Search
Close this search box.

Papenfuse Bans Patriot-News

Mayor PapenfuseHarrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse is declaring war on the Patriot-News.

Apparently, he felt the paper struck first. After the outlet ran some investigatory stories into Papenfuse’s business and real estate records, the Mayor says he will no longer invite the Patriot-News or any reporters from PennLive to his weekly briefings.

Officially Mayor Papenfuse is using the comments on the site’s webpage as an excuse, asserting that they are “trafficking in hate speech”.

“I think PennLive is the equivalent to Gawker, not the equivalent of the Washington Post,” Papenfuse told ABC27’s Dave Marcheskie, “and it needs to be understood and treated as such.”

“I don’t think anything that PennLive does is good for democracy, is good for engaged citizenry, or is good for the City of Harrisburg,” he concluded.

“It’s unfortunate the mayor has taken this position. There are serious issues and serious questions in the city that need to be addressed on a regular basis. And city residents rely on PennLive to receive their news and information about Harrisburg. We are not the mayor’s public relations vehicle, and we know we don’t always see eye to eye,” PennLive director of content Mike Feeley responded. “So, PennLive will continue to investigate and report on stories in the city, and we are not deterred by the mayor’s information blackout.”

12 Responses

  1. John Micek specializes in smart alecky snark that is shallow and supercilious but clueless and uninformative. Mayor Papenfuse, a Democrat, has discovered what I discovered running in the Republican primary.

    There are other news sources as well as political opposition to check the Mayor’s excess if any

  2. Government and the Press is about Checks & Balances because we need transparency. What the Mayor did was make some think he is trying to hide something. Never good to go down that road…He and Trump both 🙁

  3. I am sure that we all know and His honor, too, what Harry Truman said many years ago; ” If you can’t stand the heat . . . .

  4. This was an incredibly foolish and short-sighted move. It makes him look terrible and thin-skinned. Even if that was the plan, I wouldn’t have announced it, just be “too busy” to respond to interview requests or take questions from other outlets at pressers and snub the guy you don’t like. You can register your displeasure and play your power games without looking like a tyrannical child.

  5. There are some politicians and political hacks that I wish the media in general would pay LESS attention to, and well, His Honor could be on that list, too.

Email:
  • Do you agree that ByteDance should be forced to divest TikTok?


    • Yes. It's a national security risk. (60%)
    • No. It's an app used by millions and poses no threat. (40%)
    • What's ByteDance? (0%)

    Total Voters: 30

    Loading ... Loading ...
Continue to Browser

PoliticsPA

To install tap and choose
Add to Home Screen