I am concerned that The Concord Bridge’s coverage of the Middle School Building Project shows great bias.
I was at the Special Town Meeting. The vote was definitive. The decision to pass the debt exclusion moved forward.
So, I was puzzled by the headline in The Concord Bridge: “Middle School Money Debated before Vote.” This headline does not reveal the real news, the result of the vote. Furthermore, the article emphasizes a lot of negative voices. It begins with the statements made by Laurie Hunter and Dawn Gueriello about not wanting to be at Town Meeting. This is true, but they also went on to contextualize the benefits to our students and the long-term economic sense that they believed made the debt exclusion necessary.
The article went on to reference many arguments that were made against the building project. Particularly biting were the words “so-called community space” Gymansiums, playing fields and auditoriums are community spaces. Economic diversity and need should surely be debated. Yet, to question community space is to question accessibility and gathering for groups of diverse people. It also suggest that the needs of diverse students (from those with ADD, to physical challenges, to neurodiverse kids, to all children who need to interact with others outside the classroom space) are not important. This reporting seems to me a huge step back from the incredibly fine efforts of the town and the Schools to consider all diversity in decision-making.
In the 2/3/23 Concord Bridge issue, such bias continues. The headline reads “Those Voting No on the school article vent their displeasure.” The article claims there is a “groundswell” against the debt exclusion article after the article passed “handily.” Indeed, there has been a groundswell of support for the new middle school and a tremendous relief that the article passed. Which was not acknowledged in the article.
Almost all the published letters were against the project.
A town paper about the town is crucial. A town paper about the opinions of one portion of the town is concerning.
Elizabeth Crowell
Hubbard Street