From the publishers: We’re posting a recording of a public meeting

Thursday, April 4, 2019 - 16:10

The Altamont Enterprise was served with a subpoena in February. Lawyers for the Voorheesville School District are requesting “all documents, recordings, and transcripts from the November 21, 2017 meeting of the board of Education of the Voorheesville School District.”

Our Voorheesville reporter, Sean Mulkerrin, has for more than a year been covering a lawsuit Robert Baron lodged against the district. Baron, the long-time girls’ basketball coach for Voorheesville, claims he was fraudulently made to resign. He wants his job back. And he wants his reputation restored.

No other media has covered the suit.

Our mission is to seek the truth and report it thoroughly and fairly, which Mulkerrin did when he covered the Nov. 21, 2017 meeting, posted on our website for all to read.

First and foremost, we serve the public, our readers. We do not serve the school district nor do we serve anyone suing the school district. We strive at all times to maintain objectivity, to report all sides of a story fairly.

 

[Also, "From the editor: A newspaper is not on one side or another"]

 

The Enterprise has a longstanding policy that we do not share notes, recordings, photographs, or other news-gathering materials with anyone outside the newsroom, including police or lawyers.

“We believe maintaining objectivity, as well as maintaining the appearance of objectivity, is important to retain trust with our readers,” our policy states. “We gather information to educate ourselves so we can accurately inform the public.”

If the subpoena filed by the school district’s lawyers were for notes or recordings our reporter had made in talking to an individual, we would not hesitate to fight it in court.

We would spend our last penny to protect that information just as we would go to jail, if it came to that, rather than reveal a source we had promised confidentiality.

But that is not the matter at hand. Rather, the subpoena is for information on a public meeting. If the school district recorded its meetings, this would not be an issue.

After much careful deliberation, the publishers of The Enterprise have decided to post our recording of the meeting on our website for the public to hear.

Melissa Hale-Spencer

Marcello Iaia

Gary Spencer

Publishers

The Altamont Enterprise & Albany County Post

 

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