Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Letter to Editor of The Courier News
In response to their article covering the Piscataway Taxpayer Tea party on April 15
Dear Editor,
I was extremely disappointed in the coverage of the Piscataway Taxpayer Tea Party for a number of reasons.
First of all, you report that about 500 people were in attendance. As a participant in the organization of this event, I was in constant contact with park officials prior to and during the event, and the Park Rangers told me that all 600-plus parking spaces were full and that they began parking cars in every nook and cranny they could find after that. That being the case, they estimated the attendance to be between 1,500 and 1,700. Perhaps your reporter should have spoken with them before underestimating the attendance to downplay the significance of the event.
Next, your statement that the event was "part of a nationwide campaign promoted and organized by a combination of Fox News anchors, a conservative advocacy group and grass root supporters" could not be more misleading. Fox News had nothing to do with the Piscataway event or most of the events that took place across America. Fox News reported live from a handful of the hundreds of events coast-to-coast because the tea party movement is a legitimate news story as parties were attended by hundreds of thousands across America.
Mainstream media outlets like your newspaper have given greater coverage to far smaller protests than these Tea Parties. In fact, the mainstream media made a celebrity out of Cindy Sheehan for her participation in protests that drew far fewer protesters than the event in Piscataway alone.
Thirdly, you refer to the attendees in Piscataway as "partisans," but there were plenty of people there who were independents and, yes, Democrats, who have simply had enough with Jon Corzine and his state Treasurer, David Rousseau, who shockingly stated last week that he believes state residents are not overtaxed.
The bottom line is that your reportage of this story was poor. The people in attendance were peaceful and patriotic. The event began with a beautiful rendition of our nation anthem performed by a 14-year-old girl and concluded at the bank of the historic Raritan River with attendees spontaneously joining together to sing "God Bless America."
But no one got that from reading your published report.
Sincerely,
Joseph C. Schilp, Jr.
Dear Editor,
I was extremely disappointed in the coverage of the Piscataway Taxpayer Tea Party for a number of reasons.
First of all, you report that about 500 people were in attendance. As a participant in the organization of this event, I was in constant contact with park officials prior to and during the event, and the Park Rangers told me that all 600-plus parking spaces were full and that they began parking cars in every nook and cranny they could find after that. That being the case, they estimated the attendance to be between 1,500 and 1,700. Perhaps your reporter should have spoken with them before underestimating the attendance to downplay the significance of the event.
Next, your statement that the event was "part of a nationwide campaign promoted and organized by a combination of Fox News anchors, a conservative advocacy group and grass root supporters" could not be more misleading. Fox News had nothing to do with the Piscataway event or most of the events that took place across America. Fox News reported live from a handful of the hundreds of events coast-to-coast because the tea party movement is a legitimate news story as parties were attended by hundreds of thousands across America.
Mainstream media outlets like your newspaper have given greater coverage to far smaller protests than these Tea Parties. In fact, the mainstream media made a celebrity out of Cindy Sheehan for her participation in protests that drew far fewer protesters than the event in Piscataway alone.
Thirdly, you refer to the attendees in Piscataway as "partisans," but there were plenty of people there who were independents and, yes, Democrats, who have simply had enough with Jon Corzine and his state Treasurer, David Rousseau, who shockingly stated last week that he believes state residents are not overtaxed.
The bottom line is that your reportage of this story was poor. The people in attendance were peaceful and patriotic. The event began with a beautiful rendition of our nation anthem performed by a 14-year-old girl and concluded at the bank of the historic Raritan River with attendees spontaneously joining together to sing "God Bless America."
But no one got that from reading your published report.
Sincerely,
Joseph C. Schilp, Jr.
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