[Peace-discuss] Urbana City Council meeting

[Brussel Morton K.]

I attended the city council meeting in order to support free access  
programming on UPTV.

It was decided that UPTV would continue to be "free access", with all  
points of view representable (under FCC guidelines).

However, there were more people in the (spare) attendance telling how  
they were grievously hurt by the anti-semitic videos shown, fearful  
that it would influence the community, and hence hoping these  
programs could be removed or restricted, then those, two in number  
(Patt and y.t.), reaffirming the value of unrestricted free access.

The holocaust was used as a battering ram to impress the city council  
members by several (≈4 in number) from the Jewish community, and it  
seemed to have its desired effect. Chenowyth and Bowersox pushed the  
idea that counter programming should be employed to counter hateful  
UPTV programming, even suggesting that the City Council produce such  
programming. However, the legal counsel affirmed that this would not  
pass  legal muster; private entities could of course provide such  
programming. Given the problems such counter-programs would  
encounter, Bowersox suggested that only the specific hateful videos  
by Brunleve be counter-programmed.

Another issue discussed was whether such hateful programs could be  
relegated to the wee hours of the morning, say 3AM. This too was shot  
down by legal council who affirmed that it would be discriminatory if  
based on the content of the programs.

The insertion of disclaimers for any particular program was also  
mentioned. These are currently employed, but some wanted there to be  
specific repudiation of content. This did not pass muster.

The most forceful and eloquent defender of free speech on the council  
was Dennis Roberts. I felt Chenowyth tended to muddy the waters,  
asking for example that local programming take precedence and/or that  
another channel be provided for real free access, although she did  
ultimately support the current procedures. Heather Stevenson came out  
for free access. Only Lynne Barnes finally voted against.

The whole discussion focussed on anti-semitism and, to a much lesser  
extent, on gender issues. No one raised the issue that a different  
kind of anti-semitism could be raised—for example one in which the  
state of Israel were condemned, with consequent claims by the local  
Zionist cohort that these were anti-semitic attacks. Would we then  
have to have counter-programming with a defense of Israel's right to  
exist, with references to the holocaust?

In sum, the status quo is being maintained. Free speech survives on  
UPTV. But the discussion is not quite closed.

I hope this is a fair recapitulation of what happened.