Democrat and Chronicle reporter David Andreatta last week called County Legislature President Jeff Adair an "asshole."
Andreatta is assigned full-time to troll for anything that can be spun into a hatchet job against County Republicans in an election year.
After Tuesday's legislative meeting, the newsman went looking for a comment about Adair's ruling on a bill introduced by a member. Adair offered no comment. He said he'd release in the morning his letter to the legislator who made the proposal, explaining his ruling. Adair then went into his office. That's when the D&C's man exclaimed, "What an asshole," within earshot of bystanders.
Imagine the dressing down the reporter got from his boss, Karen Magnuson, Editor of the D&C and de facto Political Director of the Monroe County Democratic Party, for blowing cover by speaking in public the way D&C editors talk privately among themselves.
The reporter has since apologized to Adair.
Update: We updated this post to identify David Andreatta as the reporter.
12 comments:
He obviously didn't get dressed down at all. I didn't see an apology in the paper or any acknowledgement of the incident. The D&C always prints when someone is overheard saying something innapropriate like this, but no coverage on this. The D&C can't control their reporters who are as out of control as the bosses that run the Editorial board.
I am sure Legislator Adair along with others enjoyed being able to get the reporter to lose composure, and then get an apology. A return to those west sider roots and upbringing is back in play.
Good work Jeff.
Is there any reason the name of the reporter is not given? I don't see the problem -- and it would give me some perspective when reading future stories with his byline.
This reporter's abusive comment has landed him in hot water. The buzz in media circles is that he may end up losing his job.
You guys got it only partly right. He called the Legislator a F***ing A**hole and a Pr!ck.
Everyone thinks that the D&C bosses, Kane and Magnuson are letting him off the hook because the D&C is assumed to be politically biased to favor the Democrat Party but this goes way beyond their bias against Republicans.
This guy's outburst ruins the credibility of the paper's reporters and hurts their stories they write to attack the GOP with.
He's also the laughing stock of the TV reporters who hang out on East Ave. They've been waiting for his smug-a$$ to get spanked because he thinks he's better than them.
Poor b@stard.
Why don't you just come out and say it: it's David Andreatta.
The whole political and media world in Rochester knows this by now.
You got his job description right:full time job is to trash Republicans.
David Andreatta, the classless reporter who said this, is a disgrace to his profession! He writes editorials pretending they are news stories.
Karen Magnuson can make a strong statement by firing him!
David Andreatta is a naive kid who desperately wants to win some journalism award, and his articles always have some breathless lead but dissipate into "where's the beef" disappointment.
To some extent it is unfair to blame him for the anti-GOP hysteria in the D&C since it is the news editors like Magnuson that drive the coverage. They drip with contempt for Republicans; their cub reporters like Andreatta are willful and useful idiots.
I disagree that Adair's politeness is a positive -- the GOP needs to call the D&C's bias for what it is and start boycotting their reporters and editorial board interviews. Reilich should call a press conf and declare a boycott until Andreatta formally apologizes.
The only thing Andreatta did that would be upsetting to Magnusen would be that he came clean about the D&C's attitude toward Republican elected officials in a way that's clear even to the politically unsophisticated.
The only "statement" Magnuson would make by firing him (as Anonymous 6:09 suggests) is that she's scrambling to repair what remains of any pretense to impartiality the D&C may have.
Anonymous 6:57am is right in zeroing in on Magnusen and the other editors as the cancer in the D&C, driving the political mission.
In a newspaper other than a politically-motivated one, the conviction of "Robutrad" ringleader Bob Morone would have been a 2-inch item in that side-of-the-page column in the local news section.
Obviously it was Magnuson who ordered it used as a pretext for last Saturday's front-page rehashing of the "Robutrad" myth, and who insisted on the story.
To a reporter the whole thing would have seemed like yesterday's news, but not to someone with a political agenda to defeat the Republicans
"Robutrad" was a petty employee malfeasance, which the County exec herself turned in to the authorities once discovered. It's the editor, in this case Magnuson, who orders these things to be spun into big, bad "scandals" and then orders their persistent rehashing. A classic technique of political propaganda.
Since the public clearly approves of the policies of Maggie Brooks and her administration, and ratifies that approval at each election for County Exec and County Legislature, all the Democrats have left is to scream "scandal" over every jaywalking-equivalent incident. And so their de facto Political Director, who edits the local paper, obliges.
Karen Magnuson is too busy lying about how the D & C is not losing readers and subscribers.
Philbrick, I agree with you 100%. So that all being the case, why are any GOP candidates or elected officials participating in Gannett endorsement interviews or serving as sources for Gannett stories? If you look at the past 20 years, I cannot think of a single story -- not one -- that has been critical of a Democrat (even the nimrods like Slaughter) while all the negative stories have been on Republicans. So why play the patsy and enable the D&C editors like Magnuson?
UPDATE: The BUZZ is that Andreatta is on the brink of getting the boot because of his aggressive verbal tirade but someone on the Editorial Board is pushing hard to get him off the hook.
I can only imagine that Jim Lawrence desperately wants Dave to stay because Dave gives Jim great fodder for his thickly laced anti-GOP editorials.
Look at today's editorial garbage. Jim piggy backed off Dave's story today and wants the Fair Campaign board to hurry up and rule on the Taylor/Doorley tv flap.
Actually, Jim wants them to hopefully rule against Taylor so he can demand Taylor pull the add or be attacked by the D&C every single day through election day.
Jim needs Dave. Dave will most likely stay because even the D&C owners fear Jim Lawrence. Spineless wimps.
Jim & Dave. They're two peas in the same anti-republican pod.
Although Jim Lawrence is an old school, anti-GOP, movement Liberal, he's not the core problem at the D&C. There is a weird sorority of women editors who drip with contempt for Republicans and promote '60s Left-wing causes and politicians. Look at the front page articles over the past 20 years -- and photographs. The photos must include a positive image for a black, woman, Hispanic or gay. The articles will always use positive narrative for Liberals ("struggle" "hard working" "overcome obstacles") and negative narrative for GOP and conservatives/tea party ("controversial" "despite opposition" "disputed"). Sebby Jacobson, Karen Magnuson, Jane Sutter and the rest of the Louise Slaughter Fan Club are also responsible for putting Left-wing columnists in the news sections (Mark Hare), and they look at Andreatta as a useful idiot to promote their movement.
Post a Comment