Four years ago, I asked then-Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney a question about inflation during a video interview. I had no idea his answer would become the most widely seen moment in Halston Media history.
Maloney recalled that while growing up, when money was tight with his family, they spent less on food. Some weeks, that meant eating Chef Boyardee. I didn’t recognize the political faux pas as it happened, but Mike Lawler’s campaign did. It seized on the remark, casting it as a “let them eat cake” response to families struggling with rising prices. The clip traveled through cable news, websites and social media in the days before the election.
It was politically astute. I think Maloney was trying to be folksy and speak from his own experience, not dismiss anyone else’s hardship. Regardless, his answer landed badly with a lot of people.
Meanwhile, I had my brief moment of national fame, complete with an awkward throat-clearing noise that my son still enjoys replaying for me.
I genuinely like Maloney. Years before that interview, he invited us to Washington when Rabbi Eytan Hammerman, then of Temple Beth Shalom in Mahopac, delivered the opening prayer in the House of Representatives. We watched from the gallery. That same day, Maloney sat down with us for a substantive interview in his office and then showed us around the Capitol. He even took us into an area where we met then-Speaker John Boehner. It was eye-opening to watch a Democratic congressman introduce a clergyman from his district to the Republican speaker. For those few friendly moments, party labels simply didn’t matter. Boehner was the speaker of the entire House, and Hammerman was a guest worth welcoming.
For a local publisher, it was an unforgettable day.
I’ve also gotten to know Lawler a little, and I genuinely like him. He appears on CNN and Fox News, but he has also been incredibly accessible to our local newspapers.
My parents are involved with Braver Angels, a nonpartisan organization that brings Republicans and Democrats together for conversations across the political divide. When the local chapter asked to meet with Lawler, he readily agreed.
A few months ago, I brought my kids along when I covered President Trump’s rally in Rockland County. The family of Sheridan Gorman, the Yorktown student who was killed in Chicago earlier this year, was there too. Lawler met my kids at the rally and mentioned that he had met their grandparents the week before. I sometimes struggle to keep all my cousins’ kids’ names straight, but the congressman had put together our family connection after one meeting. It was a small thing, but it stayed with me.
None of these anecdotes mean I agree with Maloney or Lawler on every issue. It means I value the accessability and the opportunity to ask questions, learn something and let our readers hear from the people who represent them.
I hope we can sit down with Lawler’s opponent, Cait Conley, before Election Day and give readers a substantive profile of her, just as we plan to do with Lawler. Whoever wins, I hope our local newspapers can continue—or develop—a good working relationship with the person representing this district.
I share these anecdotes because it illustrates something I wish more readers understood about local media. We're simply human beings doing our respective jobs and interacting with other human beings in a professional manner.
As November approaches, political messages are everywhere: in your mailbox, on your phone and in the pages of this newspaper.
Recently, a reader saw political ads in this newspaper’s sister publication, Yorktown News, and asked whether we were endorsing those candidates. She hadn’t seen any ads from local Democrats. So far this election season, no Democratic candidates have purchased ads in that particular paper, despite our efforts to offer advertising opportunities to both sides. The ads that do appear are messages purchased by campaigns, not endorsements by the newspaper. That is why they carry “paid for by” notices.
We work to make comparable advertising opportunities available on comparable terms. Of course, we charge more for premium positions, which are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. When possible, we assign opposing campaigns to different ad representatives so each has someone focused on its needs. A campaign’s decision to buy or decline an ad is its own.
Some of our newspapers carry front-page stickers purchased by local advertisers. We used to sell them to political campaigns, too, but stopped after too many readers mistook them for endorsements, despite the “paid for by” notice. We had sold stickers to both Republicans and Democrats, and heard complaints from readers on both sides. The confusion wasn’t worth it, even though the stickers brought in revenue.
During this campaign season, we recently ran a paid full-page spotlight for Lawler in Hudson Valley Living, a marketing-focused insert that runs 10 times a year in this newspaper. We offered Conley’s campaign the same opportunity but did not receive a response. On the page, we identified the spotlight as paid advertising and told readers that the other campaign had been offered the same opportunity. That distinction matters. The spotlight appeared because a campaign purchased it, not because our newsroom chose to feature one candidate over the other. I share this because at least one reader inquired why we didn't interview Conley in that piece.
Readers should look for those labels. They should also know the difference between a reported article, a letter to the editor and this column. A news article should seek out the relevant facts, give people a fair opportunity to respond and present what the reporting establishes. A campaign ad argues for its buyer. A letter or column expresses its writer’s views. And, of course, a publisher’s memo expresses mine.
We do have standards for letters and columns. We try to minimize personal attacks, and we generally do not want an opinion piece to make disputed allegations about a candidate for the first time in our pages. If someone has documentation supporting a serious allegation, we want to see it. That may be a story for our news pages, where a reporter can examine the evidence and seek responses from everyone involved. The opinion section should not be where we break that kind of news.
I currently oversee our opinion pages, and I work to publish letters that meet the guidelines I’ve set. We cannot make every issue look perfectly symmetrical. Submissions arrive at different times, and some writers are more prolific than others. In our North Salem paper, for example, the local Republican Party is particularly prolific and tries to get a letter published in each edition. The North Salem Democrats are welcome to do the same.
There is also the matter of my own views. I would describe myself as center-right, though that shorthand misses a lot. I hold conservative views on some questions, libertarian views on others and liberal views on still others. Readers are free to agree, disagree or write a letter telling me where I have it wrong.
Having a point of view is different from promising loyalty to a party or a candidate. In political commentary, I find the most interesting voices are the ones committed to their positions, not to a person or an organization.
Behind the scenes, some of my friendliest conversations are with people who don’t align with me politically. I love publishing letters that argue against my columns. It’s nice to know people are paying attention. I have friendly banter with regular letter writers who hate my columns, and sometimes we continue the debate by email.
I share this because I know some people assume our newspapers won’t give them a fair shake because of my personal positions. If only they could hear the debates I sometimes have with my own colleagues. My colleagues know that my first loyalty as publisher is to the ethics of quality journalism. Otherwise, they wouldn't be working here.
Readers of every persuasion should know we will take their concerns seriously.
So during this campaign season, read the label. Pay attention to who is speaking, who paid for the message and what might be missing. And if something in these pages strikes you as unfair, tell us. We may have an explanation. We may also have something to fix. We publish corrections, clarifications and editor’s notes when we need to.
I’ll reveal one more thing about your local newspaper: Every year, we breathe a sigh of relief on the day after Election Day. Then we do our best to publish an equitable number of menorah lightings and Santa appearances through December.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here