Fire The Asbury Park Press Editorial Board
For the last several years this site has derided the Asbury Park Press Editorial Board Neptune Nudniks for their ignorance of the facts and processes about which they opine, and for their religious bigotry.
The Nudniks’ editorial today about the controversy surrounding the emails exchanged between Middletown Library Director Susan O’Neal and Democratic candidate for Middletown Township Committee Linda Baum is a firing offense. They apparently didn’t even read or comprehend their own reporter’s article about the issue, before publishing their ignorant opinion.
APP reporter Suzanne Cervenka reported the story accurately on July 4. Middletown Township Committeeman Tony Fiore made an OPRA request for emails between O’Neal and Baum. Baum took the issue to Court, arguing that the emails were private, had nothing to do with library operations and that she in no way acted as an agent of the library. Judge Lawrence M. Lawson ruled that, as a matter of law, the emails were government documents subject to OPRA and ordered them released.
In their editorial, the Nudniks said that Fiore took the matter to Court when in fact Baum took the matter to Court. They said Lawson should have refused to hear the matter. If Lawson kept the Court out of it, the emails would have been released without Baum being heard on the matter. The Nudniks said Fiore was being petty for following his instincts that O’Neal was undermining the public’s oversight of the $4.6 million dollar operation she directs.
Monmouth and Ocean County citizens deserve better from their largest newspaper/news site. We’ve deserved better for a long time. We should demand better.
Ordinary citizens can only demand a better work product by refusing to buy an inferior product. But that doesn’t solve the need for well informed and accurate news source.
Our elected and political leaders can demand better and send a message with teeth.
Every year, the editorial board brings county and legislative candidates in for debates before the Nudniks issue their endorsements. All county and legislative candidates should refuse to participate this year.
Instead, all candidates should agree to debate before a consortium of local news sources. Representatives of RedBankGreen, AsburyParkSun, GreaterMedia, Patch, NJ.com and any other local news sources should come together at either Monmouth University or Brookdale College to interview the candidates. Make it an educational experience for the Communications students who could produce a video of the event that all news sites would agree to publish. Invite Cervenka to participate for APP since she seems to have journalistic integrity. If MMM is invited, which we want to be, invite a left-leaning blogger to offset our perceived bias.
Party Chairmen John Bennett and Vin Gopal should get behind this idea.
The Asbury Park Press Editorial Board no longer warrants being called the paper of record for Monmouth County. Our elected and political leaders have the power to send them a message that Gannett executives in Virginia will hear.
More from my site
Emails Between Middletown Library Director and Democratic Candidate Will Be Released
Middletown Library Director and Democratic Committee Candidate Worked Together To Undermine Oversight, Raise Funds For Democratic Campaign
Asbury Park Press Editorial Board Needs A Fact Checker
Middletown Library Will Consider Part Time Executive Director- Asbury Park Press Gets Its Facts Wrong Again
Winners and Losers of 2013, Part 3
Thanks Gannett, for the kick in the teeth #STTS
Middletown Is Not Going Broke
So what went wrong and who is at fault?
The Asbury Park Press Finally Reports On Pallone’s Pay To Play Scam
Well said, Art!
Dan Jacobson
Good red meat article, Art. Many of us gave up on the APP a while ago. All are welcome to that “party”.
is just another mouth organ of the Democrat Party, even more so now that they are owned by Gannet.
No wonder their circulation is in a free fall and they have to charge for online content which barely anyone reads anyway.
Unfortunately, their passing will be forestalled by the ownership of Gannet, who is deeper in bed with the national Democrap scene.
Signed,
Silence Dogood, Redux
Just like when you “released” the emails Art, you only know what Fiore tells you to know!
I’d be more careful about what you print, you wouldn’t want to be accused of partisan hackery would you – oh wait – too late.
The APP reviewed all the emails and found no hint of illegality after all the unsupported accusations Fiore made while attacking the integrity of others. His indignation at having his character questioned by the APP is laughable.
And just to clear up what the lawsuit was all about, it wasn’t to keep the emails secret so that they couldn’t be viewed, it was about having the right to review what was being released first, otherwise known as the “Right of First Review”. That is why Ms. Baum sought a TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER against the release of the emails. She did not go to court to keep the emails private or secret as you and your knucklehead followers wish to believe.
