Guest Guest Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Interesting that The Press & Sun-Bulletin calls for open government but itself chooses to sit on news and keep certain things quiet, ironic and hypocritical as well. The Binghamton Police Chief is plannng on quitting. He's is the second BPD Chief to leave in three years. The PSB has known about it for about two weeks but they have not reported. When they do they will not really get to the bottom of the story anyway. There are current Freedom of Information Laws that work quite well. Reporters at the Press & Sun-Bulletin used them to obtain numerous police reports on Matt Ryan harassing a number of women prior to his election. Executive Editor Calvin Stovall forbid his reporters to use the reports or comment on them. Forbid it. That's how Stovall assisted duping Binghamton voters. The Press & Sun-Bulletin is aware Binghamton pays more per capita and $13,000,000 per year for 134 firefighter (more than any other similar sized town in NY State), yet the PSB does not mention this or comment upon it. The PSB does not bring it up and it does not even look at the issue until after a four-year deal is signed with the firefighters. What would more government transparency do if newspapers, TV news departments and their editors like Stovall cover up the information anyway? Will it continue to be up to private citizens in their spare time trying to disseminate important information on their own in web forum chat rooms? VIEWPOINTS Posted Wednesday February 13, 2008 EDITORIAL Citizens deserve open government State committee recommends greater access for public good It's the Golden Rule of government: Conduct the public's business in public. It's a simple and bedrock concept, yet government officials at all levels -- not just inexperienced ones but often longtime office-holders -- fight to withhold public information rather than freely dispense it. So it isn't just media but every New York citizen who should rally round the effort by the state Committee on Open Government's effort to make government more transparent. The committee is urging the state Legislature to overcome its inertia and strengthen laws that increase access to public records and government meetings. Pointing to a 40 percent increase in visits to its own Web site over the past year, the committee -- charged with overseeing the state's Freedom of Information (FOI) laws -- is recommending these improvements: * Authorizing the courts to invalidate actions by public boards when it is proven the actions occurred in secret and in violation of the Open Meetings Law. * Requiring the award of attorney's fees when it is proven in court that votes took place illegally. * Requiring that government meeting notices be posted online -- and that more records be posted online. It would even be nicer if the Legislature would remind everyone -- including itself -- that information that might be uncomfortable or even embarrassing for elected officials is not cause to withhold the information, or meet behind closed doors. There are legitimate reasons for closed-door discussions, including the need to protect basic privacy or national security, but they are the exception and not the rule. Government at all levels wield the "top secret" stamp much too freely. Government secrecy is not a good thing at any level, and while the media may not be highly regarded these days, they serve to keep the public informed about a great many things government is not inclined to share with citizens. And the FOI laws allow citizens to seek information on their own, and that should never be an intimidating or foot-dragging or expensive process. "There has been an explosion in the public's interest in open-government laws," said Robert Freeman, executive director of the Committee on Open Government. That's a good thing, a healthy thing. The government exists primarily to serve the public good, not to serve itself, and it should function as openly as possible. http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll...48/1005/OPINION Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 The P&SB is garbage. In yesterday's P&SB there is a “Doer’s Profile” about some negro women named Chippella Lewis from Queens. What has she done to get her profile in the paper? Not much. According to her her aspirations are: “I’m going to work with deaf children, write a few books and open a Christian pre-school.” She’s done nothing except to have 4 kids, probably with multiple partners, and she is not married. You want to bet who paid for and is still paying for those kids. She has no steady job. She named one of her kids “King Ezekiel.” Instead of real commentary and news and taking stands on issues this is the kind of junk we are force fed from that liberal rag. This is what a newspaper becomes when an affirmative action editor like Stovall is put in charge. The P&SB is ridiculous. King Ezekiel !!! lol!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Does anybody find any worthwhile in the PSB? They charge and arm and leg for ads, are those worthwhile? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 wow! i gues they don't.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Has Stovall ever explained why he buried those stories? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest user007 Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 [/font]G Interesting that The Press & Sun-Bulletin calls for open government but itself chooses to sit on news and keep certain things quiet, ironic and hypocritical as well. The Binghamton Police Chief is plannng on quitting. He's is the second BPD Chief to leave in three years. The PSB has known about it for about two weeks but they have not reported. When they do they will not really get to the bottom of the story anyway. There are current Freedom of Information Laws that work quite well. Reporters at the Press & Sun-Bulletin used them to obtain numerous police reports on Matt Ryan harassing a number of women prior to his election. Executive Editor Calvin Stovall forbid his reporters to use the reports or comment on them. Forbid it. That's how Stovall assisted duping Binghamton voters. The Press & Sun-Bulletin is aware Binghamton pays more per capita and $13,000,000 per year for 134 firefighter (more than any other similar sized town in NY State), yet the PSB does not mention this or comment upon it. The PSB does not bring it up and it does not even look at the issue until after a four-year deal is signed with the firefighters. What would more government transparency do if newspapers, TV news departments and their editors like Stovall cover up the information anyway? Will it continue to be up to private citizens in their spare time trying to disseminate important information on their own in web forum chat rooms? VIEWPOINTS Posted Wednesday February 13, 2008 EDITORIAL Citizens deserve open government State committee recommends greater access for public good It's the Golden Rule of government: Conduct the public's business in public. It's a simple and bedrock concept, yet government officials at all levels -- not just inexperienced ones but often longtime office-holders -- fight to withhold public information rather than freely dispense it. So it isn't just media but every New York citizen who should rally round the effort by the state Committee on Open Government's effort to make government more transparent. The committee is urging the state Legislature to overcome its inertia and strengthen laws that increase access to public records and government meetings. Pointing to a 40 percent increase in visits to its own Web site over the past year, the committee -- charged with overseeing the state's Freedom of Information (FOI) laws -- is recommending these improvements: * Authorizing the courts to invalidate actions by public boards when it is proven the actions occurred in secret and in violation of the Open Meetings Law. * Requiring the award of attorney's fees when it is proven in court that votes took place illegally. * Requiring that government meeting notices be posted online -- and that more records be posted online. It would even be nicer if the Legislature would remind everyone -- including itself -- that information that might be uncomfortable or even embarrassing for elected officials is not cause to withhold the information, or meet behind closed doors. There are legitimate reasons for closed-door discussions, including the need to protect basic privacy or national security, but they are the exception and not the rule. Government at all levels wield the "top secret" stamp much too freely. Government secrecy is not a good thing at any level, and while the media may not be highly regarded these days, they serve to keep the public informed about a great many things government is not inclined to share with citizens. And the FOI laws allow citizens to seek information on their own, and that should never be an intimidating or foot-dragging or expensive process. "There has been an explosion in the public's interest in open-government laws," said Robert Freeman, executive director of the Committee on Open Government. That's a good thing, a healthy thing. The government exists primarily to serve the public good, not to serve itself, and it should function as openly as possible. http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll...48/1005/OPINION Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LaKooneshia Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 The paper stinks. Take a look at the frontpage of today's viewpoint section. Today we are force fed tripe by both racist DELETED Pitts and Wickham. That Affirmative Action idiot Stovall should change the name of his rag to "Final Call II", and they should put a box on the front page stating "All the DELETED news fit to print". Hey Stovall, when's Gannett going to xfer you? It's about time again isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 Stovall has been here since August 1, 2005. This is the longest stay he has had in his career, I'll bet. What does that say about "Greater Binghamton"? Where is the next Shortline bus going to take him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 It took two weeks but they finally look into the Tronovitch story after everybody else did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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