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Censor the News: The Miami Herald & The Orlando Sentinel |
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By Jack Nichols
He meant, of course, that they could easily be led by tyrants or by true-believers of one vicious stripe or another. Around the very time he'd spoken these haunting words, Nixon had been forced to resign the U.S. presidency. Two investigative reporters on The Washington Post, with the help of an unknown "Deep Throat" had brought the delusion-plagued president to his weepy knees. It was true drama: reporters for a free press and a single honest citizen had saved the Republic from the machinations of a tyrant-crook. This had also happened, do not forget, in the immediate wake of the amazing 1960s Counterculture Revolution-an uprising that the far right has since denigrated without cease. I now recall that it seemed too easy in those heady days to feel, perhaps, overly confident about humanity's future prospects. It was a time that had given birth to concern for the environment, that saw the rise of a consciousness supporting the equality of the sexes, the development of appropriate non-polluting technology and the increased growth of the thinking public's non-linear awareness. Those who'd challenged ornamental masculinity, scientific single vision, bureaucratic blandness and divisive nationalism seemed certain-in that era-- to succeed. Lige Clarke was a featured speaker during 1973's Toronto's Pride celebration. He sensed even then, it seemed, that hope for a humane future must be tempered with a kind of realism. At the podium he quoted Democracy's poet, Walt Whitman: "Now understand me well-it is provided in the essence of things, that from any fruition of success, no matter what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle necessary.
The 2000 election of Mr. Bush has helped bring in a new wave of activism
Now, in late summer, 2001, I've just re-watched the brilliant film, Nixon. If one wishes to reflect on just how crazy a White House scenario can get-it's all exposed in this extraordinary film. With George W. Bush's return from his month-long vacation in progress, we're aptly reminded by Nixon of how delusional a president can become; how stupidly self-pitying; how weirdly concerned with his awkward show of an ungainly "manliness". Do I hear milquetoasts complaining I'm not treating Nixon and George W. with due respect? Walt Whitman provides the true democrat's reply to such a complaint: "Are you the president? It is a trifle." Lets fast-forward now to the present in the state of Florida, a province where the Illegitimate Son of a Bush's brother is governor. Untold thousands of the state's inhabitants believe that Jeb Bush after having earlier promised to deliver Florida's presidential vote to his bro, also illegally managed its outcome with help from minions like the manipulative destroyer of incriminating records, Katherine Harris. But where are today's sleuth reporters like Woodward and Bernstein? Do their reincarnations live in Florida's mainstream press? We can hope so. But, we witness, thus far the Florida media prefers to ignore what the state's good citizenry already knows, that Election 2000 was stolen. Two of Florida's largest and most influential papers, The Miami Herald and The Orlando Sentinel are shamelessly plugging Jeb Bush. They approve of his invites to Florida of hosts of corporate rapists. Meanwhile, while Florida's schools flounder financially, its waterways clog, its healthcare costs soar, Jeb Bush is giving tax breaks to corporate cronies that have totaled nearly 2 billion. George W's theft of Election 2000 in Florida, the GOP-friendly newspapers know, is the incumbent governor's Achilles heel. Mentioning this theft is thus forbidden by the Miami Herald's and the Orlando Sentinel's corporate hit men--editors and reporters alike. Enter the fly in their ointment, veteran social justice activist, Bob Kunst.
