No Weeds in the Garden State

I'll let this one speak for itself:

Call it pay for praise, greenbacks for good news, bucks for beneficial publicity. The Newark City Council has awarded the Newark Weekly News a $100,000 no-bid contract to publish positive news about the city.

Comments

[linguist]

Quick! Someone call Weird NJ!

[Number 6]

That's it. I'm changing to an honest profession, like personal injury law.

[Supernatural Rabbit Scribe]

Appalling! From careful review of all the positive news about Newark, NJ in 2004, I've extrapolated that the City Council will be paying a rate of $50.00 a word...

[SPD]

Something tells me this story won't be in their next edition. Unless, of course, it's under the headline City Takes Decisive Action To Let The World Know How Awesome It Is.

[TJ]

If it was good enough for the Bush Administration, why shouldn't it be good enough for Jersey?

[Stretch]

As awful as this is, it's hard to escape the fact that bad news sells much better than good news. After all, somebody has to pay for it and if the people won't do it voluntarily then it's up to the government benefactors to force the issue. I'd say this puts another nail in the coffin of the mythical "objective journalism", but it's only the Newark Weekly News.

[Matt Furey]

I live here and I've never heard of that paper.

Although I'm sure there are worse ways Sharpe James could've spent the money

[R C Dean]

Well, compared to giving the press legal immunities and special privileges, what's a little cash?

[Isaac Bartram]

Isn't writing something good about Jersey highly creative fiction?

Gratuitous Jersey joke. Actually my mother's home town, a borough in Camden County is considered the number 2 most desirable place to live in the Philly area. And my mom hates Jersey jokes so nobody tell her what I said, OK.

[crimethink]

Question is, how does the city enforce this agreement without violating the 1st ammendment?

[Dave W.]

When this information is public, I don't see the problem, especially because this particular paper is so small. However, when these deals are secret -- well, that should be crime w/ time.

[Dave W.]

Question is, how does the city enforce this agreement without violating the 1st ammendment?

By making further payments as required. Its only tax money after all.

[Publicist]

Newark: The Poor Man's Harlem

Newark: For When the Angry Won't Stay Inside

Newark: Heart of Darkness

Newark: For When it Won't Stop Hurting

Newark: At Least You Can Say You're Not Here

Newark: Making Hate Since '68

Newark: Just Don't. Please.

[ChrisO]

And today's Good News From Newark: Today, for the zillionth straight day, a plane from Newark Int'l DID NOT fly into the Pulaski Skyway. Woohoo!!

[Row]

I've dubbed this practice...Printola. What I don't get is why they had to pay them to print good things. Seems to me all that paper prints is "good news" already. Looks like some insider baseball to me.

[linguist]

Publicist, you left out:

Newark: No longer the world murder capital!

and

Newark: Still worse than Detroit

[Stretch]

Newark: Wasting a 1/2 hour of your life on the way to New York.

Newark Makes the World Takes...oh wait, that's Trenton.

[mediageek]

What I don't get is why they had to pay them to print good things.

Never been to Jersey, eh?