The prospect of a mayoral campaign by Manhattan Media publisher Tom Allon could raise some thorny questions for the city’s Campaign Finance Board and for the journalists at his company who cover city politics.
According to Eric Friedman of the city’s Campaign Finance Board, his newspapers — which in addition to the neighborhood weeklies Our Town (which covers the East Side) and The West Side Spirit (which covers the West Side) include the political publications City Hall and The Capitol and the alt-weekly The New York Press — are fine so long as they stick to straight news reporting. Anything that could be construed as promoting a Mayor Allon candidacy could be seen as an in-kind corporate contribution, even if the candidate and owner of the corporation are the same person. Read More
