Politics

Dems question Record’s political ties

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Republican ties to one of Rye’s two local newspapers have created an unfavorable climate for Democrats as they try to regain political relevance in the city, party officials say.

Rye Democrats have fared poorly in the city’s last two elections and as a result, Republicans control the Rye City Council by a 6-1 margin. Heading into what is being considered a pivotal election in 2013 in which the mayoralty and three council seats are up for grabs, Democrats are assessing the local political landscape and identifying a number of factors they feel may put them at a disadvantage at the polls.

One of the concerns, according to party leaders, is pro-Republican coverage of city politics in The Rye Record, a competitor of The Rye Sound Shore Review. Critics from the GOP’s side of the aisle argue that the complaints are simply sour grapes and that the Democrats’ lack of success in recent elections can be attributed to poor leadership and organization. But Democratic leaders say that their gripes are not simply partisan bickering and are supported by years of history.

On Sept. 21, Councilman Peter Jovanovich, whose wife publishes and writes for The Rye Record, delivers copies of the paper–first to Dockside Deli and other stores along Milton Road, and then Forest Avenue’s Rye Beach Pharmacy. Jovanovich is seen regularly distributing copies of the paper to numerous locations in the city. Contributed photos
On Sept. 21, Councilman Peter Jovanovich, whose wife publishes and writes for The Rye Record, delivers copies of the paper–first to Dockside Deli and other stores along Milton Road, and then Forest Avenue’s Rye Beach Pharmacy. Jovanovich is seen regularly distributing copies of the paper to numerous locations in the city. Contributed photos

“It’s not a matter of coverage, per se, being biased,” said Democratic Party Chairman Rod Brown in a recent interview. “It’s the active participation as part of the Republican Party. In effect, The Rye Record functions as the media arm of the Republican Party in local politics.”

The blurred lines between media and government crystallized in 2009 when Peter Jovanovich, a Republican, decided to make a second run for City Council. He had failed in his first foray back in 2005. Jovanovich’s wife, Robin, serves as the publisher and on-again, off again editor of The Record. Jovanovich, at the time of his first run and in the years prior, was involved in the paper’s operations and listed as a writer dating back to at least 2004. It was a designation he maintained even after he was elected into office in 2009.

Currently a sitting councilman, Jovanovich is up for re-election next November.

Democratic Party insiders said Jovanovich’s 2009 City Council campaign marked a shift of focus by the newspaper toward controversies such as the late Bob Schubert’s dried up pond and alleged unsanitary conditions on Hen Island, which portrayed Democrats in office in a poor light. At the time, the council was controlled by the Democratic administration of three-term Mayor Steve Otis.

Jovanovich was running on a Republican ticket directly op posing the Otis Team.

As the 2009 campaign kicked into high gear, Democrats perceived what they believed were profound conflicts of interest in government coverage.

In what many viewed as an important city election–four seats were at play, including Otis’–Robin Jovanovich spearheaded her paper’s coverage of the race. She took photos, covered the two debates and penned articles–several of which were credited in print to “Rye Record staff” and not a specific author.

“There aren’t many publications in the city that focus on local is­sues,” Brown said, “so the impact of this is magni­fied by that.”

Democrats asked that Ms. Jovanovich abstain from conducting inter­views with candidates running against her husband, although party sources say she initially refused to do so. Only af­ter several weeks in which the Democratic candidates refused to partake in an interview did Jovanovich agree not to participate, according to sources.

Former Councilman Mack Cunningham, who was elected into office as a Democrat in 2005 but didn’t run again in 2009, said she still re­mained in the room when the interview was being conducted.

Party Chairman Brown even said he engaged in several heated exchanges with Ms. Jovanovich over her direct involvement in the interviews.

“I objected strongly to that,” he said. “That’s when I first realized how bad the situ­ation was.”

Republicans Douglas French, Suzanna Keith, Richard Filippi and Mr. Jovanovich, who decisively swept the election that year, also used The Rye Record offices to make phone calls to voters in the weeks and days leading up to the November election, accord­ing to sources.

Democrats said that at the time, they de­cided to remain silent on the issue, for fear of being viewed as pointing the finger of blame for a trouncing at the polls.

But then, party leaders said, the issues con­tinued.

Democrats said in 2011, the newspaper again showed a bias in favor of the three Republican candidates in that year’s City Council election.

That race kicked off unofficially at a summer campaign fundraising event for the Republican candidates at the Jovanovich’s Milton Road home. The event, which was photographed and reported on by the news­paper, included the Republican City Council candidates and Republican Suzanna Keith, who was in the midst of a run for county legislator.

“In effect, they created the event and the story of the event,” said Brown, who felt the story became problematic for Democrats be­cause they received no such coverage.

Paula Gamache, a former Democratic coun­cilwoman who ran unsuccessfully for a second term in the 2011 race, said the real concerns over the free press is less what the paper chose to report on, but more so what it chose not to report on. She cited the news over the 2011 Republican City Council candidates’ refusal to disclose their campaign financing–an issue that first surfaced in October of that year and remains unresolved to date.

