Since his independent campaign went from being a curiosity to a legitimate factor in race for governor, Christopher Daggett has been dogged by the rumor that he is a stalking horse for Gov. Corzine – a willing accomplice to help an unpopular governor win reelection by sapping the anti-incumbent vote from Republican Chris Christie.

Former Republican Gov. Christie Whitman even seemed to lend the theory credence when she told Fox Business News that the Corzine camp was “urging people, quietly, to support Chris Daggett because, by doing that, they figure they'll split the independent vote.”

Daggett suspects the conspiracy theory is peddled by the Christie campaign and the Republican establishment, which have spent the last several weeks criticizing Daggett in advertisements and campaign rhetoric.

“[Christie] sends all these Republicans like Christie Whitman to make people believe there’s some kind of conspiracy theory.  It’s shameful,” said Daggett in a phone interview.

The first gubernatorial debate between Democrat Jon Corzine, Republican Christopher Christie, and independent Christopher Daggett will air on New Jersey Network (NJN) tonight at 8:00 PM.  The 90 minute debate will be broadcast live from NJN Studios in Trenton. 

NJN News anchor Jim Hooker will moderate the debate, and candidates will take questions from three panelists: Michael Aron of NJN News; Bob Ingle of Gannett New Jersey; and Cynthia Burton of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The debate will be simulcast on NJN Public Radio and will be available on the web at njn.net. The debate will also be aired on C-Span.

PolitickerNJ.com's Matt Friedman will live blog during the debate at www.PolitickerNJ.com.

Republican Gubernatorial Debate

The latest casualties to media cutbacks are four Gannett New Jersey statehouse reporters: Tom Baldwin, Michael Rispoli, Lisa Ryan, and Greg Volpe.  That cuts Gannett’s statehouse bureau from six reporters to two, with only Bob Ingle and Michael Symons surviving the budget cuts.

Plagiarism is a bit like pornography - you know it when you see it, to paraphrase US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. 

But is the standard the same for bloggers? Given most blogs informal and causal tones, should bloggers be held to the same ethical standards of newspapers?

For some news organizations, "borrowing ideas" is OK, but not the "direct words".  For others, it is "one of journalism's unforgivable sins".
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Case in point, if I was writing this for a newspaper, I would have probably written:  For some news organizations like the Detroit Free Press, "borrowing ideas...is considered fair journalistic practice", but "words directly quoted from sources other than the writer's own reporting should be attributed."  For others like the Grand Forks Herald, it is "one of journalism's unforgivable sins", according to published excerpts on plagiarism by the Committee of Concerned Journalists.

When it comes to BPU President Jeanne Fox’s reappointment, Gannett’s Bob Ingle and Gregory Volpe have been working overtime.

Based on recent coverage, it appears the Gannett chain is the only NJ newspaper paying close attention to the current storyline about Fox’s day-in-court-defense to a whistle blower complaint and the pending Senate review of her reappointment as Board President.

It’s no surprise when shock jocks display poor behavior. The problem starts when their antics infect the newsroom.

At the recent 101.5-incited Statehouse rally protesting the Gov’s EZ Pass to getting the State out of debt, we saw both extremes.

It’s fair game when commentators want to use their airtime to grumble about government. It’s probably even OK if they want to stage a protest rally with their rabid listeners as a Greek chorus.

Three newspaper columnists will join Michael Aron on Reporters Roundtable this weekend to talk about Gov. Jon Corzine’s monetization plan and the retirement of Rep. Mike Ferguson: Paul Mulshine of the Star-Ledger, Bob Ingle of Gannett New Jersey, and Charles Stile of The Record.

And if you don’t eat turkey and still want a dose of tryptophan, this week’s On the Record features Rutgers Prof. Alan Rosenthal, Jon Shure of New Jersey Policy Perspective, and Gregg Edwards of the Center for Policy Research of New Jersey. 

Despite being linked to a federal probe of no-bid contracts at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Wayne Bryant does not appear to have any major obstacles in his bid for re-election to a seventh term next year. It appears that the Camden County Democratic Committee is prepared to support him for re-election, and the backing of the powerful party organization (there last seriously contested primary in Camden was in 1979) would virtually assure his re-election. "There isn't any groundswell against him here... just in the editorial board room at Gannett and at Bob Ingle's keyboard," said one key Camden Democrat.