June 20, 2008 Hartford Mayor accuses Courant of racism Play video

(Brian Burnell, NECN: Hartford, Conn.) - The Hartford Courant is under pressure to edit public feedback on its website. Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez is leading the charge, saying the paper is publishing racist and hateful speech.

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This surveillance video of the May 30th hit and run accident that left 78-year-old Angel Arce Torres paralyzed has, fairly or not, defined Hartford since it was seen nationwide. When he released the video, Hartford’s Chief of Police decried the apparent apathy of passers-by both in cars and on foot who did not stop to help Torres. The story also sparked a flood of comment on the Hartford Courant's website. Some of that comment has been racist, focusing on the Hispanic neighborhood where it happened. Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and community leaders are calling on the Courant to do something about it. They brought their concerns, literally, to the paper's doorstep, saying it is not about free speech.

Mayor Eddie Perez, D-Hartford, CT: This is about asking a corporate citizen in our community, not to provide, a platform for hate and racist material in our community.

They want 4 specific steps taken by the paper. First, they want the Courant to accept responsibility for what's on its website.

Scott Xesdaile, CT NAACP: The Courant should require those who post comments, to register their names. The Courant should hire a community monitor to guarantee that Courant.com does not become a regular venue for hate speech.

They

also want a community advisory committee put in place to advise the paper on ways to prevent hate speech. No one at the Courant will comment on camera but the publisher did send this letter to the Mayor. It reads in part, "we do not promote or advocate racist hate speech and have taken steps to rid the site of such derogatory comments. In fact, the authors of these inappropriate comments are frequently called out, or "red flagged", immediately by people around them. Given the new concerns, the newspaper's editors will continue to find ways to achieve a better balance."

The publisher also says he is talking with the people who run the website about ways to keep the open dialogue while enforcing a code of civility. The Mayor says that's not good enough.

Mayor Eddie Perez, D-Hartford, CT: These are four specific steps that we're asking the Courant to take so that we're not wondering what the Courant's doing, especially including the request for the community advisory committee. That's an ongoing engagement that would be a big step.