On the night before his speech, the Gainesville Sun properly ran his photo among those of the other Democratic contenders. On the following morning, he was pictured again in the Sun. The St. Petersburg Times properly reported on how he'd been among those challenging the as-yet-unannounced 'star' candidate Janet Reno. He appeared three times on TV news stations. Lists of the candidates in both The Miami Herald and The Orlando Sentinel, however, omitted Kunst's name. It wasn't the first time they'd done this. Among the guilty reporters was one Mark Silva, a political hack at the Sentinel. Guilt for Kunst's omission at the Herald was being shared among three reporters co-authoring their account of the Gainesville meeting. Angered, I was moved to address all of the reporters about their deliberate omissions. The Miami Herald To the Miami Herald reporters I wrote: "Dear Messrs. Bridges & Walsten, "Can you possibly explain why you left Bob Kunst's name off of your published list of those candidates who spoke to Democrats in Gainesville last night? "Are you trying to be the Orlando Sentinel of South Florida? You are both very scary… "It appears the Gainesville Sun's reportage has proved, at least, accurate. Yours has proved inaccurate and partisan in a most vulgar way. "I plan to regularly critique your paper--using your two names-in my ongoing news coverage-for your having deliberately engineered Bob Kunst's omission. "Jack Nichols" Tyler Bridges of the Herald replied to me: "Jack, thanks for your note. I can understand your complaint. It's the kind of dilemma we frequently face about obscure candidates who won't raise much money. Actually, if you read back the quote, you'll see that we were not listing those who spoke last night. Still, I think we were correct in leaving off Kunst's name. Just because you announce you're a candidate do you automatically deserve mention in the newspaper?" A volunteer Kunst campaign worker, Allene Baus, with whom I shared reporter Bridges's reply wrote to him too. She said: "I have read the exchange between yourself and Mr. Nichols regarding the listing or lack thereof, of Mr. Robert Kunst, Democratic candidate for Governor of Florida, in an article appearing in your newspaper, and your reasons for not doing so.
"You indicate that, 'Just because you announce you're a candidate do you automatically deserve mention in the newspaper?' Yes, you do. Mr. Kunst filed with the Division of Elections on June 12th, and opened a campaign account shortly thereafter. This indicates a certain seriousness in running for the office. "I do trust that in the future you will err on the side of completeness and allow the voters to decide for themselves, and not set yourself up as the arbiter of which candidate deserves to be mentioned." Shamed in private, but still blatantly partisan in public, the next day Mr. Bridges and his Miami Herald cohorts suddenly included candidate Kunst in their continuing electoral coverage. Furious, I wrote once again to protest. This time I addressed all three who'd contributed to theHerald's report: "Dear Mr. Bridges, Mr. Wallsten and Ms. Reinhard: "Interesting that you've now finally mentioned Bob Kunst's gubernatorial candidacy. But is your mean-spirited mention worthy of being pegged as progress? Hardly. It's clear you're trying to denigrate him--First, by saying he went practically unnoticed (not true-- he was thrice on TV and is still getting e-mailed responses from the event's attendees) and, secondly, by celebrating most the undeclared-as-yet- Democratic star-quality candidate, Janet Reno (who, you editorialize, will not be able to win against Jeb Bush). Finally, you disingenuously identify Kunst strictly with gay rights. This is an obvious anti-gay ploy on your part. Kunst's main cause as a candidate, you damn well know, isn't gay rights. You've simply realized that you can try to marginalize him in this way by implying such. You're fully aware that Kunst is the candidate who says fearlessly that 'Bush Stole the Election'--the singular issue which obviously you and the Miami Herald don't dare to talk about in depth. One can easily read between the lines to see how the Herald is in cahoots with the current GOP governor's vote- thieves. A former Herald reporter recently told us that your paper is falling apart from within. I hope he's right. I, for one, would dance in delight on the Miami Herald's grave. Am preparing an article to explain how annoyed its possible to become with the shenanigans of timid, mainstream media hacks who allow themselves to be nose-led to LiarsLand by corporate Republican creeps." The Orlando Sentinel As for the Orlando Sentinel's coverage of the Gainesville meeting, an earlier e-mail sent by reporter Mark Silva and forwarded to me by a Kunst volunteer, proved that the censoring Silva had early decided not to mention Kunst's candidacy. Seeing how he'd failed his readers, I wrote him: "Mr. Silva: "Can you possibly explain why you left Bob Kunst's name off of your published list of those candidates who spoke to Democrats in Gainesville last night? "You are very scary. You need to be royally exposed. "It appears the Gainesville Sun's reportage has proved, at