A Candidate Looks at Campaign News Coverage
by Mike DeRosa
11.19.02
Ok, I didn't win the election. I was up against an entrenched
incumbent machine Democrat who took corporate Political Action
Committee money, a Republican, and I ended up way down on line 5
in the voting booth. I also got short shrift from the two Chicago
Tribune owed papers in this city. Considering the upcoming
Connecticut state government deficit of $1.5 Billion, I predict
that the winners of the recent legislative election will envy the
losers.
Oh yes, I was the Green Party Candidate for CT state senate in the
1st district (Hartford and Wethersfield). A lot of you have told
me to keep on going, so here we go.
You would think in a city as large as Hartford that you would have
a sophisticated news corps eager to report on local political
events and candidates with in-depth reporting. My experience with
the news corps has been mixed.
The New Britain Herald, the Wethersfield Life, and the Hartford
News did an excellent job with individual stories about my
campaign. The Herald gave our numerous endorsements good play. The
Wethersfield Life did an in-depth look at the three candidates
running for the 1st senatorial seat. The Hartford News gave
encouragement and printed a front-page story on an anti-war
demonstration that David Ionno, Green candidate for Hartford Board
of Ed, and I organized in Hartford. We also got some T.V. and
Radio coverage for the campaign from Channel 61 and WTIC when
Ralph Nader endorsed us on the steps of the state capitol.
The Coverage from the Hartford Advocate and the Hartford Courant
was another story. For starters, the Hartford Courant can't get my
election summary numbers straight. In a Nov. 6, 2002 news story,
their reporter, Helen Urbinas, produced an election graphic box
for district 1 that says I received zero votes in Hartford with
"all precincts reporting." I got ten calls on Nov. 6th
from people from Hartford, telling me they voted for me and they
wanted to know what was going on. I then contacted and faxed the
Courant asking that my vote total be corrected. The next day, in
the last paragraph in an article on the recount for city school
board, Courant reporter Mark Pazniokas reported that I got 415
votes in Hartford because the unofficial results available from
City Hall Tuesday night omitted my votes. After numerous calls,
faxes, and conversations over a week and half, the Courant still
has not published my vote total from both Hartford and
Wethersfield in an appropriate place. For the record I got 415
votes in Hartford and 461 votes in Wethersfield for a grand total
of 876. I can't understand why they won't publish the grand total
in the "Setting The Record Straight" column. Maybe you
should call them and find out.
In the same Nov. 6th article by Ms. Urbinas, she states that the
1st district incumbent, John Fonfara, "raised $3,770 and
spent only $2,230 on his re-election campaign". On the basis
of these facts she takes this as a sign that Fonfara "was
less than concerned about his two opponents in the 1st senate
district." The only problem is that according to Mr.
Fonfara's most recent report (10/29/02) to the Secretary of State
he got aggregate donations of $15,945 and spent $12,503 on his
campaign. Unfortunately, the Courant almost two weeks later, has
not yet "set the record straight" on this one
either.
If you think that the other paper across town, the Hartford
Advocate is going to report on the Green Party candidates, think
again. In the recent Oct 31st Halloween edition of the Hartford
Advocate, reporter Dan Levine announced that "Progressives
shouldn't vote" for Mike DeRosa. The stated reason: Mike
can't win. Mr. Levine then goes on to say that my campaign has
"accomplished little".
How would he know? He has never spoken with any of my more than
100 supporters or me about the campaign, nor has he observed our
day-to-day campaign activities. On numerous occasions during the
campaign I and others have called and e-mailed Mr. Levine with
press releases and requests for coverage. But alas, no interviews
and no news stories about the only campaign in town with three
candidates. Adding to the problem is the unconscionable timing of
the article telling people not to vote for me. By printing this
attack on the Green campaign in the Oct 31st edition of the
Advocate it made it impossible for the Green Party or my campaign
to respond before the election.
While both Mr. Levine and Mr. Pazniokas attended the third debate
for the 1st district senate seat at Trinity College, neither
reported some of more amazing responses of the incumbent. Mr.
Fonfara told the assembled audience (we have all of this on video
tape) that he didn't know what the "Patriot Act" was, he
could not correctly define what living wage legislation was, and
he thinks the sole cause of asthma is cockroaches. The two Tribune
owned papers reported none of this.
I also spoke out loudly about pollution in Hartford. I made an
issue about the fact that MDC has been polluting our community for
12 years without a formal and signed permit and spoke about this
at three of our debates. I also made a big issue about the 41%
asthma rates among Hartford Children and the relationship of
polluted air and other factors as the cause for our high rates of
asthma in Hartford. None of this was reported by the paper of
record or by the alternative weekly in this city.
I would say that we have a real problem when it comes to political
reporting in this city. The two corporate papers that have news
resources in this city produce little real news about local
candidates. We also need fairer and more accurate coverage of
candidates, especially Green candidates in Hartford.
In spite of the problems we encountered, this Green campaign was a
success because it gave the Green Party ballot access status for
the next election and because we raised important issues one on
one with the electorate of this city. We also gave out tens of
thousands of pieces of literature and put up over 700 lawn signs
Most importantly we recruited numerous new community people to our
party. We went door to door and spoke with the residents of
Hartford about the real issues affecting their lives. Building the
Green Party in Hartford will not be easy but our campaign this
year has laid the foundation for a truly multi-cultural,
multi-racial, and multi-ethnic party. In my book that is something
worth reporting.
This article was originally published in the Hartford News.
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