[Peace-discuss] [Discuss] My interactions with the N-G

Sat Nov 29 00:15:59 EST 2014

John, I sent the Public i an article a good while ago that included references (as I recall) to crimes of the Clinton administration. I was told privately that those animadversions were to be altered without consulting me.

I told Belden et al. that they could publish the article as I wrote it or with changes that I approved, but that I would sue them if they published it with changes I had not approved. They chose not to publish the article. (I sent it, I think, to CounterPunch.)

Robert Kennedy said in 1964, "President [John] Kennedy's favorite quote was really from Dante, 'The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.'" 

Like so many things about the Kennedys - cynosures of the liberal consensus - the quote was fake, but the implication is correct.

Hope you're keeping well. Regards, Carl 

On Nov 28, 2014, at 10:20 PM, John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> Carl, I hate to have to bring this to the attention of a man of your redoubtable historical acumen, but Bill Clinton left office on January 20, 2001.  The public i wasn't founded until late summer of 2001, with its first issue coming out in August 2001 if memory serves.  While we were planning our second issue, 9/11 happened and we had to start more or less from scratch.  Had we been in publication during Clinton's tenure, from January 1993 till January 2001, I'm quite sure we would have been extremely critical of many of his policies.  His trade agreements and the end of "welfare as we know it" come immediately to mind.
> 
> Also, the public i was founded to address, insofar as practicable, issues of local community interest or relevance.  Obviously, if a national or international issue had local ramifications, it would be grist for the mill.  But we always tried to seek out and emphasize the local aspect of the story.  Practically your sole interest - and David Green's - has always seemed to be American foreign policy, and that would not necessarily be the public i's top priority.  We figured much of that was covered in other news sources, particularly those on the internet.  This type of community-based editorial policy or mode of decision-making is not at all synonymous with "endorsing the liberal consensus".
> 
> John Wason
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 9:30 PM, C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
> 
> I agree about the current issue.
> 
> In the past they've been hesitant to challenge the liberal consensus - not much criticism of Obama, or even Bill Clinton.
> 
> I assume they're ready for Hillary...
> 
> More to the point, they've taken a J-Street approach to Israel.
> 
> I'd love to be proved wrong by their publishing David's piece.
> 
> --CGE
> 
> On Nov 28, 2014, at 7:20 PM, Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > I just finished reading the current edition of the Public I, it's excellent. I can't imagine why they wouldn't publish anything David has to say. I recommend it highly. I also think David is wasting his time and talent on the NG, though it is important given that so many do probably read it.
> >
> > > Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 18:20:08 -0600
> > > To: jbw292002 at gmail.com
> > > CC: discuss-communitycourtwatch at lists.chambana.net; peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> > > Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] [Discuss] My interactions with the N-G
> > > From: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> > >
> > > My suspicion is that 'Public i' in its current incarnation wouldn't publish David's piece, either.
> > >
> > > I hope I'm wrong. --CGE
> > >
> > >
> > > On Nov 28, 2014, at 6:06 PM, John W. via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > This is why we created the public i 13 years ago. Would that it had the circulation that the News-Gazette does. But it's not banal enough.
> > > >
> > > > John Wason
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 12:29 PM, David Green via Discuss-CommunityCourtwatch <discuss-communitycourtwatch at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > As many of you undoubtedly know, I've published many letters over the years in the N-G, and over the last 5 years or so, quite a few Sunday guest commentaries from an overtly leftist and radical perspective. I've always felt that it is important to reach a broader audience in any way available. I took it as a sign of some minimal sense of fairness on the part of the N-G editors (mostly the retired John Beck, I think) to allow me that space (or, from another perspective, allow me to work for free).
> > > >
> > > > Last summer I submitted a piece related to both Gaza and Jewish dissidence regarding Israel. Dan Corkery, the managing editor, rejected it with the excuse that he had already published one article from a critical perspective, and that there were no others from a pro-Israel perspective that had been submitted to provide "balance." I wrote to him that I was "disgusted by his behavior." That provided him with an excuse to no longer publish my submissions. I may have shot myself in the foot; so be it. Nevertheless it would appear, whatever Corkery's benign persona as managing editor, that he has really limited the space for alternative perspectives since he took over; his choices are heavily weighted toward the trivial and the banal, as well as the overtly right wing. I suspect that he was looking for an excuse, and I gave him one.
> > > >
> > > > This may sound self serving, but it's just as well for me to move on from that particular approach (among many), although they will continue to accept my letters. I'm sure that there are many in the activist community who have always wanted nothing to do with the N-G, and that's understandable. But certainly this morning's editorial in full-blown justification of the murder of Michael Brown achieves a new low, if that is possible, and has prompted me to send this message to these lists.
> > > >
> > > > In any event and for whatever it's worth, what is pasted below is a message I sent to Dan Corkery a few days ago, subsequent to an initial apologetic e-mail and his acceptance of my apology while affirming that my commentaries would no longer be welcome. I don't pretend that this is anything that most readers of these lists don't already know; nevertheless, thank you for indulging me:
> > > >
> > > > Dan;
> > > >
> > > > I appreciate your response and your acceptance of my apology. My 2 cents at this point, in the spirit of honesty and truth as I see it, whether regarding you personally or the editors collectively, is that a significant segment of our community is utterly and blatantly dis-respected and dismissed by the News-Gazette, and is well aware of that. Similarly, the News-Gazette has earned the routine and dismissive contempt of those of us who sincerely and actively wish to make the world a better place in ways that the N-G editors do not approve of. It is viewed by hundreds and perhaps thousands of community members, frankly, with utter contempt and worse. My efforts have always been to bridge that gap and to act in good faith and respect--but these efforts were ultimately doomed to fail in a context that is "fair and balanced" between truth and lies. The racist and prejudicial currents that predominate at the N-G simply run too deep and are too reflexive, whether regarding minorities, the poor, Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, or demonized nations like Iran and North Korea--not to mention state government employees, union members, and school teachers. Hate is by no means too strong a word to describe your newspaper's modus operandi, especially regarding Palestinians, a sincere interest of mine. And the U of I boosterism regarding administration, sports, etc. only adds to the perception and reality of that lack of objectivity. Whatever the sincerity or professionalism of your own contribution, in my honest view you have no reason to believe that the News-Gazette contributes in any serious way toward making our community, state, and world a better and more informed place. Indeed, it is a source of an enormous amount of pernicious dis-information, on a regular and systematic basis. In an educated and progressive community with enormous potential, that is a real shame, and a real missed opportunity. Whatever dis-respect I may have shown to you merely reflects this ongoing context.
> > > >
> > > > David Green
> > > >
> > > > _________
> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20141128/17721679/attachment-0001.html>