In its editorial of April 6 entitled “Take scissors to those cards,” Marv Adams and company decry the issuance of credit cards to school district managers. WATCHDOG: Is there a single corporation or large privately owned firm that does not provide credit cards for the use of its managers? Do they not do this because […]

Watchdog: There they go again! The New Era on April 4th published a prominent article, with a photo of the accused, alleging the man exposed himself to two women. With all of the real shenanigans going unreported by the monopoly press, this is what their editor considers news?

Our thanks to Ron Harper, Jr., for bravely reporting news at 5thEstate.com that would either be omitted or distorted by the monopoly Lancaster press. WATCHDOG: We mourn the web site being “shut down” on April 30 but eagerly look forward to the fruition of whatever new journalistic enterprise that Harper has in mind.

KUDOS to the Sunday News for a very entertaining March 30th Perspective section. WATCHDOG: Too bad they fail to report on the diversion of millions of dollars of the Convention Center Authority’s rightful funds to Penn Square Partners. Is this because its parent company is a partner in the ‘looting’?

WATCHDOG: Shame on the monopoly Lancaster newspapers for abrogating its journalistic responsibility to report on how Commissioner Craig Lehman’s campaign received $46,000 from special interest groups. In this case, silence denotes complicity.

Kudos to the Intell’s Jeff Hawkes for his substantive and thoughtful March 21 column “Smart money is on new plan for school funding.” Hawkes describes how state aid for educating school children has shrunk over the decades to a point where Pennsylvania is 47th in a ranking of states for school funding equity. He cites […]

Kudos to the Intelligencer Journal for the March 21 article “Fears of being ‘railroaded’, Residents unite against train yard move.” A fair and balanced presentation of the controversy, the article quotes neighbor Dan Gillis as saying “[People] are resentful of the fact that things are being pushed without involving them…There’s been no dialogue, and in […]

A March 17th news item headed “Motorcyclist dies after hitting trees” describes in detail how the accident occurred. WATCHDOG: Not mentioned was whether the cyclist was wearing a safety helmet. This is information of vital importance to other motorcyclists and to those who influence related laws and regulations.

In “Smart Remarks” of March 16, Columnist Gil Smart opines: “As if a President Obama, or any president, isn’t going to be surrounded by a cadre of advisers who have spent entire careers in the halls of government, formulating policy and the like.” WATCHDOG: Without taking a position favoring either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, […]

Kudos to the New Era for its article of March 6 describing how the current president of the Lancaster Rotary Club broke precedent by telling a NewsLanc reporter that he no longer could attend meetings. NewsLanc for months has been reporting on what speakers have had to say.

The Monday Intelligencer Journal was “paper thin,” almost bereft of advertisements. The paucity of ads in the newly combined Saturday Intelligencer Journal / New Era and the lower weight of the Sunday News indicates that newspaper circulation and advertising in Lancaster is following a national trend as indicated by the following article of March 3 […]

Explained they were combining Saturday editions of the Intelligencer Journal and The New Era at the request of New Era advertisers who wanted to reach weekend shoppers earlier in the day. WATCHDOG: The first combined Saturday edition was the thinnest newspaper in memory. Apparently the advertisers weren’t so thrilled.

Effective March 1, the Saturday editions of the Intelligencer Journal and New Era will be combined. WATCHDOG: Let’s hope this isn’t the first step towards terminating the evening paper. In recent weeks, the New Era has run some good stories instead of relying on smut and vitriol. Perhaps editor Ernie Schreiber has been on vacation.

How come the monopoly Lancaster Newspapers fail to mention claims by LCCCA Authority Board members and citizens that Penn Square Partners is claiming millions of dollars for itself that normally would go to the publicly owned Convention Center Authority? WATCHDOG: It will be a sign that integrity has been restored to the monopoly newspapers when […]