Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Let
The Wind Blow Hard..Let The Wind Blow Strong":
Twitter conversation
between Cllr Ballard & Era-Banner Editor (it looks like Metroland editorial
content will be determined by corporate revenue concerns):
Chris Ballard
@Chris4Aurora
Too many Town Council decisions being made that are not
fact-based, like awarding our advertising contract. On tonight's
agenda.
12h Debora Kelly @dlkyorkeditor
@Chris4Aurora Thanks for your
support, professionalism. #Politics, self-aggrandizement trumping sound business
decisions. #Aurora
12h Chris Ballard @Chris4Aurora
@dlkyorkeditor
Welcome to the New #Aurora Council. Taxpayers be damned, it's now about serving
special interests.
12h Debora Kelly @dlkyorkeditor
@Chris4Aurora
We'll let our readers/taxpayers know :) .... likely many times before Oct. 27,
2014.
*********************************************
Every time an issue is controversial a great deal of information comes forward
Yesterday Council received an e-mail that revealed the idea of the Notice Board came from The Banner twenty years ago.
The Council of the day bought it and The Banner got the contract. They were the only publication in town
Now there's a new publication. Competition.
A newspaper that targets Aurora's readership and fills its pages with material to that end.
Obviously, revenue is not derived from readership. The newspaper is delivered free.
Equally obviously, revenue is derived from advertising.
A business would not long be in business, if it did not take care of its clients.
Writing stories that reflect negatively against a valuable client
would not likely be advantageous. .
Negative stories , as promised by Deborah Kelly the Banner's Managing Editor to Councillor Ballard, against politicians who chose not to award lucrative contract to The Banner ,would not be a risk.
The former Mayor was in attendance at Council last night. Seated at the press table. Seen locked in conversation with a reporter long after the meeting.
A lucrative contract between media and the political body has always been a concern.
How much influence does the business deal have on objectivity or coverage of news?
Already we are seeing a glimpse in Deborah Kelly's comments.
In the next two years, The Auroran's ability to continue doing the job they've been doing , without allowing the business contract to have an impact, will be their challenge to meet.
We can't claim with any certainty, The Banner's policies were influenced before,
But from Ms Kelly's exchange with Councillor Ballard ,we certainly know how it is intended to be henceforth.
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
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17 comments:
You shouldn't forget about the next tweet in the chain from Aurora's own word-smithing cub reporter.
"Chris Ballard @Chris4Aurora
@dlkyorkeditor Please do. Most are ignorant of what's really going on."
So I guess we're forced into buying into his brand of malarkey or being accused of ignorance.
What a maroon, what an ignoranomous!
Well, that little group certainly knows about serving ' special interests ', usually their own. But I do not understand how the rest of Council can be charged with the same. Nor do I see any political profit for awarding that contract to the Auroran. It was simply the better business deal.
But please note that staff were going to negotiate the deal with the Auroran. I did not hear a time frame and our staff are not known for prompt negotiation. I cite the Center nonsense as an example for delayed dealing, perhaps deliberately? We need to see a firm timeline.
If it looks like a rat, smells like a rat, sounds like a rat, it is a rat.
Good to see the former still interested in Council.
Just can't stay away from her personal cesspool.
Pshaw! Here I have wasted almost an entire day trying to figure out why that trio of nasties went completely over the top at the meeting. And you throw out the information the puppet-mistress was on hand hoping they would draw blood. Now it all makes sense - they were showing off. Small wonder they got vicious when it didn't go to plan.
That's our boy! He calls Auroran ' rubes ' ?!? WE do not care what that woman writes in the Banner. It has just been confirmed from multiple sources that no one reads the damn thing. Tough for her, though. Her baby has taken a pasting and she doesn't even have a decent reporter on staff.
But the Banner has taken a direct hit. If I were an advertiser, I would not have missed the implications that my money should be spent elsewhere. Contrary to Councilor Balllard's assertions, Aurorans are not stupid.
Ms Kelly can threaten all she wishes but she does not march to her own drum. She has bosses. They may not bother about local news content, since there seldom is any of note, but you can bet they check the bottom line. The woman does not own the Banner - she works for them. And Aurorans have just made it clear what they think of her product. Should she go on the offensive, I suspect letters to her superiors will have an effect. But that presupposes anyone will even notice her efforts. I won't.
The Banner's sister paper in Georgina is just as bad and for the same reasons. More people read the Pefferlaw Post. Keswick should get Georgina to move the town advertising to a paper that actually enters homes. I think the other thing is called the Advocate?
Twitter conversation continued:
Debora Kelly @dlkyorkeditor
MT @Chris4Aurora: If a Councillor is suing a business & then argues against giving it a Town contract, is that a conflict?
19h Chris Ballard @Chris4Aurora
@dlkyorkeditor I would think so.
17h Debora Kelly @dlkyorkeditor
@Chris4Aurora Anyone with ethics couldn't help but think so.
Being of a spiteful nature, I think we should share the information about what Aurora has done with Georgina. They have a similar situation with the Banner's sister paper, I think it's The Advocate. Same problems, no one reads it, local coverage is slight or slanted, lousy reporting & a refusal to add good reporters. Georgina should switch all their Town's advertising to the Pefferlaw Post. People do read that publication & it could use the economic boost.
And, no, I do not know anyone in Keswick.
Ever since Ballard was elected, he has been mumbling about law suits, first going after Mayor Dawe. Whenever things get testy, he threatens. Most significantly, whenever that blasted Center is mentioned. Maybe it is time that he either put up or shut up.
at 2:15 PM
I got a good chuckle out of that post.
Everyone has ethics - moral or immoral. I think he would have wanted to use the word integrity. Its too bad that he doesn't know the meaning of the word.
It occurs to me that the brain-dead trio of Ballard, Gaertner and Gallo might have slandered members of town staff during the Council meeting of September 11, 2012.
If I were one of those staff I would demand a written apology immediately, with same to be recorded as items received for information at both the next GC and Council meetings.
This trio of numb-skulls should in addition have to read their letters of apology publicly at both meetings, once again for the record, and in particular for the filmed record.
Mayor Dawe should take the initiative in demanding these apologies and should explore with the Town Solicitor what sanctions the town might be able to take against these scatter-heads. Can they not be banned from attending meetings for three months, without salary?
Their behaviour reeks of town-bully coupled with an inherent degree of stupidity that one seldom sees anymore, thank goodness.
"...whenever that blasted Center (sic) is mentioned. Maybe it is time that he either put up or shut up."
You mean the place that YOU can't stop mentioning?! As for 'shutting up' - "Physician, heal thyself".
Actually, 5:13 PM, it was Debora Kelly that used the word "ethics" - a questionable use of the term in either case, one might say.
8:53 PM
Why stop mentioning the Center when one gets such a satisfying howl from you every time? " We only do it to annoy because we know it teases. "
The heck with semantics. The failure was simply a case of poor manners. Nothing to do with ethics or integrity. Just dreadful manners by those who wish to showcase Council in the schools. Nothing to be proud of there. That plan should be cancelled . It was always a poor idea & we now have a clear illustration of why it should not occur.
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