Jersey Mike

Before I delve into my opinion on the newest monthly publication to hit Harrisburg’s free newsstands, let me say two things- they are:

1. I commend the founders of “The Burg- Greater Harrisburg’s Community Newspaper“ for embarking on such a risky venture as starting a new print publication in January of 2009. Because, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that print media and publications are a quickly dying breed; a genus of media which is watching it’s collective readership migrate to Internet based news and opinion gathering points.

And 2. I also applaud the efforts of accredited principal Peter Durantine for taking his twenty five years of experience writing for the Associated Press, Philadelphia Daily News, Harrisburg Magazine and Central PA Magazine and putting his energy and resources into launching this new periodical.

And that, unfortunately, is where the praise will end.

I’m skeptical of “The Burg- Harrisburg’s Community Newspaper” for several reasons. First and foremost- the one-sided editorial by Mayor Steven Reed which appears on page ten of the inaugural edition.

In his column, Reed touts the same-old, same-old number fluffing and progression advances the city has made and implies that anyone who is a recent transplant to the city is ill-informed and unable to form his own opinion by stating the following “Very few of our more recent arrivals have any idea what this city was like…”

And personally, I’m tired of that argument. It makes no difference to me what this city was like twenty years ago. I moved here in 2001 and have had plenty of time to establish an opinion on the state of our city and find that argument moot and insulting.

Second: “The Burg” isn’t written in “The Burg”. The business address is listed as a PO Box eleven miles outside the city in Hummelstown. (Sure, that may seem minor- but one would assume more authenticity would come from, I don’t know… having a Harrisburg PO Box?)

The third reason I’m skeptical of “The Burg” is that this is, of course, an election year and, skimming through the launch-issue, one will find plenty of pro-Reed and pro-City articles.

Sure, let’s be optimistic- but realistic at the same time. On page seven- the ‘City Hall’ page of “The Burg”- we find yet another Patriot News-esque report on the hotly-debated Parking Garage Deal which died on the vine in November. Where “The Burg” and The Patriot News meet is in this simple statement: “Mayor Stephen Reed is disappointed in the council’s decision, noting the money can significantly reduce the city’s debt.”

Maybe so- but opponents of the Parking Deal argue that the majority of the city’s debt has been incurred due to mismanagement of city funds and poor decisions made in part or wholly by The Mayor.

Continuing, I was hugely disappointed to see yet another offering of shlep about the Whitaker Center’s cold-bath-water entertainment calendar. Nearly one-third of page twenty four is dedicated to another bland calendar in a bland theater given carte blanche in Harrisburg’s entertainment community by the city and it’s administrators.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be fair for me to completely write-off this new publication after one single issue and I hope that once “The Burg” gets it’s legs and plays with the layout and college-paper font choices, it may be an asset to information distribution for city residents.

But if the staff at “The Burg” continue on what appears to be a very conservative and very status-quo publication, it can rest assured that I’ll be adding them to my list of questionable news organizations disseminating information with an agenda- the agenda of re-electing Stephen R Reed.

We need less of that, please. So spare us the righteous propoganda.

We’re smarter than that.