What do you think of U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent's decision to skip an Express-Times candidate debate because the newspaper ran a front-page editorial calling for the ouster of "fink" politicians who supported gerrymandered redistricting in Pennsylvania?
Tell us in the comments section below.
Dent's campaign manager said the newspaper forum would be biased against the candidate for the 15th congressional district.
Republican Dent and Democratic challenger Rick Daugherty will debate at least twice before the Nov. 6 general election:
- Friday, October 5 at 7 p.m. at the Chrin Community Center in Palmer Township, organized by the Lehigh Valley Tea Party.
- Tuesday, October 16 at 8 p.m. at Public Broadcasting Station channel 39's studios in Bethlehem, sponsored by The Morning Call, PBS39, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and Muhlenberg College.
Newspapers have a long-standing tradition of printing only news on the front page, the most read page in the paper, and reserving opinions for the Op/Ed page. I minored in Journalism/Mass Media in college and it was one of those rules that was hammered in to us. Tags for opinion pieces are fine in a menu bar on the front page, but printing the whole opinion piece under the guise of news is stricty taboo.
I'Ve done a lot for the Lehigh Valley, including directly saving lives, and succintly helping municpalities, all for free. AND I wouldn't put constituents in jail, just because they wanted to talk to me!!!