Random Pixels Guest Columnist: Michael Putney

Michael Putney.

Local 10's Michael Putney closed out his show Sunday morning with some thoughts on the Miami Herald's decision earlier this week to publish - verbatim - a statement from the campaign manager for Miami Beach mayoral candidate Philip Levine.

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Before we leave you this morning, a personal perspective about the especially nasty race for mayor of Miami Beach and the role of the [Miami] Herald.

You may recall that the three candidates appeared on this program a few weeks ago... and it was pretty much a food fight. Michael Gongora and Philip Levine, the two leading candidates spent most of their time trashing each other, and Steve Berke, a onetime standup comedian, often seemed like the grown-up in the group.

But things have devolved even further since then, aided and abetted by the Herald.

The Herald did the unthinkable by printing, word for word, a statement by the Levine campaign in response to legitimate questions from a Herald reporter. The Levine campaign demanded that the Herald not edit or change a word of their statement....and unbelievably the Herald complied. John S. Knight must be rolling over in his grave.

The Herald says it printed the Levine response, exactly as demanded to show how awful and high-handed the Levine campaign is. That may have been the Herald's intent, but it wasn't the result.

The result is a terrible precedent. Now, any two-bit political candidate who's asked a question by the Herald can say: give me the questions in writing, I'll give you a statement and you've got to run it just the way it is. just like you did for Philip Levine.

When politicians dictate the terms of communicating with the media, it's not healthy.

Like it or not, we in the media are your surrogates, we speak on your behalf.

When politicians disrespect us, as Philip Levine did, they disrespect you.

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Random Pixels, Oct. 30, 2013: The Miami Herald just told every politician in So. Fla.: 'Feel free to use us like your little bitch'