“It didn’t seem to raise to the level of news in their opinion, which to me is just mys­tifying,” said Gamache, who also worked for The Rye Record from 2004 to 2006 and served as managing editor in her final year at the publication.

Jon Elsen, a former editor with The New York Times and New York Post, served as a communications consultant who advised the Democratic candidates in the 2011 election.

“The Democrats didn’t lose the election be­cause of The Rye Record, but The Record’s coverage of community affairs in general is not very credible,” said Elsen. “It’s just too conflicted.”

Republicans nearly swept the election, tak­ing two of three seats, and only missed out by a handful of votes. Each Republican candidate was given a bottle of wine and a congratula­tory note from the Jovanovichs.

Critics of the paper also point to the interim appointment of Julie Killian, a Republican, to the City Council who filled the unexpired term of Councilwoman Keith.

In its May 24 online edition, The Rye Record reported that Killian had won the seat prior to the City Council even taking a vote on the matter. Those opposed to the appointment process say it proved to dis­enfranchise the other two candidates, Jason Mehler and Charmian Neary.

The Rye Record never explained its error to its readers.

Brown said it was evidence that the paper had insight into the council’s decision before it was made.

“They said it was a mistake,” the party chairman said. “I don’t think it was. It was a mistake to publish it. But they knew ahead of time.”

In a 2009 interview with The Rye Sound Shore Review, Mr. Jovanovich, as a then-City Council candidate, answered criticism over his relationship to The Rye Record, stating, if elected, it would soon be a non-issue.

“I think people perceive the coverage as being extremely fair,” he said at the time. “Second, after nine years as editor, Robin [Jovanovich] is looking to transition out of that role. So I think the issue, if elected, is going to be moot in a couple of years.”

Democrats would argue that hasn’t been the case.

Former Councilman Cunningham, who remains active in city affairs, said The Rye Record has regularly refused to cover issues where the Republican-led City Council could be questioned. These omissions, he said, in­cluded a lack of action toward flooding in the two years that precipitated 2011’s Tropical Storm Irene. He also noted the little-to-no coverage given to the Rye TV whistleblower scandal that plagued City Hall.

In the issue following Tropical Storm Irene, which caused massive flooding and extensive damage in Rye, The Rye Record’s coverage began with the headline “Recovery doesn’t happen in a day.”

“It’s fine to have a quotation of an adminis­tration official saying it’s going to take some time,” said former Councilwoman Gamache, who was also deputy mayor when the storm struck Rye. “But the reporting of the news, including the headlines, is editorialized. It seems to be the slant of the article as opposed to reporting what somebody said.”

Michelle Rea, executive director of the New York Press Association, said a publisher is entitled to publish anything he or she wants with little accountability.

Simply put, newspapers often have a conservative or liberal stance or choose to focus on opinion or news. “There is a long history of newspapers representing a given political party,” she said. “There is no law against that.”

But there are the issues of transparency and disclosure.

Rea said that a focus on good journalistic practices dictates openness with readership. According to Rea, it is the respon­sibility of Ms. Jovanovich to often remind her readers that her husband sits on the City Council so the readers can account for the paper’s connection. Otherwise, Rea said, she should completely separate herself from the newsroom and not step into that arena.

“They need to address it,” said Rea, adding that analysis or opinion should be clearly labeled. “Newspapers don’t get to spin. It’s the facts, the facts and just the facts. Facts and opinions, they make very strange bedfellows.”

During her time working at The Rye Record, Gamache believes there wasn’t a deliberate attempt to exclude informa­tion. Working alongside the Republican Jovanovichs, Gamache, a Democrat, said the net effect was the trio was able to keep each other “honest” by sniffing out unconscious bias.

“I think that’s a missing factor,” the former managing editor said.

But Gamache said once Mr. Jovanovich took office in 2010, there seemed to be more of a tendency to omit information.

“I did feel the reporting was not objective,” said Gamache, who left the paper prior to being elected to the City Council in 2007. “The way to do it is to leave information out. I just didn’t find them to be a reliable source of what is going on and still don’t.”

With an eye on 2013, Democratic leaders said Ms. Jovanovich’s newspaper should clear­ly define its role in politics and government. Brown wants her to either decide not to favor Republicans or remove herself from an edito­rial position during elections and city affairs.

Ms. Jovanovich has an extensive back­ground in magazine and newspaper publish­ing, having worked for the likes of Family Weekly, Good Housekeeping, Self magazine and The Westport News in Connecticut. She began writing for The Rye Record in 1997, became an editor in 2000 and took over ma­jority ownership of the paper sometime in 2006 or 2007.

When reached by phone on Tuesday, Mr. Jovanovich refused to comment. A phone call to Ms. Jovanovich seeking comment was not returned as of press time.