Here is another account of the bias and comment deletion that goes on at Hoboken 411. Again, these people who are coming forward are not part of the inner workings of the Zimmer campaign.
Editors Note: Please note this is the opinion of an anonymous contributor and and not the opinion of this editor. In fact I don't think what the comments either Michael Lenz or Tony Soares used write on Hoboken 411 were out of line given comments that were allowed on that site and as such did not justify their banning on the basis of Hoboken 411's policies. This is where I diasgree with the content in the comments below. It is not my intent to throw either Tony or Michael under the bus but rather to continue to provide an open forum. Here is the sole opinion of the anonymous contributor....
For those wondering about why 411 hates Zimmer...it all goes back to his lack journalistic practices. When he backs a candidate, he raves about that candidate, does not allow opposition, does not allow critical articles about that person, kisses up, and then hopes to be repaid with advertising, exclusives, etc. Any real paper does not do that: If they think one candidate is the clear leader, they will just print the facts and hope readers are smart enough to figure it out. There are sometimes still biases but everyone sees them in different ways.
Even those who do not like the JJ or Reporter have to admit they cover all sides, do not ban people, and there are letters for and against all candidates in the Reporter's famous letters page every week. (warning, they make you be under 500 words or they send it back for cutting.)
Now Perry, at first, backed Zimmer over Campos, even saying something about Campos acting retarded. There was a Reporter story about Zimmer and Cunningham even hiring Perry to do web design for their campaigns, a possible conflict.
Somewhere along the way Perry stopped liking Zimmer's allies like Mike Lenz and Tony Soares, who posted crap on his website. I can't fault him for that.
(There was a whole story on realhoboken.com about this but that site appears to have left us.)
He began backing Mason, who seemed a shoe-in early on. Oh, he also ran posts by (name removed by editor only because assertion is not 100% verifiable), a big Masonite, without ever saying who was writing them. And some very slanted stuff about Zimmer. But NADA about Mason's many problems (including when she sent him press releases full of poorly researched facts and he would print them. Case in point, she wrote about 5 workforce housing projects that she said had never been approved by the council. She allowed him to 'break' this story. He hadn't actually done any research, and neither for that matter had Mason, and a few days later when the REAL press wrote about the units, they noted truthfully that the council had approved them two years ago. Mason's vow to see if the whole thing was illegal suddenly got quiet and she never spoke of this again. Even if you disagreed with the housing what happened to Masons investigation? She should have asked questions first.
I could log in and write this but I have to be careful of my identity. Just know that for people griping, there ARE alternatives to posting and learning the news. This site, Hoboken Now, and HobokenReporter.com all post political news and don't ban comments. See you there.
- Anonymous
Update 3:45 PM: Here are some other reader comments on this topic:From anonymous:
As pointed out on H411 already: http://hoboken411.com/archives/24690 says "Hoboken411 broke the top story of the week yesterday (hours before any other NJ media)" But the NY Times (and your site) had stories about it less than an hour later.
My comment: The NY Times has the best information up the quickest. I was on site for most of the two days. His coverage was based as a content aggregator via web surfing and reader pictures submitted in. I never saw him once near the crash site.
From Princess_Buttercup (Facebook reader):
The only thing that site is good for is to find out about the ever so present water main breaks. Other than that, it blows.
My comment: H411 is pretty good for the weather and doomed businesses too. :)
From Mark (submitted earlier):
Just wanted to let your readers know I've been banished from H411 for the following entry:
Lets try again! I will post this on every other blog if it gets taken off of this one again!
Let's see. During the first election Hoboken 411 had Beth Mason advertising banners all over it. During the runoff they chanced to Cammarano banners. Could the reason for H411's bias be that the check from Cammarano hasn't cleared yet (He's waiting on line)? Or the fact that there was no advertising revenue from the Zimmer camp (He wants to crush them into powder) making 411 lean a certain way?
H411 has the same freedom of speech as anyone of us do.
All I am saying is to always remember who the messenger is!
My Comment: Regarding the last line "All I am saying is to always remember who the messenger is!" I couldn't agree more!
Original Story:
I have decided to establish this thread for any of my readers who want to comment on the following behaviors that they may have experienced on the website called Hoboken411(H411):1) Can't view site at all, ip address blocked.
2) No comments go through.
3) Comments go through but are modified.
4) Comments don't always go through.
5) Pictures of one candidate much worse than others (either out of focus or doctored via Photoshop).
6) Article passed as news and not editorial but blatantly one sided.
7) You suspect he has exaggerated his numbers a bit. Back this up with evidence.
8) Any other chicanery that I haven't mentioned here.
You can either comment below or send me an email at kurt.gardiner@gmail.com. When sending me an email please provide the link to the thread or story and let me know how you would like to be attributed. Please keep to the facts as I believe nothing needs to be made up here given the number of incidents that I have heard about.
Editor's Note: Remember one thing, if you tried to impersonate and log into the H411 site with multiple identities that is against his policy. Please elaborate why you may have done so if that is the case. I don't believe in censorship, but if something is too hateful or that I believe non-factual I do reserve the right to delete it. Be honest. The truth will always come back to bite the smear merchants back.
Here is my public service to all those who have been denied access H411 that is marketed as a community forum. ◦
