Mayor lambastes Elaine Della-Mattia

In a lengthy prepared statement read at tonight's City Council meeting, Mayor John Rowswell accused Sault Star reporter Elaine Della-Mattia of abandoning her journalistic responsibilities in an ongoing search for bad news.

Rowswell attacked Della-Mattia's article in Friday's paper, Council out in the cold on transpolar information, as "atrociously wrong."

The mayor and councillors participated in a drawn-out discussion of the reporting of the veteran scribe (shown in a 2003 SooToday.com file photo) and media relations in general.

The debate took up more time than anything else on tonight's agenda, lasting well over 30 minutes.

"If she can't find a negative story, she has to make one up," Rowswell said.

The mayor offering a detailed deconstruction of the Star's multimodal article, pointing to alleged inaccuracies and distortions and promising that he "absolutely will be a bear if media purposely distorts to hurt initiatives to grow our community."

"Elaine’s article was a hodge-podge of related facts that reflected negative half-truths," Rowswell said. "It did not reflect anything of what is presenting happening on this topic.

"She made it up the story her negative way. It was written to damage and could have had negative consequences on our positive community growth. I am clarifying the points so this will not occur," the mayor stated.

Ward 1 Councillor Steve Butland and Ward 3 Councillor Pat Mick were both critical of Rowswell for using a council meeting to attack the media, while Ward 4's Lou Turco was upset that Della-Mattia conducted a 15-minute interview with him but then never quoted him in Friday's article.

Turco said he cancelled his Sault Star subscription some time ago over concerns with its coverage.

He said he values Fox News for its "fair and balanced" coverage.

Ward 2 Councillor Susan Myers commented that it's important that local media understand their role in ensuring the City's economic development.

Rowswell said he tried to raise his concerns with Sault Star Acting Editor Tom Mills and Publisher Lou Malucci, but neither appeared interested in his concerns.

Della-Mattia is currently on vacation and unable to respond to the mayor's remarks.