end home, her cooking skills, her favourite café, and her love of animals.

Sen. Ruben Diaz doesn't want to start any trouble, but ...

Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., wrote a list of "Page Six" items about corrupt political reporters.

Given the culture of corruption in local and state government in New York, Sen. Ruben Diaz has decided to instead focus on corrupt political reporters by writing a round-up of riddles that allude to journalists who practise compromised media ethics.

His list is a form of pushback on how everybody assumes that only politicians are corrupt, but nobody considers the ethics of political reporters. Here are some of his "blind items" :

• Rumor has it that there are some folks in the media who do some pretty manipulative (and illegal) things behind the scenes, and I have to wonder, who investigates them.
• Rumor has it that there may be a radio personality in New York who uses his influence on the morning airwaves to push for his candidate for one of the 2013 Primary races, and that candidate may happen to be his partner. There’s no call to investigate if this is happening, or if the use of that in-kind-service-like air time for a family member is something the campaign financial board should take a close look at.
• Rumor has it that there may be a political reporter on TV who uses his evening air time for political maneuvering that may be right in line with the political will of his spouse, who might be found on the top of a list of the most politically influential New Yorkers. There’s no call to investigate those maneuverings.
• Rumor has it that there may be a Spanish language newspaper whose editorial board blocks the coverage of certain Hispanic elected officials who champion Hispanic New Yorkers, only because these elected officials will not cave in to the publication’s radical agendas. There’s no call to investigate if this is happening, and if the abuse of power by this type journalism is fraudulent or corrupt.
• Rumor has it that there may be a polling company that, more than one month before the Democratic Primary, decided to exclude in its poll the name of the only Latino candidate who is running for Mayor in New York City. There’s no call to investigate if such manipulative tactics to remove a candidate’s name from the race is, in fact, happening – and what consequences there may be if this is racist behavior.
• Rumor has it that there may be a political commentator who has freely and frequently used vulgarities and disparaging remarks on live television about Catholic Church leaders and about an elected official or two – and we all know that if any elected official used that language or attacked the Catholic Church, there would be serious consequences. There’s no call to evaluate the obvious mental instability of this type of commentator, and there is no investigation to find out if television sponsors who pay to air these types of broadcasts are comfortable sponsoring this kind of hate-speech.
• Rumor has it that there may be an editor in the print media who uses his power or influence even when he knows that he is lying to ruin the reputation of someone in elected office who may have offended the editor by holding a differing view. There’s no call to investigate the personal and professional damage that editor may have caused.
• Rumor has it that there may be a powerful political reporter who had once chummed up to a top elected official in New York State, using all of his resources to fawn over and sing the praises of that official, until the elected official took a differing position on a matter or two. There’s no call to investigate the abuse of journalism when these kinds of reporters use their columns and radio time to obviously attack elected officials when they turn a corner and personally disagree with them.
• Rumor has it that there may be a powerful political reporter from one of New York’s tabloids who accepts money and favors from elected officials when the elected officials want to get a bill passed in order to get covered. Rumor also has it that this same reporter goes out of his way to expose elected officials who take bribes. There’s no call to investigate this type of hypocrisy and bribery in the media.
• Rumor has it that some very powerful editorial boards in New York City that rightly condemn DWI cases, host Christmas parties where the hosts of the parties and even some of their ace reporters climb in behind the wheel to drive home after drinking too much at these events. There’s no call to investigate this type of hypocrisy or illegal behavior, even when they are putting people’s lives at risk.
• Rumor has it that there may be several journalists in New York who boast about what balanced and objective journalists they are, and even though they try to keep their writing balanced, they Tweet in professional capacity to spew their contempt for elected officials and issues they oppose. There’s no call for these journalists to stop lying to themselves or for anyone to investigate their apparent dual personalities.

Read more : Ruben Diaz’s Has Some Blind Items For The Press !

This Week in Carolyn Ryan Media Bias

Everybody reported about Christine Quinn being booed about the Upper East Side waste transfer station, except for The New York Times. No surprise !!

As usual, almost the whole wide world has by now reported about the latest occasion when New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has been jeered at a large meeting, excepting, of course, the Metropolitan Section of The New York Times, which is edited by Speaker Quinn's brunch date, Carolyn Ryan.

"Upper East Siders opposed to the construction of a waste transfer station in their neighborhood booed City Council Speaker Christine Quinn at a mayoral forum," (NYPost).

After City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said she supported the location of the trash depot, she was promptly booed. "Don't expect us to vote for you, baby!" one angry voter screamed. (Gothamist)

"Speaking at a candidate forum on East 93rd Street, hosted by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, more than a hundred residents, some wearing green "Dump the Dump" t-shirts, heckled and booed the one candidate who said explicitly that the East 91st Street location for the garbage facility should not be changed: City Council Speaker Christine Quinn," (Capital New York).

Ms. Ryan has to bend the journalism in The New York Times to fit the mayoral agenda of Speaker Quinn's politics. Ms. Ryan makes it her duty to keep portraying Speaker Quinn in the best light, because that's what Speaker Quinn wants.

It's not like you would expect something even approaching journalistic balance from Ms. Ryan or The Times ?

Follow us on Facebook : We Protest Media Bias In The New York Times

Anti-Quinn Activists Need More Resources To Educate Voters

NY1 Exclusive : Anti-Quinn Activists Still Have Work To Do : New Poll Shows Quinn In Front Of Other Potential Democratic 2013 Mayor Candidates

Last night on the Road To City Hall program on NY1, it was mentioned amongst the panel of experts that, given voters' relative low negative perception of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the Stop Christine Quinn protest effort still has work to do, because voters are not yet educated on Speaker Quinn's horrible record while in office.

