----- Original Message ----- From: "Info from Doug Hunt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "July 30 in Philly" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "d2k discuss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Waggers List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2000 9:54 AM Subject: [July30] ACTION ALERT: News-Slanting Union Buster Candidate for Ethics Post > July 30 in Philly - www.unity2000.com > > > > FAIR-L wrote: > > > FAIR-L > > Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting > > Media analysis, critiques and news reports > > > > ACTION ALERT: > > News-Slanting Union Buster Is Candidate for Journalism Ethics Post > > > > ACTION: Please let Harvard University know whether you think Robert Giles is > > an appropriate candidate for the Nieman Foundation job. You can contact > > Harvard president Neil Rudenstine, who will make the final decision, through > > his assistant's e-mail: > > > > jackie_o'[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > July 17, 2000 > > > > Robert Giles, former editor and publisher of the Detroit News, is a leading > > candidate for the position of curator at Harvard's Nieman Foundation for > > Journalism. The prospect of Giles overseeing a center that teaches media > > ethics has alarmed many of those familiar with his role in the long-running > > labor dispute at the News and the Detroit Free Press, which has been jointly > > operated with the News since 1989. > > > > More than 2,000 reporters, mailers, printers and circulation workers, > > represented by six unions, walked out in July 1995, citing management > > demands for givebacks on healthcare and the attempt to impose a "merit pay" > > system after a six-year wage freeze. The National Labor Relations Board > > (NLRB) upheld the unions' charges of unfair labor practices and called for > > strikers to be re-hired, but management refused to fire the "permanent > > replacement" workers they had brought in. The NLRB's ruling was recently > > overturned by the conservative D.C. Court of Appeals. > > > > Skewed Coverage > > > > Much of the controversy around Giles' Nieman appointment focuses on the > > question of whether he oversaw slanted coverage of the strike during his > > tenure. (Giles left the News/Free Press in 1997.) It's clear that the papers > > did print some laughably skewed stories, like "Newspaper Strikers Urged to > > Bring Kids to Picket Lines" (Detroit News, 5/5/96), which detailed the > > psychological damage picketers were inflicting on their children. > > > > One former News reporter says that that story wasn't just slanted, it was > > false. Now at the Washington Post, Allan Lengel says strikers never planned > > to take their children out of school, and the author of the story knew it. > > Other reporters removed their byline from stories, or asked to be taken off > > the strike beat, after having stories changed by editors to reflect a more > > pro-management line (Harvard Crimson, 7/7/00). > > > > Columbia Journalism Review (11-12/95) called the News and Free Press > > coverage of their own labor dispute "strikingly tilted," a charge Giles > > didn't deny, claiming he felt that the newspapers had "to balance the story" > > since "the unions, in our judgment, really have had a sort of platform to > > present their positions without any meaningful challenge." (Editor & > > Publisher, 3/96) > > > > "I Wanted It to Occur on My Watch" > > > > Some of Giles' defenders seem to suggest that breaking a union is just part > > of a publisher's job, making Giles just an unlucky victim of what Oregonian > > editor Sandra Mims Rowe called "the known difficulties of labor and > > management" (Boston Globe 7/6/00). "In Detroit he happened to be in the > > wrong place at the wrong time," concurs Newsweek's Ellis Cose (Harvard > > Crimson, 6/30/00). "It becomes a question of whether you hold that against > > him or not." > > > > Giles himself now pronounces the Detroit strike "a very difficult thing for > > me...very tough, very hostile." (Boston Globe, 7/6/00) But he appeared to > > relish his role while in the thick of it, issuing hardline statements like, > > "We're going to hire a whole new workforce and go on without unions, or they > > can surrender unconditionally and salvage what they can." (Cleveland Plain > > Dealer, 9/2/95) Far from feeling he was in the wrong place at the wrong > > time, Giles told the Society of Professional Journalists, "I wanted it to > > occur on my watch. I believe deeply in what we're doing." (South Bend > > Tribune, 5/16/96) > > > > And Giles had no qualms about using his own paper to express those deep > > beliefs, penning a bizarre commentary (Detroit News, 3/10/96) in which he > > called religious community protests in support of the strike "a parody that > > mocked the ideals of civil disobedience," because "the civil rights movement > > sought to create change and reform. The newspaper strike seeks to resist > > change and reform." Giles went on to claim that it was management who, by > > permanently replacing striking workers, was truly following the tradition > > of Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, by performing "civil > > disobedience in the face of the established order." > > > > Problems Pre-Date Strike > > > > Giles' dissenters aren't merely concerned by his record of skewing strike > > coverage. Many believe his management deliberately provoked the strike in > > the first place, demanding further healthcare givebacks from staffers who > > had just endured a six-year wage freeze, cutting union jobs and attempting > > to impose a "merit pay" system in which bosses would determine who deserved > > a raise and avoid bargaining with the union. Employees had been asked to > > help the company "get back on its feet" after the protracted battle to win a > > Joint Operating Agreement, explained striking News reporter Kate DeSmet > > (Extra!, 7-8/96). But when the companies continued to demand sacrifices > > after recording profits of $56 million for 1994, workers had had enough. > > > > Giles and others in the press have said that the company "won" the strike > > because they never stopped publication. But a newspaper's value is not paper > > and ink. It's the quality and integrity of its news. There can be no > > question these have suffered tremendously under Giles' leadership. Since > > the JOA, circulation for the News and Free Press has dropped from 1.3 > > million a day to some 600,000 (Rocky Mountain News, 6/11/00). Thousands of > > readers say they will never buy the papers again, no matter what court > > rulings say. A publisher who calls such a devastating experience a success > > seems patently unfit for a post meant to symbolize what is best in U.S. > > journalism. > > > > ACTION: Please let Harvard University know whether you think Robert Giles is > > an appropriate candidate for the Nieman Foundation job. You can contact > > Harvard president Neil Rudenstine, who will make the final decision, through > > his assistant's e-mail: > > > > mailto:jackie_o'[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if > > you maintain a polite tone. Please cc [EMAIL PROTECTED] with your > > correspondence. > > > > ---------- > > > > Feel free to respond to FAIR ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] ). We can't reply to > > everything, but we will look at each message. We especially appreciate > > documented example of media bias or censorship. And please send copies of > > your email correspondence with media outlets, including any responses, to us > > at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . > > > > FAIR ON THE AIR: FAIR's founder Jeff Cohen is a regular panelist on the Fox > > News Channel's "Fox News Watch," which airs which airs Saturdays at 7 pm and > > Sundays at 2 pm (Eastern Standard Time). Check your local listings. > > > > FAIR produces CounterSpin, a weekly radio show heard on over 120 stations in > > the U.S. and Canada. To find the CounterSpin station nearest you, visit > > http://www.fair.org/counterspin/stations.html . > > > > Please support FAIR by subscribing to our bimonthly magazine, Extra! > > For more information, go to: > > http://www.fair.org/extra/subscribe.html . Or call 1-800-847-3993. > > > > You can subscribe to FAIR-L at our web site: http://www.fair.org , or by > > sending a "subscribe FAIR-L enter your full name" command to > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Our subscriber list is kept confidential. > > > > You may leave the list at any time-- just send a message with "SIGNOFF > > FAIR-L" in the body to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . > > > > FAIR > > (212) 633-6700 > > http://www.fair.org/ > > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > list administrators: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > Doug Hunt -- > Aspiring stone in the shoe of the dominance culture. > > "Fear not the path of the truth because of the lack of people > walking on it.". - Arab slogan used by Fadia Rafeedie > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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