Friday, August 18, 2006
Nazis, No Nazis, and booking guests on WORT
As a lot of you likely know, a group of "National Socialists", aka Nazis, has announced plans to hold a rally in Madison this coming Saturday. Several weeks ago, local activists formed a group cleverly called "No Nazis in Madison". The group has been organizing a counter-rally, as well as trying to use this as a catalyst to bring attention to issues of institutional racism beyond the knee-jerk response to the rally.
So, WORT is covering some of these activities. I received an email from the host and new producer of the Friday 8:00 Buzz earlier today. I've edited it for relevance to this issue and ease of reading, and have pasted it below. I've also pasted my response below that.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tonya Brito
Jonathan,
I've been following up on finding someone from No Nazis in Madison to
interview re the demonstration/counter rally to the upcoming Nazi rally
that they are organizing. The announcement sent out by the No Nazi in
Madison group did not have a contact person listed and instead directed
me to a couple of websites, including a members-only Yahoo group. I
completed the online registration form in order to join the yahoo group
so that I could communicate with them, sent an interview request and now
have a contact person to talk to.
I have also received an e-mail from a neo-nazi with the National
Socialist Movement who is requesting an interview. See below. I
suspect that this person was lurking in the Yahoo group set up by No
Nazis in Wisconsin.
I thought I'd write a brief "no thank you" response but wanted to check
with you first to find out if anything more ought to be said/done.
Tonya
-----Nathan's Reply Message-----
I'm generally not in favor of bring neo-nazis or any kind of nazis on to the air. Producers and hosts at WORT do enjoy a remarkable amount of autonomy, so I can't say that you "aren't allowed" to bring any nazis on the air, but I do discourage it.
Though my personal news ethic hasn't been adopted as any kind of offical policy by the station, I think the best news & public affairs production for a community station should at its heart help rebuild and maintain a community's sense of itself, empowering listeners to engage in community activism. That includes fostering deliberation and understanding, as well as explaining systems and processes in depth. None of those things are benefitted by having nazis on the air. Nazis are anti-community, as they push to exclude large segments of our community and encourage people to destroy community. They do not contribute to fostering deliberation or understanding, given their zealotry and unyielding racial hatred. Our goal of serving the community is not met by understanding the motives of a race warrior. They also do not help us explain systems in any depth. Their explanation of most social problems is that it's the fault of blacks, Jews, gays, etc. That's the opposite of meaningful explanation.
We have no requirement - nor should we - to strive for "objectivity" in the traditional sense of the word. As if objectivity were even attainable in our socially created and defined world, we at WORT wouldn't necessarily want to seek it anyway, given our mission to air the voices of the underrepresented, challenge listeners, and promote communication, education, & understanding -- in a word, to build community through democratically run media. Building community necessarily positions us outside the realm of "objective" journalism, and requires us to make value judgements about which information and which sides of a story are more in line with our goals - while also remaining open-minded about the possibility of many paths to community-building and many visions of what a vibrant, flourishing, democratic community could look like.
Anyway, this has gotten very heady, especially so early in your tenure as Jonathan's producer. ; )
As an aside, WORT did put nazis on the air way back in 1977 or '78 - before I was even born. It went horribly. WORT was a very new station at the time, and the Madison left came out by the hundreds to protest the station for its then-news director's decision to invite the nazis on the air. The protestors blocked the unwelcome guests from getting into the station. I don't know what the hosts actually aired, but it wasn't the nazis. There's an article about it in our 25th anniversary book that long-time activist and WORT volunteer Allen Ruff wrote. He summed up the feeling of the protestors in a way that is still very relevant today - that is, that WORT airwaves are a valuable (and rare!) community resource, and that the nazis have no business on these airwaves.
Hope this helps! Sorry so long...
~Nathan
So, WORT is covering some of these activities. I received an email from the host and new producer of the Friday 8:00 Buzz earlier today. I've edited it for relevance to this issue and ease of reading, and have pasted it below. I've also pasted my response below that.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tonya Brito
Jonathan,
I've been following up on finding someone from No Nazis in Madison to
interview re the demonstration/counter rally to the upcoming Nazi rally
that they are organizing. The announcement sent out by the No Nazi in
Madison group did not have a contact person listed and instead directed
me to a couple of websites, including a members-only Yahoo group. I
completed the online registration form in order to join the yahoo group
so that I could communicate with them, sent an interview request and now
have a contact person to talk to.
I have also received an e-mail from a neo-nazi with the National
Socialist Movement who is requesting an interview. See below. I
suspect that this person was lurking in the Yahoo group set up by No
Nazis in Wisconsin.
