« Eminent Domain: Let the Public Beware! | Main | Yassky's waterfront lesson: make sure neighborhood commitments in development plans are done up front »
December 6, 2009
The Brooklyn Paper's curious choices when it comes to front-page treatment of Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
It's unlikely that a Brooklyn news story comparable to the Atlantic Yards fight will come around again any time soon. So how have local newspapers been doing in their coverage of this important story?
Let's compare. This week's front-page news concerns the newspaper's effort, via the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), to find out how the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) determined its low-ball market value of Atlantic Yards opponent Daniel Goldstein's apartment.
It's legitimate news, but why is it on the front page? Likely because the editors want to play up their exclusive.
Last week's Brooklyn Paper coverage of the Court of Appeals' eminent domain decision didn't make the front page. It should have.
However, the editors apparently thought that coverage of Jonathan Lethem's effort to read his new novel aloud and a drug bust in Williamsburg constituted more important news.
This week's print issue of the Brooklyn Paper does not contain the newspaper's online coverage of the bond rating for the Atlantic Yards arena.
Maybe that was a space issue, but the newspaper's coverage also was two days late. The Courier-Life's notorious Stephen Witt does have a fawning article on the bond rating, which begins:
It’s all systems go for the Brooklyn Nets arena, and perhaps an NBA championship banner hanging from the rafters following the 2011-12 playoffs in the borough. The idea did not seem that far-fetched to current Nets owner Bruce Ratner...
...
The front pages of the other two Brooklyn weeklies last week straightforwardly highlighted the eminent domain decision. In fact, the Courier-Life, using tabloid shorthand, even called the Court of Appeals' ruling a "land grab." Did that have anything to do with the fact that Witt didn't write the article?
Posted by steve at December 6, 2009 8:20 AM