With Newtown bracing for an influx of media on the first anniversary of the Dec. 14 shooting and town officials saying no official plans are underway, some residents are reaching out to ask national news agencies to stay home.
A petition released this morning on the advocacy site Change.org calls forÂ
"CNN, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, FOX, CBS, and all other media outlets domestic and foreign" to stay away from Newtown before, during and after Dec. 14. The petition was started by Jenny Abbott, who works in Newtown. Abbot contacted Patch about the petition Tuesday morning.
"I have friends and family here," she said. "They suffered through the media storm a year ago, they shouldn’t have to again."
In Sandy Hook, parking is off limits for media, both at the two lots owned by Mike Porco and in the United Methodist Church parking lot. In addition, First Selectman Pat Llodra said there are no plans to open Treadwell Park for media parking on the day. Parking enforcements may be in effect, but the town has not provided specifics on where and when.
Llodra has asked the media to avoid the town on Dec. 14.
"It's going to be difficult for there to be any major media presence in Newtown," she told Patch last week.
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