I thought I'd write a brief "no thank you" response but wanted to check
with you first to find out if anything more ought to be said/done.
Tonya
-----Nathan's Reply Message-----
I'm generally not in favor of bring neo-nazis or any kind of nazis on to the air. Producers and hosts at WORT do enjoy a remarkable amount of autonomy, so I can't say that you "aren't allowed" to bring any nazis on the air, but I do discourage it.
Though my personal news ethic hasn't been adopted as any kind of offical policy by the station, I think the best news & public affairs production for a community station should at its heart help rebuild and maintain a community's sense of itself, empowering listeners to engage in community activism. That includes fostering deliberation and understanding, as well as explaining systems and processes in depth. None of those things are benefitted by having nazis on the air. Nazis are anti-community, as they push to exclude large segments of our community and encourage people to destroy community. They do not contribute to fostering deliberation or understanding, given their zealotry and unyielding racial hatred. Our goal of serving the community is not met by understanding the motives of a race warrior. They also do not help us explain systems in any depth. Their explanation of most social problems is that it's the fault of blacks, Jews, gays, etc. That's the opposite of meaningful explanation.
We have no requirement - nor should we - to strive for "objectivity" in the traditional sense of the word. As if objectivity were even attainable in our socially created and defined world, we at WORT wouldn't necessarily want to seek it anyway, given our mission to air the voices of the underrepresented, challenge listeners, and promote communication, education, & understanding -- in a word, to build community through democratically run media. Building community necessarily positions us outside the realm of "objective" journalism, and requires us to make value judgements about which information and which sides of a story are more in line with our goals - while also remaining open-minded about the possibility of many paths to community-building and many visions of what a vibrant, flourishing, democratic community could look like.
Anyway, this has gotten very heady, especially so early in your tenure as Jonathan's producer. ; )
As an aside, WORT did put nazis on the air way back in 1977 or '78 - before I was even born. It went horribly. WORT was a very new station at the time, and the Madison left came out by the hundreds to protest the station for its then-news director's decision to invite the nazis on the air. The protestors blocked the unwelcome guests from getting into the station. I don't know what the hosts actually aired, but it wasn't the nazis. There's an article about it in our 25th anniversary book that long-time activist and WORT volunteer Allen Ruff wrote. He summed up the feeling of the protestors in a way that is still very relevant today - that is, that WORT airwaves are a valuable (and rare!) community resource, and that the nazis have no business on these airwaves.
Hope this helps! Sorry so long...
~Nathan
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Baldwin-Magnum snipping is getting damn dumb
...especially from the Magnum camp, if I may say so.
And here's why. First, Magnum's camp sends this press release out today announcing that Baldwin has agreed to do seven debates with Magnum, but he wants more.
http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/Aug06/Aug9/0809magnumsource.pdf
Then Baldwin's folks send out a rebuttal, saying that no, they did not agree to any debates yet and encouraging journalists to check their sources (and not use Magnum folks as reliable sources).
http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/Aug06/Aug9/0809baldwindebates.pdf
Then the Magnum folks send out the following. I'm going to paste the text because it's so rich:
--- QUOTE ---
DEBATE SOURCE: Baldwin's Campaign Manager
Baldwin ought to check in with her campaign manager on debate issue
(Madison, WI) Tammy Baldwin's campaign today issued a statement in which she denies her campaign has raised the issue of debates between herself and challenger Dave Magnum.
"Tammy Baldwin ducks and dodges debates while voting to give herself a pay increase and being ranked as one of the least effective members in Congress," Magnum said. "What is Tammy Baldwin afraid of? She won't discuss her record of inaction with voters, and apparently she's not talking to own campaign manager either."
Below is the content of an e-mail exchange between Baldwin’s campaign manager, Jeff Pertl, and a 2nd Congressional District constituent on August 2, 2006, in which he clearly states that the Baldwin campaign will agree to a minimum of six or seven debates.
Jeff Pertl wrote:
Tammy is working in D.C. right now, but wanted me to get back to you right away. As you know, Tammy is a strong advocate for democracy and participation in the political process. As such, every election cycle she participates in at least six or seven debates. The debates usually include several locations throughout the district, at least one televised appearance, and a foreign policy debate.
Unfortunately, due her Congressional obligations, Tammy cannot attend all the events and debates she is invited to participate in, but she attends as many as possible. Please let me know, if there is a particular event you are interested in having Tammy attend or a particular issue you would like her to address.
