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Do
the Aberdeen Democrats have a Web site? (2007-10-11)
The Aberdeen Green Party has a web site, and the Aberdeen Republicans have a
web site. It appears the Aberdeen Democrats do not need one - they are using
the official Aberdeen Township web site and the official Aberdeen Update mailed
newsletter as photo op and name recognition tools which benefit their election
campaign. Both
of these media items are paid for by the taxpayers of Aberdeen!
For those of you who are not aware, the Township
of Aberdeen has an official web site at www.aberdeennj.org .
While this web site provides useful information
to the citizens of Aberdeen, and some of the issues regarding
timeliness have improved since the new Township
Manager was hired, news items on the site double as a
propaganda tool for the incumbent Democrats.
The same can be said for the official Aberdeen
Update newsletter, the maroon colored glossy mailing that
arrives in folks mailboxes about three times per year.
Each issue provides abundant photos of the Aberdeen Democrats
engaged in town activities or posing in front of a new
project, and incumbents are credited with
quotations that could have been spoken by anyone.
In almost
all cases, removal of the quotation would not affect the
information being presented. This is a litmus test for
the motive behind using such quotations. For instance,
here is an example taken from the news article "ABERDEEN
TOWNSHIP COUNCIL AWARDS CONTRACT FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF
THREE STREETS" posted 2007/9/10 on the official Aberdeen
Township web site:
"Roads are selected for reconstruction
primarily based on data from a sophisticated computer model administered
by Township Engineers CME Associates,” explained Deputy
Mayor Wilhelmina Gumbs. “However, exceptions will be made
in situations where road conditions dictate that work be
scheduled as soon as possible."
And here is a rewrite without the quotation, a
quotation whose sole purpose is to provide name recognition
to an incumbent candidate:
Roads are selected for reconstruction
primarily based on data from a sophisticated computer model administered
by Township Engineers CME Associates. Exceptions
are made in situations where road conditions dictate
that work be scheduled as soon as possible.
No pertinent information is lost in the rewrite
and the news item ceases to be a plug for the incumbent.
Green Party Candidates
Paul Rinear and Phil Petrignani were in attendance at the
July 17, 2007 Aberdeen Town Council meeting. Paul pointed
out to the Council that he felt the Aberdeen Update newsletter
was functioning as a campaign tool for the incumbent party.
Certain members of the Council became extremely defensive
when confronted with this issue. Phil made the bold suggestion
that the Aberdeen Update newsletter include statements
by all 12 Council candidates for the upcoming Nov. 6th
election. Of course this fell on deaf ears with the excuse
being made that the newsletter is intended to be apolitical.
If the newsletter and web site are intended to
be apolitical, then clearly the editorial review process
has either somewhere failed or is being intentionally steered.
We feel it is unacceptable to use taxpayer financed media
to promote political name recognition of one party over
another, and the Green Party will not engage in this practice.
The Aberdeen Update newsletter and Aberdeen Township web
site are paid for by the citizens of Aberdeen, and the
interests of all citizens should be equally represented
by these media.
Paid for by Aberdeen Green Party,
109 Wilson Ave., Aberdeen, NJ 07747
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