Niagara Falls Reporter

The Niagara Falls Reporter is a weekly newspaper published in Niagara Falls, New York. It was launched on June 28, 2000, by veteran journalist Mike Hudson, who had previously worked for newspapers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York City. Hudson had also previously been a reporter for the Niagara Gazette.

History

Since its launch, the paper's reporting on a wide variety of topics has been cited or linked to by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, along with magazines like Editor & Publisher and the Columbia Journalism Review, and web outlets including Salon. Among the publication's highlights:

The Reporter played a central role in the Laborers Local 91 story, in which the entire corrupt leadership of the Niagara Falls union pleaded or were found guilty on numerous federal charges of extortion and racketeering. The case resulted in Hudson being the only journalist subpoenaed to testify in the trials.

The paper also uncovered the evidence that began a federal investigation that led to the federal indictment of former Niagara Falls Mayor Vince Anello on charges of public corruption.

The Reporter published a series of articles commencing in late 2008 through 2010 on the twin leases that the Maid of the Mist boats operated by Lewiston, NY businessman James Glynn had with the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) in Ontario and the New York State Parks. The Reporter was first to publish the terms of the leases and broke a story that the NPC secretly reduced the rent while excluding other bidders. The Minister of Tourism for the Province of Ontario ordered the Maid of the Mist lease out to bid for the first time in the history of the Niagara Parks in late 2009.

The city council of Niagara Falls voted to endorse the Niagara Falls Reporter as the weekly newspaper of the city council for purposes of publishing information the council wishes the public to be informed about as well as any other matters the council wishes to be printed or published in 2011.

Hudson has also written four books: Niagara Falls Confidential, Mob Boss, Jetsam, and Diary of a Punk (the latter is a memoir of his years as the leader of the 1970s Cleveland, Ohio-based punk rock band The Pagans).

The Calleri vs. Parlato dispute

In 2012, after Frank Parlato became the owner of the Niagara Falls Reporter, Michael Calleri, its long-time movie critic, said he was forced to quit writing for the publication. He explained his problems with Parlato in a post written for Roger Ebert's blog on the Chicago Sun-Times website. He claimed that the new publisher had a fear of empowered women and of films depicting them. Calleri included an excerpt from one of Parlato's emails, which stated: "I don't want to publish reviews of films where women are alpha and men are beta. where women are heroes and villains and men are just lesser versions or shadows of females. i believe in manliness."^[1] Ebert later linked to a reply by Parlato published on the Reporter's site.^[2]

Parlato responded in a comment on Ebert's blog. He claimed that he gave Calleri an option to write about local entertainment and/or write reviews of movies that had an inspiring influence on adolescents. In an article later published in the Toronto Star, Parlato was quoted as saying, "It is the right of Hollywood to market promiscuous sex, violence and profanity, not only to adults but to adolescents. I operate a small newspaper in Niagara Falls and it is my right not to review Hollywood movies."^[3]

The controversy later made headlines on blogs and in newspapers across Americas before being discussed on an episode of CBS This Morning^[4] that featured Calleri as a guest.

Notes

External links

• Official website