Media should cover local race for State Senate
To the Editor:
It is election season again, and 2008 is one of the busiest primary seasons in recent history. While most would point to the crowded Democratic primary for Congress, on Sept. 9, there is also a Democratic primary for State Senate in Albany County.
You wouldn't know this by reading The Altamont Enterprise because this newspaper does not cover State level government and politics. It does a fantastic job on covering County, Town, and Village races. If major news outlets... took a page from this publication, we would have a much more informed electorate...
I am a volunteer for David Weiss, a Rensselaerville farmer and activist, who is challenging six-term Senator Neil Breslin...
I spend a great deal of time assisting Weiss in his grass-roots effor to get you real progressive representation for Albany County in our dysfunctional State Legislature. But my main purpose here is not to tell people how to vote; people can make up their own minds about that, as this is cornerstone of our democracy.
Yet people cannot make a choice if they are not privy to the information upon which to make a decision. So if major news outlets don't even let people know who is on the ballot, or anything about the candidates if that bare minimum has been met, then how can the people make a choice?
So I feel compelled to just let people know this simple information. This is something the major papers of record could have done at any time, and have many advertising dollars to finance. One cannot prove that Senator Breslin and his ruling brothers have the local media in their pocket, but it becomes easy to concoct such conspiracy theories when the mainstream media does voters the disservice of not covering the race.
You can read more about David Weiss, why I support his candidacy, and the news of the race on my blog at Soundpolitic on The Albany Project (www.thealbanyproject.com). I'll note for the record that Senator Breslin has a website (www.neilbreslin,com) on which you can base your decision. David Weiss's website has his progressive platform centered on obtaining community-owned renewable energy and reforming the dysfunctional state government in Albany (www.davidweiss2008.com) which is not full of insulting talking points or empty political endorsements. Additionally, Senator Breslin is facing a second challenger in the form of Charlie Voelker (www.charlievoelker.com) who has also been endorsed by the state Conservative Party. Democratic voters should check out the Conservative Party platform online in considering his credentials as well.
I feel it's a shame that I have go out on a limb and do this, but in order for us to have a real election, voters need to know who is running and a little bit about the candidates. Shame on the major media outlets for ignoring David Weiss's candidacy. He is the first person from the Hilltowns who would represent Albany County in the State Senate, and he is running a strong grass-roots campaign that has covered nearly the entire district door-to-door. Senator Breslin and Charlie Voelker have made no such effort, and would just give you more of the same in our state legislature.
For Democrats, 2008 is the year of change. Thanks to David Weiss's candidacy against Senator Breslin, that change runs all the way down the ticket this year. But one cannot make change if one is denied the information. I hope this letter has been helpful to the Democratic voters of Albany County, encourages primary voters to check out the websites listed above, and then come to their own conclusion on Primary Day on September 9th.
Colin Abele
Berne
Soundpolitic Blogger's Note
The Altamont Enterprise is the newspaper of record for the Albany County towns of Guilderland, New Scotland (including the Villages of Altamont and Vorheesville) and the Towns of Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville, commonly and lovingly referred to as the Hilltowns. A search of thier online archives confirms that State Legislative races are not at all covered, because there are other outlets that are (supposed to be) covering these races and issues. After submitting this letter, I was told by the Enterprise that they wished they had made an exception and covered it because the other outlets had not; that's why the paper has recieved top honors in the New York press corps, including several Golden Quills. I thank them for publishing the letter just as sincerely as they thanked me for the submission.
They also told me that mentioning other media outlets by name would have required the Enterprise to spend valuable time and resources checking facts with the much more powerful media outlets that I named in my submission, the names of those companies were understanably edited out of my original submission.
But this is the blogosphere. So I have no qualms saying the main culprit in not covering this race is the Albany Times Union, which is the largest newspaper in the Capital District and the official paper of record for all of Albany County, which shares the same boundaries as the 46th Senate District. In other words, it's their own backyard, and they ignored something extremely important that has been happening there for the past nine months. So it's not just a shame...it's an inexcusable damned shame. It was only earlier this week that the Times Union finally mentioned David Weiss in a headline newspaper article, and you can view the text and analysis of that at my previous diary on this primary, SD-46: Press Finally Recognizes David Weiss. There is much more about David Weiss in my recent Prospective Voters Guide to David Weiss as well as my upcoming interview with David Weiss, which will appear on The Albany Project tomorrow.
But hey, don't let me do all the talking...you have just as much power as I do to call out your paper of record. Because we cannot hold politicians accountable if we have unnaccountbale sources of information. Besides, writing a letter really does make you feel better! If you agree with me that the Times Union has done Democratic voters and David Weiss a disservice, write your own letter to the Times Union telling them how you feel about the Democratic Primary in New York's 46th State Senate District.
On the Web: David Weiss on ActBlue |
