[Peace-discuss] Regarding "News of the Week"

[Randall Cotton]

I could be wrong,  but I suspect a number of AWARE folks would rather not
face this issue - that we just not do anything about it since the flap
that emerged a few weeks back might seem to be receding in the rear view
mirror.

I think that would be a mistake. If we do not address and resolve it, I
think it will continue to hang over us and I think it is bound to erupt as
a point of contention again in the future.

I had made a proposal intended to resolve things, which received some
support, while a few folks had reservations. We didn't get to discuss this
last week, partly because the News of the Week segment took so long (and
set everything else back) leaving no time at the end. We agreed to table
it to the next meeting (this coming Sunday), but that it would be
addressed right after the News of the Week segment (conducted at the
beginning of the meeting as usual, but expressly limited to 20 minutes for
this meeting only).

I am throwing out my proposal again with a modification that may bring
everyone else on board.

To review:

The status quo prior to the flap was that 10 minutes had been reserved for
Carl at the very beginning of each meeting to provide us with his news
summary, greatly valued by many (including myself), in a long-standing
tradition that began when AWARE asked him to provide these news summaries
at least five years ago (which actually predates even my involvement with
AWARE).

The flap arose due to strong disagreement and objection with some of what
Carl says. While everyone seems to agree that there should be no attempt
to single out Carl and squelch him, the disagreement has drawn attention
to the fact that we do have an understanding, a convention, practically a
rule that the first 10 minutes of every meeting is reserved for Carl to
share news items in a monologue format.

Now, not only has there emerged strong disagreement with some of what Carl
says (this has been simmering for a while, I suspect), but it has also
emerged that there seems to be universal agreement that the more
contributors there are sharing news items, the better. And I think it's
evident that having a rule that reserves the first 10 minutes to one
particular person thwarts broader participation. So consequently, I think
it's safe to say there is no longer complete consensus that we should
continue with the standing unwritten rule of the first 10 minutes reserved
for Carl.

So what I propose is that instead of a rule where the first 10 minutes are
reserved for Carl, we open things up a bit, making the news review segment
*less* restrictive, still allowing for Carl's news summaries (absolutely
not singling him out for any squelching), but also opening the door to
equal opportunity for others to contribute news items as well. My proposal
was to reserve 15 minutes for everyone to share news items (or maybe 20
minutes if folks think that's more appropriate), with a maximum of 10
minutes reserved for any one person. The 15 or 20 minutes could be
extended if there is no objection, of course. Even the 10 minute limit for
one person could be extended as well, if there was no objection. But as a
rule of thumb, we would go with 15 or 20 minutes total, 10 max for one
person. After the news items, we would have discussion of those items
(just as we've had in the past).

It's understood that an additional responsibility falls upon the
facilitator to ensure that either enough time is set aside for everyone to
make their news item contributions or that the time is divided fairly. I
don't think this would be a difficult burden.

Now, regarding the opposition by a few to my proposal, I am guessing that
the resistance may have a lot to do with a concern that after so many
years of this standing tradition, having greatly appreciated Carl's
tireless efforts, they feel Carl is being targeted and are consequently
inspired to stand in his defense. I can sympathize with that, but I do
think it would be more beneficial to the group to loosen the restriction
on that first 10 minutes, opening up the sharing of news items to
everyone, while still providing a way for Carl to contribute to the exact
same extent that he has in the past (just not with a pre-determined
reservation of the first 10 minutes). Please understand that the intent of
my proposal is not to target Carl, but rather loosen our own restrictions
to open the door to more diverse and egalitarian contribution in our "News
of the Week " segment while still allowing, perhaps even encouraging, Carl
to continue as he has in the past.

In fact, I suggest (and this is my new modification) that along with the
proposal above (which I essentially already put forth a couple weeks
back), those of us who wish to see Carl continue with his 10 minute
presentations just as they were in the past, collectively and formally
appeal to Carl that he continue to provide his 10 minute news summaries in
the future as part of the new (now more open and egalitarian) format. I
would certainly include myself in that collective group.

So this is what I plan to propose at the next meeting.
Comments/feedback/criticisms welcome.
R