Edit 7/11/25: This article has been edited to reflect the fact the Councilman Tom Long is unaffiliated with a party.
A controversial proposed ordinance requiring state permits and assistance in p...
Newtown Police Department held a celebration for the retirement of Sergeant Doug Wisentaner with a ceremony at the department’s headquarters on July 1.
Connecticut State Police are hoping the public can help them piece together a crash that occurred on I-84 in Southbury last weekend and claimed the life of a Newtown teenager.
Local Rock This Democracy organizers reflect on the past six months of planning events for the grassroots volunteer organization and think about where it will go moving forward.
To add context that did not occur at the meeting would not be an accurate representation of the meeting and would, in fact, be editorializing to shape public opinion.
The editorial staff here do not consider ourselves to be final arbiters of what the truth is (and if we did, it would make us partisan and biased), and we would need to provide a source for any dissenting information (sourcing all information in an article is literally Journalism 101). There were no such sources present at the meeting in question, and so it would not be appropriate to include such information in an article about the meeting. Dissenting voices appear in meeting stories when there were active participants with dissenting opinions, such as during public participation or the words of a council member who disagreed. It should be noted that the Interfaith Council, like many local boards and commissions, conduct meetings that are open to the public.
This was not an article on the actions of the Greater Danbury Area Unites for Immigrants, or on immigrants, or on ICE's actions in the community, where including other voices or perspectives would be appropriate. We appreciate your opinion, but we stand by our meeting coverage and consider this discussion closed.
Propaganda is the systematic dissemination of information, often biased or misleading, to shape public perception and behavior toward a specific political cause or point of view. I'm not asking for Newtown Bee to editorialize, but providing context, where appropriate, to provide the reader with a more holistic view of the facts seems like a reasonable practice, particularly when encouraging the reader to decide what to believe/not to believe. Absent that context, this feels biased and misleading and intended to shape public perception.
The Newtown Bee reported what was said at a Newtown Interfaith Council meeting. Whether Mr McGillicuddy agrees with what was said or not, reporting what occurs at a public meeting is not "propaganda." Presenting what was said without editorializing is encouraging the reader to decide what to believe or not believe, and is standard for reporting at a community newspaper like The Newtown Bee.
I was shocked to read that Chip had died. He was a great and good person in every way. We went to middle and high school together in Newtown. I lost a good friend and the world lost a great person. RIP.......Chip
William St Arnauld
Charlotte, NC
