[JK: this is a new, on-going feature I am initiating. The coverage by the Times Union newspaper of Saratoga Springs is discouragingly bad. This feature is meant to shed light on this problem and to correct the record. Readers are welcome to advise me of problem stories in the future.]
In a February 25 article by Wendy Liberatore on the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee endorsements she wrote:
“We are fortunate to have such excellent people who want to continue serving this city,” said DeLeonardis, whose husband and city attorney Vincent DeLeonardis saw a doubling of his salary under the incumbents.
This is the kind of cheap shot that the Times Union frequently indulges in. Mr. DeLeonardis’ salary went up because he went from part time to full time. Apparently to juice the story up, Ms. Liberatore has dropped this into her report to imply some improper influence was exerted by Ms. DeLenonardis who is chairperson of the city Democratic Committee.
Saratoga Springs Politics 
Windy Liberatore, whose largely mediocre journalistic skills are so frequently tried, given her predisposition to editorialize, often loosely dancing with the facts and using what she must believe to be artistic license – when reporting is all that is required. How difficult is it to grasp the understanding that doubling one’s time and increasing one’s responsibilities would increase one’s salary – and why does that inappropriate segue become germane to her reporting on candidate selection?
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Nice retort Jim.
Maybe, Windy Liberatore is just not relevant.
But maybe the libel laws need to be re-addressed?
The 9th commandment:
Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
It goes way back, people.
Some people are giving this individual too much credit.
The word “tool” comes to mind.
-JC
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So glad you are doing this, the way she lies & misleads readers has gotten out of control, the TU should be ashamed.
Robin Dalton
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She’s difficult to work with or trust. She always comes at her pieces with something she thinks is a gotcha moment. The supposed “gotcha story” is what Wendy wants to follow and write about, probably why she comments on the anonymous (Pat Kane) blog with “please contact me if you have a story I should follow” and leaves her phone number – which is so unprofessional IMHO. Meanwhile, we Commissioners send her press releases on important city work – like saving 300K per year in health care – and she can’t be bothered to print anything about such a success. We deserve better coverage by a better reporter here in Saratoga Springs. The reporter doesn’t need to like us, or me personally, but should be fair and balanced in their coverage and not follow after anonymous nonsense and waste our time.
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Her yellow journalist style can only be attributed to the poorly researched and unbalanced reporting that one would not expect today, in a world where good and transparent news is constantly becoming victimized by fake news outlets – only if one’s purpose is for increased sales through shoddy press releases. It is obvious that any good news coming out of the Spa city counters her earlier reports that this city is doomed and its government dysfunctional. Nothing could be further from the truth, yet don’t expect to read about it in the TU. Congratulations Michele, on all the hard work and initiatives that you have authored and all the work that you and your colleagues on the Council have shepherded through to fruition. Our Mayor also deserves kudos for working uphill through the trenches over the last 18 months to accomplish far more in those challenged times than most of all her predecessors and critics. Those disgruntled individuals who squander their time by surreptitiously undermining our city’s impressive work through anonymous blogging and media sites should be compelled to recognize the brief moments we call life and how little of them they have left.
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Curiously, the anonymous blogger Captain America is the bizarro alter ego version of the original character who was enhanced by an experimental serum to attain the physical prowess of peak human perfection – in order to save the world. Our bizarro version is far from the product of Aphrodite and Persephone, but like Adonis our captain America spends half the year underground blogging and half the year above ground staying just out of site, in the shadows – believing his secretive actions will disrupt the order of the universe. So much for transparency by this Invisible Man.
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