Media Experts Preston & Whitcomb Weigh In on Raimondo’s Media Battle
Friday, October 06, 2017
David Preston, the CEO of New Harbor Group, and Robert Whitcomb, former Editorial Page Editor of the Providence Journal and now a GoLocalProv columnist, weighed in on the recent criticism by Gina Raimondo of the Providence Journal and WJAR-10, when both appeared on GoLocal LIVE on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Raimondo said during a discussion at Brown University, "Six years ago, when I started this, our local paper, The Providence Journal was something that many or most Rhode Islanders read...certainly all influencers read [it]."
"[The Providence Journal] It's a shadow of its former self ... I think they're down to 16 reporters, so you can't rely on that."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn September during a picket outside the Providence Journal offices, John Hill, head of the newspaper guild representing Providence Journal reporters, told GoLocal, "Layoffs and buyouts have continued since September 2014, to where the news staff is now down to 16 reporters covering the entire state in the news department. For a comparison in the early 2000s, the West Bay and Blackstone Bureaus had about a dozen reporters each. We haven’t had a raise since 2008. But executive management has gotten annual bonuses."
Raimondo continued in her criticism of the media,"News, broadcast news, has become almost like talk radio. I do this one on one thing with live TV, And it started out, even when I started two years ago as a nice back and forth, and now they call it 'going one on one with the governor,' like it's all a fight, you know motif." Raimondo was referring to a weekly segment she does with WJAR-10. The Governor's comments were first reported by Ian Donnis of RINPR.
Raimondo later issued an apology.
Whitcomb said on GoLocal LIVE that he thought the unscripted comments -- a bit of an outburst -- may have some positive impact. It puts reporters on notice and it shows that Raimondo is human.
Preston, the former press secretary to the often volatile Governor Bruce Sundlun, says that Raimondo's comments are a bit of a reset with the media.
In a side note, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Dean Starkman posted to Facebook about the episode, "I'm having a hard time disagreeing with her, and I'm not sure an apology was even necessary."
Starkman is former Providence Journal, Wall St. Journal, and LA Times reporter. He was also a contributor to GoLocalProv.com.
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- Media Experts Preston & Whitcomb Weigh In on Raimondo’s Media Battle