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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