Raid or Press Conference?

The recent story about the raid on Senator Joe Coniglio's home and office raise some interesting questions. It has been leaked since late summer that the Senator was a target of a federal probe. Then Coniglio's dropped his reelction bid in September. All signs pointing to legal problems. Then comes this "raid". Not only was it a raid but a photographer from The Newark Star-Ledger was along for the elevator ride with FBI Agents.

The the reporter include these sentences;

Authorities showed up at Coniglio's home earlier in the morning and seized documents and computer hard drives from the two locations, according to a source close to the investigation.

Investigators sought materials related to Coniglio's dealings with Hackensack University Medical Center, which have been under scrutiny for months, according to the source, who requested anonymity.

Followed by;
Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, declined to comment on the investigation.

Please don't insult the readers by having a photographer there, an annoymous source, and a spokesman who wont comment and pretend that it just happened that way. We all want to get the truth but a story written on false pretenses doesn't establish a good groundwork.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1195623746154250.xml&coll=1

Newspaper Operations to Combine

The Home News Tribune and the Courier News are expected to combine operations at a facility in Piscataway. The two newspapers both owned by Gannett have been slowly combining staff for some time. The move would shift all three major central New Jersey daily newspaper rooms to Piscataway. The Newark Star-Ledger moved its Middlesex County Bureau to Piscatawy three years ago.

The impact will be strongest in the southern Middlesex County areas. It only brings into greater question as to when the Asbury Park Press will start moving north with its coverage area.

Calling Out the Media -

This is from politickernj.com by Debbie Holtz. I dont know the true story behind Holtz but I think the issue is valid.


No Disclosure
By Debbie Holtz
Tags: Al Frank, Rick Perr



Quoting a source with an ax to grind or someone with future political ambitions often calls into question the credibility of the source.

So does quoting a legal expert on a partisan election issue without disclosing the fact that your source also moonlights as a ranking state party official.

That’s what the Star Ledger’s Al Frank did when he reported on last week’s state Supreme Court ruling concerning the Republican's challenge to Democrat Michael Luther’s claim to the Parsippany Mayoral seat. You remember – that’s the election where the ballots were cast over two years ago but the final tallies are still in dispute.

In this case, the facts of the story are not the issue.


It’s the fact that Frank’s expert election law source, Richard Perr, a professor at Rutgers Law School in Camden, is also the head of the Burlington County Democratic Party. But few readers would know – since the story didn't disclose that little detail.