least, accurate. Yours has proved inaccurate and partisan in a most vulgar way. You are a dangerous censor. "I plan to regularly critique your paper--using your name-- in my ongoing news coverage- for your having deliberately engineered Bob Kunst's omission." I'd anticipated Mr. Silva's lame excuse in his hostile reply. He wrote: "Read it again. Statewide surveys. No one has put Kunst's name in one. When they do, we will report where he stands. That was not a dinner list. That was a list of real candidates. Suggest you find one." Others Complain The fact that Kunst followed Janet Reno on the speaker's list and that he was an official candidate meant nothing to Silva. Betty, a Kunst supporter in Orlando, chided him too. She wrote: "It is beginning to look like you are discriminating against Bob Kunst. Isn't there a law against that? By leaving him out of any and all news about candidates for governor, you are doing a disservice to every voter in Florida. Only THEY have the right to choose who is qualified to get their vote. I must ask myself why you are blacking him out. Could it be because he is gay? Could it be because he is Jewish? Could it be because he is raising issues about the election being illegal? Whatever your reasons are, you are losing respect from thousands of voters in this state. I hope someone brings a lawsuit against your paper for discrimination!" Allene Baus shared with me her more extensive correspondence with Silva: To the Orlando Sentinel's Mark Silva: "Mr. Silva: I guess it is a hard choice, not letting the readers know that there is another candidate running for Governor, no matter how little you think of him. It is up the voters, I always thought, to decide who will be the next Governor. Somehow not letting the public/voters/readers know who ALL is out there smacks of censorship. Isn't it up to the voters to decide how viable Mr. Kunst's candidacy is? Somehow I thought it was your job to inform, not to decide what the public/voters/readers are not to know. "You have mentioned persons who are 'thinking' about running, which is fine, IF you are mentioning ALL the candidates who have filed and opened campaign accounts. Why not do a complete job and include Mr. Kunst in your 'running for Governor' articles. Let the public/voters/readers decide. Thank you. Allene Baus" 8/2/01 Mark Silva's reply to Allene Baus: "I appreciate your concern, but Bob Kunst's behavior simply is not that of a credible candidate for governor. He has every right to run around and stage protests, but he has no automatic claim to consideration as a real candidate. He uses the self-styled title of candidate as a soap box for his causes, which is perfectly fine. But his candidacy is non-existent.We have an obligation to inform voters about real choices, not waste their time. Mark Silva" Allene Baus' response to Mark Silva: "Mr. Silva: Again I thank you for your response. But you seem to be missing my point. It is up to the voters to decide if they are wasting their time and/or vote, not you. "Maybe I am missing your point, but I thought you were supposed to inform voters as to what their choices were, whether or not you personally approve of any of the candidates, and let the voters decide. By refusing to include any reference to Mr. Kunst in your articles, as you did not again today, is censoring information that the voter should have. "I may not approve of some of the candidates, announced or 'thinking about it', but I have a right to know about all of them and to form my own opinion as to whether they are suitable to be Governor. Your denying any information about any candidate, or person 'thinking about it', is out and out censorship. Allene Baus" Response to Allene Baus from Mark Silva: "I appreciate your thoughts. I think we'll have to agree to disagree. Mr. Kunst will find coverage down the road, particularly if he qualifies as a candidate when that period arrives in the early summer of 2000. He simply won't find as much coverage as people with credible chances of nomination. "I appreciate your reasoned comments and the time you are taking to make them. Mark Silva" Allene Baus to Mark Silva: Mr. Silva: Again, thank you. I trust, however, you do not mean the summer of 2000. 2002 perhaps? Allene Baus Immediate response from Mr. Silva: "2002, sorry" Allene Baus 's email to Mark Silva on August 27, to which no reply was received, she says, "nor, truthfully, expected": "Mr. Silva, Have you forgotten the Golden Rule of Journalism? That is a lesson in Journalism 101 - What is the purpose of a free press? "Answer: An informed electorate being the necessity of a free state, and the right of self-determination, the unhindered freedom of information is both the right of the press, but also the responsibility. (emphasis mine) "Not what YOUR opinion of the candidate is, but what the voter's opinion is. Are you, Sir, greater than the voters? You are coming across as such. And you look so nice in the picture that was in the paper. Allene Baus" Enough said. Email address for the Orlando Sentinel's Mark Silva: msilva@orlandosentinel.com Email address for the Miami Herald's Tyler Bridges: TBridges@herald.com |
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