Stephen Witt leaves journalism (& Schneps) for Adams administration, replacing Department of Social Services flack who resisted (what she saw as) a cover-up

Well, you can't blame an ink-stained wretch for getting a better-paying job.

That's why so many journalists hopscotch into public relations posts or get jobs in communications for a government body or institutions like a university. Or go work for a communications or lobbying consultancy.

The benefits are typically better, as well.

The tradeoff, in some (but not all) cases, is such jobs offer less freedom and opportunity for public service than journalism. Then again, a lot of journalism jobs, especially when working for tightfisted owners, offer less and less opportunity to do good work.

That's my cue to comment on the (important!) new job for the notorious Stephen Witt, once the one-man Atlantic Yards-supporting band at the Courier-Life chain, an editor at Bed-Stuy-based Our Time Press, and then the founder of the independent (but suspiciously promotional) Kings County Politics, and most recently the Political Editor-in-Chief of Schneps Media, the ever-growing chain that absorbed both Brooklyn weekly newspapers, Brownstoner, amNY and Metro (and combining them), and many more.

A hot seat at DSS

In his 11/10/22 column, At Witt’s End: A grateful so long and a new beginning, Witt announced that he was "joining the administration of Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Department of Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins as the DSS Deputy Commissioner For Press Relations & Press Communications /Director of Public Information."

That means he helps shape perception of the administration's response to the homeless crisis, and responds (or not) to press inquiries. 

(As of 2021, the department's spokesman, Isaac McGinn, earned $125,921, according to the SeeThroughNY database. I'd guess that's a lot more than Witt's salary at Schneps.)

Working for DSS won't be easy. The last person in the position, Julia Savel, was fired in August, NBC reported, "after pushing back against alleged lies and omissions by her boss regarding illegal conditions in the city's homeless shelter system." 

"Just can't work for a commish who is ok with covering up something illegal," Savel texted City Hall.

Witt, not surprisingly, saw it differently. His follow-up in Politics NY, Ex-homeless shelter services staffer has ties to Maya Wiley in City Hall probe, quoted Adams administration sources that "Savel – who was a chief strategist in the Maya Wiley campaign for mayor – either had it wrong or purposely misled a city hall press spokesperson over an alleged cover-up of the city violating 'right to shelter' court agreements."

The issue is being investigated by the city's independent Department of Investigation. (Wiley lost to Adams, after positioning herself to his left.)

Witt's goal: honest broker

Witt wrote in his recent column:

When entering the field of journalism over 25 years ago, my main motivation was to put a positive stamp on the world. One axiom in journalism is to pick your battles and in this context, I’ve been a fearless warrior – as I saw fit in the heat of battle – when it comes to giving voice to the voiceless and being an honest broker in covering both the workings of government and the electoral process. I have not always come out of the battle unscathed, but I always fought the good fight as I saw it in trying to better the world.

Has Witt been an honest broker? Well, nope.

As I wrote in April 2012, David Mark Greaves, publisher of  Our Time Press published an apology for an "unedited and unproofed [Witt column], full of errors and rancorous opinion," and Witt had to apologize, "Henceforth, I will be vigilant to be watchful against my own tendencies to have personal axes [to] grind."

That history, to my mind, is more important than such loose-cannon columns as the one that sparked a 11/11/22 New York Daily News report on his new job, New NYC Social Services spokesman once penned ‘poor taste’ editorial comparing car reduction efforts to the Holocaust.

"I look forward to joining the Adams Administration team and working in the world’s greatest city to continue making the city a better place to live for everybody," Witt wrote in his most recent column, ending with the administration's hashtag, #GetStuffDone.

In posted comments, one supporter wrote, "No doubt, you'll continue to tell powerful stories that need to be told," while a detractor wrote, "Handing off jobs to journalists who write favorably about the administration is one of the worst ways public money is used to advance personal careers."

Note that Witt has gone to bat for Adams long before he became mayor, such as endorsing Borough President Adams' dubious take on the Woodland controversy.