For those of you who might have missed it (as I did),
check out the comment
string following the press release. Jay Rosen’s comments are among the most
detailed and stinging. Perhaps Carol had some of these comments in mind when
she spoke to Linda.
-----Original Message-----
From: FOR THE MINORITIES AND COMMUNICATION DIV. OF AEJMC
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dr. Linda F. Callahan
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 4:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Summary Responses of Carol Pardun
Dear Colleagues:
I spoke with AEJMC President Carol Pardun today. I shared
with her the
sentiments expressed by CSM & MAC members regarding
President Obama and
Transparency.
She is going to provide a written response to our
conversation after
speaking with Advisory Board members; however, this is a
summary of her
response as to why the news release was sent.
1. It was a difficult decision that was discussed for
several months.
2. The release was not politically focused.
3. "From our investigation, facts are clear that he
hasn't had full press
conferences as often as he should have."
4. Despite the fact that he has had numerous press
conferences and uses
social media, "he's driving the communication
channels instead of giving
access that would allow reporters to do their jobs."
5. She has received a lot of emails thanking them for
"having the guts" to
do the news release.
6. She was shocked and surprised that some have suggested
the news release
was politically motivated.
7. She was even more shocked and surprised that some have
suggested that
racism might have been a factor.
8. They did not expect this response and did not expect
this to be
controversial. They thought that net-neutrality would
have been a
controversial issue, but not this.
NOTE ABOUT # 6, 7, 8.
[I did not bring up "politically motivated" or
"racism." So, someone prior
to our conversation had raised those issues. As for #8,
I suggested that
more diversity on the Advisory Board could have caught
this problem].
MAC Chair Jennifer Woodard and I have spoken. We decided
that we would
hold-off on the joint resolution until we receive a
written response from
Carol and the Advisory Board. She will send the response
to me with the
understanding that I will share it with CSM & MAC.
(CSM is an oversight body
of AEJMC).
Thank you very much for your feedback.
Linda Florence Callahan, Ph.D.
Chair, Commission on the Status of Minorities
Professor
Journalism & Mass Communication
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro, NC 27411
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