Judge Lawson did not grant the temporary restraining order, which denied Ms. Baum her right of review, and ruled that the emails could be released.
It was library attorney, Mr. McOmber, job therefore acting as records custodian to review the emails and redact what was appropriate. He should have been diligent in complying with the law but he wasn’t. He failed to redact many things prior the release of the emails that should have been private, including Ms. Baum’s phone number!
If the shoe had been on the other foot don’t you think emails from Fiore’s accounts would have been reviewed and redacted properly? I believe they would have been.
Let’s give a warm welcome to the Middletown Democratic apologist club. How do you know the APP has reviewed all emails? Who said that there were questions of illegal actions in the emails?
My review of the email shows improper actions and bad judgement by both your proud candidate and the Director. In my view, Mr. Fiore was definitely right to suspect an undermining of the board by these two for political gain.
Does anyone still buy that “news”paper?
I don’t know why anyone would even advertise in that paper.
I agree with you Art, since their opinion didn’t even question why an attempt was made to deceive the court by one party. Of course, they seemed to be completely uniformed as to who even took the matter to court.
As a matter of fact, I don’t even have a problem with Ms. Baum attepting to obtain an insurance quotation or estimate, as long as she was authorized to do so.
Has anybody asked if the Library Board or the Library Director authorized Ms. Baum to seek Workers’ Comp quotes? That would put an end to any speculation which might be politically motivated.
I would certainly recommend that the Library Board, or for that matter, any governmental entity go out and obtain real quotes every so often (every 3 – 5 years) to make sure that their current coverage is competitively priced.
As I understand it, the Township Committee does an annual insurance audit to review claims and costs; I believe also that it has been mentioned that the Library’s insurance costs would increase if they were to leave their current insurance program under the Township’s insurance program.
The only other suggestion I would have is for the Library Board to determine if there is a Joint Insurance Fund for Public Libraries to discover if they might have a more cost effective insurance program. Other governmental entities have done just that in the past.
The APP is a joke and has been for a long time. In their zeal to cover for democrats, they have made complete fools of themselves. I urge everyone to cancel their subscriptions and subscribe to reputable publications such as the Wall Street Journal, National Review or even the Star Ledger, which has been getting better as of late. Look to the local weeklies for local news. Nobody needs the APP anymore. We all benefit every time a left wing liberal rag goes under. The least we can do is help hasten their demise.
Looks like Middletown Mik…ahh whatever your name is, is making an appearance ladies & gents. Carrying that banner loud and proud aren’t we?
[…] this week, the Nudniks published a factually inaccurate editorial that impugned the integrity of Middletown Township Committeeman Tony Fiore and Monmouth County […]
Ignore it, it will go away. By constantly talking about it you bring the paper into the light, drawing attention and people buy into it. At a point you end up looking like the fool to readers as they use and twist it against you. Quit while your ahead before it becomes more childish
Put your big boy pants on, they are not going to apologize and suck it up. It’s goes with being in politics, truth and justice does not always prevail, still too many self servers on both sides of the fence.
@apology -so you are saying to just let the horribly inaccurate APP slide and not call them on their ineptitude? How silly and weak. The more you show everyone what hacks they are, the better. They are on the ropes – time to finish them off. There is nothing childish about standing up to false reporting.
No, im not saying let the APP slide,it was addressed already by Mr Fiore. We get it. The over and over tit for tat will get you nowhere is what I’m saying. It’s not weak. It being the bigger person and knowing when to walk away.
This is when I say ignore it and more important ignore it when you are ahead. Mr Fiore is ahead. Keep it that way.
[…] week the Nudniks got their facts wrong in two editorials. One about the Middletown Library Director’s emails and the other about Anthony Weiner, Eliot Spitzer and Bill Clinton. There’s good reason […]
“Political gain”..Welcome, really?
Can you be an even bigger jackass.
The reason was to save a library. Not for political motives. I’ll leave that to the greasy, two bit hoods of the Middletown Town Council. That’s what they’re good at. Lying, exploitation, and stealing. Not serving the people of Middletown, that’s for sure. That’s what the Director of the Library does. Who do you think created this “gem of Monmouth County” that the serpent Fiore claims that he defends? It certainly wasn’t him or anyone on the TC. That’s for sure..