Dear NH+ readers,
Listed below is as complete a tally as I could assemble of what two dedicated New Hartfordites, Maria and Bob Moore, provide for all of us. They do this in their spare time while working professionally at unrelated occupations. They do it with an obvious fondness for New Hartford as their hometown, as a nice place to live, and without charging fees for their work. When this is compared to other sources for local New Hartford news and information, New Hartford Plus is clearly superior.
Recent comments to NH+ have complained about a perceived bias and lack of objectivity. While there may be a few small grains of truth to that, most news addicts recognize that total objectivity and a complete lack of bias is unattainable. That’s why reading information from all points of view and then making up your own mind is a good habit.
As traditional newspapers face economic difficulty, they have reduced staff, reporting, and especially local coverage. What has been termed “Hyperlocal” web sites have blossomed to pick up the slack and provide the local service newspapers did in the past. A recent Time magazine article described this: Are Hyperlocals Replacing Traditional Newspapers? Maria and Bob’s New Hartford Plus is a fine example of this new trend. We are fortunate to have it.
What NH+ provides us:
- Daily calendar of local events and things to do
- Good writing with knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary
- Local advertising
- Letters and comments from readers
- Coverage of town government
- Links to web sites for town government, other town services and organizations
- Links to our state and federal government representatives
- Archives of prior information
- Links for local weather information
- Reports of NH+ web traffic
- Commentary from local writers
- A near total absence of anger, name calling, and poor manners
Neil Tolhurst
West Hill, New Hartford
Neil Tolhurst, a long-time New Hartford resident, is an automotive business consultant. Neil is a member of the Democratic Town Committee.
A view of the Farmington River at Satan's Kingdom in New Hartford on Sunday, March 21. Photo: Neil Tolhurst
Alesia,
Thank you for reading my letter and for your comments.
It was surprising to see you change from simply posting your viewpoint to suggesting Maria stop writing about local politics. NH+ rightfully provides coverage of many aspects of our life here, one of which is politics and government.
I have some suggestions for you and the people you referred to in response to your surprising suggestion that Maria stop writing about a topic that impacts all of us:
- If you don’t like what you read on NH+, stop reading what bothers you.
- Offer your viewpoint and/or corrections as you have in the past.
- Do something similar to what my Uncle Sam did back in the days when the NY Post was left wing and the NY Daily News was right wing. He deliberately read both every day to get different points of view. Then he made up his own mind. (Yes, I really had an Uncle named Sam.)
- You probably change the channel when a TV show broadcasts something you don’t like. Try doing the same when you have a similar reaction to something on NH+. Maria recently posted several other local news sources…switch to them when you don’t like what is on NH+.
- Start your own “hyperlocal” web site and compete with NH+.
- Adopt the viewpoint Kari Banach expressed: “The barbs keep me on my toes!” - Kari Banach, Waterbury Republican-American.
- Last, but not least: If our Constitution’s First Amendment principles of free speech and freedom of the press trouble you, take advantage of its wording prohibiting Congress from restricting those freedoms. You could organize a grass roots effort to have New Hartford’s First Selectman or Board of Selectmen issue a town ordinance restricting free speech and freedom of the press within New Hartford. Or, you could launch an effort to do that statewide. Our state representatives’ and senators’ web links are posted on NH+. You can find their contact information there.
Hopefully, these suggestions provide some food for thought and you’ll see alternatives to simply suggesting Maria stop writing what you don’t agree with.
Neil
I’m with Neil 100% on this one…
Maybe I’m looking at this site differently than the others, but I’m seeing Maria and Bob covering a local void news-wise that the Register and/or Republican could never fill for us.
Although this format is new to most of us, these same conversations and rivalries have been around for quite a long time. Years ago if you wanted to know what was happening in our town, you’d just ask any of the oldtime residents. And you always got the full load, even if you didn’t agree with it or didn’t care to hear it all.it’s just the way it was..
Bob & Maria have carried this forward, and I’m glad they keep it going for the rest of us..thanks
Alesia Kennerson was with the Linda McMahon political booth set up at the music festival this past Saturday.
Neil, you point out many good attributes of this webpage. However, many people are becoming disillusioned with the commentaries. I was at the Music Fest all day Saturday and numerous people approached me to discuss the recent issues. All said that Maria went too far with her back handed attacks in her 2 part “article” (for lack of better word). They like all of the social articles and wish it would just stop at that. This website could be a gem if she would just listen to what people have been saying to her.