One of the activists, Louis Flores, has posted a solicitation for resources, in order to escalate his efforts.

Here are some of the poll findings :

What are New York City Democrats’ impressions of these mayoral aspirants ?

• 65% have a favorable opinion of Quinn, while 17% have an unfavorable one. 18% have either never heard of her or are unsure how to rate her.
• 49% have a favorable impression of Thompson, while 20% do not. 31% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
• 48% of New York City Democrats have a positive view of de Blasio, while 20% have an unfavorable one. 32% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
• When it comes to Liu, 43% have a favorable impression of him while 27% have an unfavorable one. 30% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
• 26% of Democrats have a positive opinion of Albanese while 20% have an unfavorable view of him. 54% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.

Poll results have a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percent.

Left unsaid during the panel discussion was the impact of all the totally biased/fluff pieces being published by The New York Times, which favours Speaker Quinn, like her Betty Crocker story with its staged photo, the café story, and her luxury condo feature story.

It seems that Speaker Quinn's favourability ratings are being artificially inflated due to the biased and deliberately fluff news pieces being published about her.

What Influence Does Carolyn Ryan Have Over Metropolitan Political Articles That Are Biased Against Joe Lhota ?

After having gone on a spree of Tweets ridiculing Joe Lhota's campaign for mayor, The New York Times metropolitan editor Carolyn Ryan's metropolitan desk then publishes a critical article of Mr. Lhota's campaign. Coïncidence ? Probably not.

Oh, Lordy ! I think @carolynryan ought to cut back on that #eggnog ! @joelhota @mattfleg @grynbaum twitter.com/carolynryan/st…

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) December 19, 2012

Ooo-wee ! I'll have some of them brownies that @carolynryan is eating !! @mattfleg @grynbaum twitter.com/carolynryan/st… @donnymossnyc

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) December 19, 2012

A movement has begun: RT @juliweiner: HILLARY CLINTON FOR MTA CHIEF

— carolynryan (@carolynryan) December 19, 2012

Well, maybe @joelhota has #statenisland strategy. But @chriscquinn has @nytimes strategy. @carolynryan twitter.com/stopchrisquinn…

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) December 19, 2012

Notice how The New York Times article of Mr. Lhota's campaign did not disclose that Kathryn S. Wylde, the president of the Partnership for New York City, was editorialised as the "city’s premier business association," and how it was not disclosed that Ms. Wylde is invested in the campaign of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Furthermore, the article allowed Josh Isay, Speaker Quinn's campaign consultant, to openly criticize Mr. Lhota over MTA fare hikes. “Joe Lhota announced his resignation the day before the Lhota fare hike gets voted on,” Mr. Isay, the told The New York Times. “He may think he’s pulled a fast one, but voters are too smart for that.”

But the article did not mention the litany of criticisms that Progressives have with Speaker Quinn's political ethics -- ranging from the change in term limits, the spree of hospital closings, including of St. Vincent's Hospital in Speaker Quinn's very own City Council district, the reckless approval of the expansion of New York University, and the disruptive zone-busting development plan for Chelsea Market. Meanwhile, The New York Times chose to portray Speaker Quinn as a "presumptive front-runner for the Democratic nomination," even though that editorial qualification was not attributed.

If you were not aware, an average voter would read this article and think that Mr. Lhota was not a viable candidate, instead of the fact that biased reportage was portraying Mr. Lhota as such, according to predetermined agendas of the people involved in this article.

Lhota Entry Into Mayoral Race Upsets Carolyn Ryan Over Quinn Tumble From Grace

Now that Joe Lhota is running for mayor, Twitterverse is in apoplexy over Carolyn Ryan's nervous breakdown. That's right, Ms. Ryan is worried that her favourite candidate, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, now will not be such a shoe-in to become mayor. Ms. Ryan is concerned that the business community will abandon Speaker Quinn in favour of Mr. Lhota.

Ms. Ryan recently had lunch with former Mayor Ed Koch, to talk about Speaker Quinn's election strategy.

Wow wonder what @chriscquinn is doing now? RT @carolynryan: BREAKING: @joelhota to step down from MTA on Friday, preparing run for mayor.

— Emma Gilbey Keller (@emmagkeller) December 18, 2012

Indeed, Ms. Ryan has begun a schmear campaign against Mr. Lhota over Twitter. I wonder what her superior editorial bosses at The New York Times have to say about this ?

Lhota once called Mike Bloomberg an "idiot" and told an elderly Holocaust survivor to "be a man" in dispute at hearingnyti.ms/SESwj8

— carolynryan (@carolynryan) December 19, 2012

Whereas Ms. Ryan's reporting may be factual, it is not objective for an editor to be attacking a mayoral candidate over Twitter, when she must supervise and edit the reportage of objective reporters. How is that possible ?

Protest Against NYTimes Media Bias That Promotes Christine Quinn

The political blogger Suzannah B. Troy dressed up as Christine Quinn and mockingly thanked The New York Times for the journalism published in The Times, which promotes Speaker Quinn's political campaign.

Two dozen activists returned to the headquarters of The New York Times on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, to protest what activists describe as media bias that promotes Christine Quinn for mayor. Instead of investigating the machine politics in City Council, The New York Times publishes stories about which café Council Speaker Christine Quinn takes brunch, or how great she is at baking pies. The newspaper of record is promoting Speaker Quinn as if she were a reality show star, rather than holding her accountable for her political record. Activists look for an explanation from the editors at The New York Times, including from Carolyn Ryan, who activists say has a central role in promoting Speaker Quinn.