HUDSON COUNTY AND BEYOND -- Hoboken resident Eli Manning and the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 46 Sunday night, 21-17. And while the celebrating in North Jersey will continue this week, local officials are planning for more than 150,000 ticket-holders, tourists, members of the media, and others to converge on this area two years from now for Super Bowl XLVIII (48) in 2014, to be held in the Meadowlands.
How are they planning, and what do they expect?
Read the exclusive story that ran in this past weekend's editions of the Hudson Reporter.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has suggested a parade for the Giants in New Jersey, even though New York is holding one on Tuesday. Where should it be held? Comment below!
What the ad said was that Zimmer had sent two political supporters on a junket to the Superbowl while making unauthorized use of intellectual property belonging to the NFL and the New England Patriots. While this also didn't make for a particularly effective attack ad, it seems that Mrs. Mason's consultants thought it would.
If the Hoboken Reporter had fact checked as it does with its letters section, it would have required Mrs. Mason to at a minimum, change the phrase "political supporter" to "city employee" and to change the phrase "to the superbowl" to "to Indianapolis just before the SuperBowl."
They did not. The language difference is not inconsequential - Mason lied about the facts specifically because the real facts did not work as well in her ad.
Does anybody have any experience with placing political ads in the Reporter? If they never fact check ads then I think their policy is flawed but the omission here would at least be consistent. If, however, they have, as I suspect, selectively fact checked political ads as they do with their letters page then the question is raised - did the Hoboken Repiorter fact check badly? Or did they not fact check at all?
And more importantly, what will they do next time.
Roman Brice made the calls did the work.
1. "The Super Bowl is a celebration not a game?" That was a joke right? I sure hope so because the last time I looked the Giants won a football game and the Pats lost a football game. They didn't get together in Indianapolis to celebrate together. Are you saying the Hoboken Reporter facvt checked and was aware that the individuals would be returning before the game but decided that the false statement was nevertheless true based on the Hoboken Reporter's proprietary definition of the word "Super Bowl?" You've got to be kidding!!
2. Did the Hoboken Reporter ask Mrs. Mason for the names of the individuals and for substantiation that they were "political supporters" as opposed to City employees? Or does the Hoboken Reporter have its own proprietary definition of the word "political supporter" to the effect that a "political supporter" is not just someone who "supports you politically" but includes everyone who works for the City who is not known to oppose the Mayor.
3. Does the Hoboken Reporter also have its own proprietary definition of intellectual property which doesn't just include intellectual property belonging to Mrs. Mason but any intellectual property she chooses to use in an ad?
I'm glad your done - the questions are rhetorical and the Hoboken Reporters failure to, at a minimum, excercise good judgement and consistent standards here pretty much speaks for itself.
who went out there?
why couldn't they stay here and save money and get the info from meadowlands people?
1. Did the Hoboken Reporter fact check the statement that the City had sent "political supporters" of the Mayor (that's different that City officials)to the super bowl (that's a football game not a city). If I made a statement like that in a letter to the editor, Caren would ask me to supply documentation before she would allow the letter to run. Did the Hoboken Reporter make such a request of Mrs. Mason? If not why not?
It also appears that the ad may have involved the misuse of intellectual property belonging to others. Did the Hoboken Reporter ask whether the necessary authorizations were received before running the ad? If not why not?
Please do not respond with a bunch of silly non-sequitors. The issue is not whether a discussion over whether the trip was appropriate or not is a legitimate issue for discourse.
The issue is the ad itself which based on the excellent journalism appearing on MSV appears to include 2 untrue statements - that the individuals were "political supporters" of the mayor and that they were "sent to the super bowl," and it uses intellectual property that does not belong to Mrs. Mason.
The Hoboken Reporter apparently missed the intellectual property issue and failed to fact check the ad - a surprising double standard given how scrupulous they are about fact checking letters to the editor.
Does this double standard reflect political bias? Or does it reflect the fact that $1,000 check will buy you out of the fact checking process?
If you don't work for the Hoboken Reporter then you are not the right person to answer these questions. Maybe Al or Caren can chime in. Did they ask the question? If they did do they stand behind the statements? It is not my job as reader to fact check - its their job as editors and they do it aggressively on the letters page.
Roman Brice's interview today with Councilwoman Giattino's efforts to bring part of the 2014 Super Bowl businessto Hoboken on his blog Hudson Mile Square View answers the questions raised by Mrs. Mason's defenders trying to do some political damage control.
I have read that the W Hotel is already fully booked for the that time period.
who were the people who went
why did they need to take a junket to the midwest instead of say getting a report from meadowlands officials (the superbowl is not being held in hoboken in 2014 you know). don't keep us in suspense since you claim to know. so far i hear crickets.
you arent denying they went, and the days leading up to the celebrationg are part of it.
Perhaps the quality of your reasoning is the reason why you choose to be "anonymous."
What will be entertaining is listening to Mike "Jello shot" Russo of Katrina/Andriani fame go into a tizzy about "junkets."
As anyone who has attended the Super Bowl knows, it is one big party for days before the event. NO ONE conducts business, especially the NFL people. What a joke.
SO you are telling us that you don't even know the answer but you are sure the ad was wrong?
The ad says that the people sent were "political supporters of the mayor." Who were the people involved. Were they City employees sent on City business or were they "political supporters?" Did they contribute money to or volunteer for the Mayor's political campaigns? What makes them "political supporters" Did the HR even ask? Is the Ad's statement true or false? Did the HR fact check that statement at all?
The ad says that the individuals went "to the super bowl." The super bowl is a football game, not the city of Indianapolis. Did the City pay for people to go to the game? Did they go to the game at all regardless of who paid? If the answer is no then the ad is untrue. Did the HR fact check this statement? If not why not?
If press accounts are correct, the ad is not only incredibly stupid but is entirely false and the HR either didn't fact check or knew it was false and didn't care.
The HR is famous for "fact checking" letters to the editor sent by "reformers." Does it apply a different standard to Mrs. Mason when she drops $1,000 or so on an ad. That's a pretty cheap price to sell a newspaper's integrity for don't you think?
If Mrs. Mason wishes to live and oporate in the margins of veracity that too speaks much more about her charecter or lack of character,
While it is hard times for many it is obviously not for the Masons who contine to speend large amounts of money on thses sorts of political attacks.
Your assumptions that this trip could have been handled on the telephone is just that your assumption. Aface to face meeting with those involved in producing a event of this size and complexity that will play out in 2014 here in NJ is a worthwhile idea.
I am under no illusions that Mrs. Mason will apologize for her disinenous ad or that Ray Smith and the Hoboken Reporter will follow up on it. However it would be the correct thing to do.
also why would ray smith have to investigate an ad that is true. you havent denied that they went. maybe you can tell us what in the ad was untruthful.
I can understand why som political damage control for Mrs. Mason is needed at this point but making additional untrue statements is certainly not helping her.
Mrs. Mason should appologize for her lack of truthfulness and ethics and Ray Smith should investigate the veracity of the ad Mrs. Mason paid the Hoboken Reporter to run.
I doubt ether has the courage to to so.
Intresting who this story connects to Councilwoman Mason's latest anti-Zimmer poltical attack ad that ran in this weeks Hoboken Reporter.
Had she or her staff simply asked why those City staffers went to indy she would have known they went to plan for the 2014 Super Bowl and saved alot of time effort and money.
But then it might have been more important to her to put out her negative message than be constrained by the truth.
Does the Hoboken Reporter fact check the ads they get from Mrs. Mason ?
Will Mrs. Mason now appologize and print a retraction ?
Congratulations to Eli Manning and the Giants on their second Super Bowl Win..............