Writing that sticks in the craw only a little. Last month, the New Times invited Maffei and his challenger, John Katko, to a joint interview. Katko responded both quickly (in a single day) and affirmatively. Maffei’s office has yet to respond, 22 days later … and counting. We no longer have a staffer sitting by the phone waiting.
His display of unprofessionalism notwithstanding, Maffei has stepped up. By Election Day, he will have participated in six appearances with Katko. While we regret he chose not to join us here on West Genny, we couldn’t have asked for more from him.
Of course, Katko’s response, in contrast to Maffei’s crickets, was to offer to be here without condition. He deserves credit for that. But we hold no grudge against Maffei, although we feel a little dissed.
If Maffei is holding a grudge against us, perhaps it was our pursuit last year of his position on NSA surveillance. The New Times was the only media outlet in town not to take evasion for an answer. Maffei issued a statement that said little — all on-the-one-hand-this and on-the-other-hand-that — and then refused to elaborate. So Ed Griffin-Nolan wrote about it June 12, 2013 … and June 19 … and June 26. Maffei finally made time to answer Griffin-Nolan’s questions for July 10.
It’s not as though our relationship with Katko has been all walks on the beach and gazing at the sunsets. In the spring, Katko send an email to his supporters that miscast facts in a Griffin-Nolan story and disparaged Griffin-Nolan himself. The New Times responded, and we’ve both moved on.
The good news for our readers is that one joint appearance was in a Campbell Conversation. The New Times publishes a transcript. We urge you to read the first of two parts and take the measure of the men.
Larry Dietrich is the Editor-in-Chief at the Syracuse New Times.