Thank you for your interest,
Jeff
Jeff Pertl
Campaign Manager
Tammy Baldwin For Congress
phone: (608) 442-5868
cell: (608) 513-7140
jeffpertl@tammybaldwin.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 12:06 PM
To: campaign
Subject: Debates
Dear Tammy,
I'm rather curious. How come you continually decline to debate Dave Magnum. Is he right? Have you something to hide? Maybe he's right. Maybe you have been lying to us. Maybe I should vote for him instead.
--- END QUOTE ---
Now, I'm not going to get into Magnum's politics here, though I have plenty of personal opinions about 'em. But here's what I have to say about this whole interaction...
What the hell is the matter the folks over at the Magnum campaign? Baldwin's campaign manager simply wrote in the email that past practice has been to do six or seven per election cycle. This snippy back and forth, reading between the lines business is ridiculous.
In the news business, I get a lot of potential guests who say, "Sure, I've done some talk shows at WORT before." But I always need a confirmation, typically in the form of, "I'd like to do this interview, the following dates work for me." And until I get that confirmation, I don't go around announcing that so-and-so is booked for a show. Same should go for your scheduling of debates.
I'm glad Chris Lato included the text of Jeff Pertl's email in the latest press release. It shows he's being pretty asinine, and as a news gatherer, it makes me wonder where the heck he's coming from. And as a voter, believe it or not, this does NOT make Magnum look all that good.
And until debates are actually scheduled, I would prefer to be spared this bullshit repartee.
And here's why. First, Magnum's camp sends this press release out today announcing that Baldwin has agreed to do seven debates with Magnum, but he wants more.
http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/Aug06/Aug9/0809magnumsource.pdf
Then Baldwin's folks send out a rebuttal, saying that no, they did not agree to any debates yet and encouraging journalists to check their sources (and not use Magnum folks as reliable sources).
http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/Aug06/Aug9/0809baldwindebates.pdf
Then the Magnum folks send out the following. I'm going to paste the text because it's so rich:
--- QUOTE ---
DEBATE SOURCE: Baldwin's Campaign Manager
Baldwin ought to check in with her campaign manager on debate issue
(Madison, WI) Tammy Baldwin's campaign today issued a statement in which she denies her campaign has raised the issue of debates between herself and challenger Dave Magnum.
"Tammy Baldwin ducks and dodges debates while voting to give herself a pay increase and being ranked as one of the least effective members in Congress," Magnum said. "What is Tammy Baldwin afraid of? She won't discuss her record of inaction with voters, and apparently she's not talking to own campaign manager either."
Below is the content of an e-mail exchange between Baldwin’s campaign manager, Jeff Pertl, and a 2nd Congressional District constituent on August 2, 2006, in which he clearly states that the Baldwin campaign will agree to a minimum of six or seven debates.
Jeff Pertl
Tammy is working in D.C. right now, but wanted me to get back to you right away. As you know, Tammy is a strong advocate for democracy and participation in the political process. As such, every election cycle she participates in at least six or seven debates. The debates usually include several locations throughout the district, at least one televised appearance, and a foreign policy debate.
Unfortunately, due her Congressional obligations, Tammy cannot attend all the events and debates she is invited to participate in, but she attends as many as possible. Please let me know, if there is a particular event you are interested in having Tammy attend or a particular issue you would like her to address.
Thank you for your interest,
Jeff
Jeff Pertl
Campaign Manager
Tammy Baldwin For Congress
phone: (608) 442-5868
cell: (608) 513-7140
jeffpertl@tammybaldwin.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 12:06 PM
To: campaign
Subject: Debates
Dear Tammy,
I'm rather curious. How come you continually decline to debate Dave Magnum. Is he right? Have you something to hide? Maybe he's right. Maybe you have been lying to us. Maybe I should vote for him instead.
--- END QUOTE ---
Now, I'm not going to get into Magnum's politics here, though I have plenty of personal opinions about 'em. But here's what I have to say about this whole interaction...
What the hell is the matter the folks over at the Magnum campaign? Baldwin's campaign manager simply wrote in the email that past practice has been to do six or seven per election cycle. This snippy back and forth, reading between the lines business is ridiculous.
In the news business, I get a lot of potential guests who say, "Sure, I've done some talk shows at WORT before." But I always need a confirmation, typically in the form of, "I'd like to do this interview, the following dates work for me." And until I get that confirmation, I don't go around announcing that so-and-so is booked for a show. Same should go for your scheduling of debates.
I'm glad Chris Lato included the text of Jeff Pertl's email in the latest press release. It shows he's being pretty asinine, and as a news gatherer, it makes me wonder where the heck he's coming from. And as a voter, believe it or not, this does NOT make Magnum look all that good.
And until debates are actually scheduled, I would prefer to be spared this bullshit repartee.
