It’s Nice to Have Friends in High Places!

Sarah Bartlett /

Many of us are looking forward to seeing the campaign finance filings tomorrow of the slew of candidates running for various city offices. I asked a former Urban Reporting student, Matt Sollars, who is now working as a spokesman for the Campaign Finance Board, about the timing of the releases tomorrow. Here’s what he had to say:

“Filings are posted to our website as they come in. We tweet net contributions @nyccfb as soon as we have that information. We regularly update the site — next one today will be mid-afternoon (3pm or so). We’ll have updates to the website every couple of hours tomorrow.

COB tomorrow is likely 7pm or so.  Anyone who files after that point (midnight is the deadline) will be available on Thursday morning about 10 am.

You can easily scan the summary page below to see who’s filed — Look for the number 8 in the third column (“Last statement submitted”).
http://www.nyccfb.info/VSApps/WebForm_Finance_Summary.aspx?as_election_cycle=2013&sm=press_12&sm=press_12

We also send out an email when the site is updated. It includes a running list of the candidates who have filed.”

Good information, thanks, Matt!

Anthony Weiner Wants you to Feel his Pain

Sarah Bartlett /

This lengthy profile is part of his attempt at political resurrection. Does it work for you?

Is the NY Times Biased Against Chris Quinn?

Sarah Bartlett /

The paper’s latest effort focuses on a commercial by political groups that have decided Quinn has abandoned her progressive past in a quest to be perceived as business-friendly. As the story notes, this is the first example of “outside money” playing a role in the mayoral race – it will be interesting to see what else is coming along these lines. Coming on the heels of the Times’ profile depicting her as loud and punitive, some may be wondering if the paper is already taking sides. What do you think?

Urban Alums Doing Great Job Covering NYC Republican Scandal!

Sarah Bartlett /

It’s so exciting to see the Journalism School’s urban reporting alums doing such a terrific job covering the unfolding allegations of bribery involving the city’s Republican Party.

Whether it’s Colby Hamilton (’10) blogging and Brigid Bergin (’07) producing a great audio report for WNYC, or Andy Hawkins (’07) writing up a storm at Crain’s New York Business, or Barry Paddock contributing to the NY Daily News’ coverage on the subject, or Chester Soria (’12) doing a thorough analysis of the party system for Gotham Gazette, our alums are making us proud!

Covering Politics in NYC Never Gets Boring!

Sarah Bartlett /

The Gotham Gazette’s Eye-Opener arrives by email every morning, and if ever the “Eye-Opener” moniker was fitting, today was it! A must-read story about the arrests of State Senator John Sampson and City Councilmember Dan Halloran. This week’s class can’t come soon enough!

Check out this quote from the legal complaint that is attributed to a wire tap of Councilman Halloran:

You gotta love this…

Sarah Bartlett /

Here’s the latest twist on campaign finance spending – candidates for the next City Council speaker are starting to donate to their colleagues’ campaigns as a way to win friends and influence when it comes time for that all-important vote. Crain’s did a nice job outlining the issue here.

Here’s what good political analysis looks like

Sarah Bartlett /

A good urban political reporter needs to be able to inject political analysis into stories, whether they are profiles or news-driven pieces. This story in the New York Times is a good example of how two candidates grappled with the paid sick leave bill and tried to use it to their advantage. Their back-and-forth reminds me of a chess match. A very long chess match…