Chattanooga's mayor, Ron Littlefield, has hit a new low. He's banned a local reporter from interacting with city employees because the reporter keeps requesting information (whoever heard of such a thing?). Next he'll be dismissing firefighters because the bastards keep putting out fires.
(Unfortunately, there's no danger he'll ever have to banish himself for mayoring.)
UPDATE: Is Ron's problem that he's mad he's stuck in a Podunk town and not mayor of a big city?
(Unfortunately, there's no danger he'll ever have to banish himself for mayoring.)
UPDATE: Is Ron's problem that he's mad he's stuck in a Podunk town and not mayor of a big city?
11 comments:
Funny, it reads a lot different when you get both sides of the story. I do hope that you do not consider yourself part of the citizen media. As a journalist, you'd suck.
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"After months of providing Mr. Weber with volumes and volumes of Open Records Act information, being extremely forthcoming, timely and helpful with all of his needs and requests, Mayor Littlefield thinks it is time to stop taking Mr. Weber
In case you delete the above comment because the person did not have the guts to use his/her real name and email (uv@uv.uv), I thought I'd chime in and say that I agree with the sentiment. That reporter sounds like a jerk who deserves the banishment. You just sound like you hate the mayor.
The reporter sounds like a jerk because he wants access to public information? To the contrary, this news gives me hope for our local paper! Seriously -- I resubscribed to the TimesFreePress delivery this morning after a year or two hiatus. I'm excited by the prospect that we still have local reporters digging beyond press releases and talking points. I'm very curious to know what it is that Littlefield is so afraid of -- curious enough, perhaps, to dig around in Weber's recent articles to see if there is any clue as to where he was headed when Littlefield became so spooked. That's the real story in all of this.
(Also, I had no intention of deleting the "uv" comment, even though I can't see that it adds anything to the discussion... I'm still trying to figure out how it illuminates "both sides of the story" to regurgitate a portion of the text I linked to, but perhaps uv's awareness of this failure is what caused his/her shame and subsequent retreat into anonymity.)
Did you notice who the contributing writer was at the bottom of the Clarion story?
Kathleen Baydala, former TFP staffer.
According to the newspaper and other media organization, Tennesseans for Open Government, last year's statewide survey of all kinds of government offices found 40% of requests for "open records" were denied. It's a statwide problem and worthy of news.
I never imagined that the Chattanooga mayor's office could end up sounding so much like Karl Rove's White House. I'm grateful some light has been shed on this issue. I hope we can keep it shining in the coming weeks...
I just think the mayor needs to learn how to spell "tenets."
mesh, did you notice how the TFP kindly edited the press release so as to not use "tenants"?
I wouldn't have been so nice. I would've "sic'd" 'em.
You sic bastard, you. I would have too. And probably will.
Whoops sorry that should have been Tennessee Coalition For Open Government. That's http://www.tcog.info/
My bad. Am I banned yet???
This whole thing is just mind-boggling. Nobody has to answer a reporters questions, but they are allowed certain information under the Open Records Act.
Now IF (and I mean "IF") Weber was being "threatning" or whatever, than offer up some examples, some evidence to that fact. If he was just being abrasive or accusatory, how are those things justification for banning someone.
I mean, it all just seems so childish. I can see Weber as annoying, but how about being the bigger person? Its just a completely class-less act on the Mayor's part.
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