Nov 2, 2014

Mayor Abutbol shutting up reporters?

In a meeting with local reports, Mayor of Bet Shemesh Moshe Abutbol, among other things, asked the reporters to take a self-imposed time-out from reporting negative incidents that happen in Bet Shemesh, while only reporting on positive events. The time-out, he said, should be for a period of a year. The purpose is to change the atmosphere.



What do you think?:
a. this is a good idea, as the reporters at least hold some fault for the bad name of the city and this could work
   or
b. this is an attempt to pressure them to not fulfill their duties of reporting the news, curtailing, somewhat, freedom of the press, which would make his own job easier as he would be subject to far less criticism
   or
c. is this a deflection of responsibility. instead of pushing himself harder to actually fix the problems, make the city actually better, prevent the negative incidents from happening, he lays the blame at the door of the reporters and passes all the responsibility for the impression the public has of Bet Shemesh on them.

What's your vote?

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3 comments:

  1. yoni r.November 02, 2014 5:03 PM

    He has a point, but he's going about it all wrong. Reporters have to report something. If there's only "bad" news, that's what they'll report. Abutbul needs a decent press secretary (or PR guy, or whatever) that the press can talk to who will put a positive (i.e., palatable to even non-chareidim) spin on whatever happens, and to point them toward "good" stories.

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  2. Mordechai Y. ScherNovember 02, 2014 8:02 PM

    I think your mayor is trying to deflect attention away from himself and his administration. Plain and simple. I think he has no clue how a free and open society works, and that the press is meant to keep the scrutiny on the governors who are supposed to be working by and for the people who put them in office.

    I know that's a naive expectation of the press; but it is still a principle he either does't understand or wants to circumvent.

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  3. JoshNovember 03, 2014 3:16 PM

    He does have a point, but.... Normally, reporters will report positively if they get positive status and cooperation with the city hall. When the city hall gets insulted because bad news is reported (this is natural!), they 'get insulted' and usually react negatively which leads to not cooperating with reporters.

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