Posted on 08/25/2005 4:55:00 PM PDT by freespirited
The facts are simple: Nine charges against Ward Churchill ranging from plagiarism and historical fabrication to ethnic fraud were considered by an inquiry subcommittee of CU's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct (SCRM). Of these, seven have been referred to an investigating committee for further investigation, which should eventually lead to recommendations to SCRM on Churchill's fate at CU. Only two of the allegations before the inquiry committee were not passed on for further investigation, one of which was a charge of ethnic fraud, which was more than likely the right thing to do. After all the effort we and others put into proving Churchill's lack of Indian blood, the charge seems destined for defeat, since while proving Churchill had no Indian ancestors was merely labor-intensive, proving Churchill knew he was not an Indian is virtually impossible (I'll leave a discussion of whether CU should be granting employment or tenure—or even a free collector's plate with every fill-up—based on racial membership for another day).
Our outrage centers not on Churchill's spin of the story—which ignores the remaining seven allegations (mostly of plagiarism and historical fabrication), and instead highlights the dropping of the ethnic fraud charge—but rather the media's willing acceptance of that spin. No corporate flack, no sticky-fingered politician, no university president could ever expect from the media that kind of unquestioning acceptance of their version of the story. Yet this same media hands Churchill the first PR victory he has had since this story broke back in January.
Readers of PirateBallerina are already aware of the Denver Post's series of mash notes to Churchill (rather than post links to our rants, just go to the Denver Post's website and search for available articles containing "Ward Churchill"), and it should come as no surprise that the Post's coverage of the inquiry results followed the Churchill spin so faithfully that Churchill's attorney David Lane should have gotten a byline (with the actual content, of course, ghost-written by Churchill).
But that's no surprise; we've come to expect slavering adulation of Churchill from the Post. It's the Associated Press' equally-gullible coverage of the inquiry results that is far more troubling, if for no other reason than the AP story was picked up by at least a hundred newspapers and TV/radio stations. It was the AP version that most people have read or heard. Talk about a lie getting 'round the world before the truth gets its boots pulled on.
Why am I not disparaging Churchill for the spin? Because of the two involved parties—Churchill and the media—Churchill is guilty only of presenting this new development in the best (for him) possible light. He did what anyone under public scrutiny would do. It was the media that not only failed to do its job, but failed miserably. If skepticism is what journalists are supposed to have running through their veins in place of blood, then the media is in dire need of a transfusion. Maybe some AP-negative.
Take the current gas "crisis" in Hawaii, where state officials are getting ready to institute the same failed policies Nixon implemented back in the gas-rationing/price-capped '70s. Malia Zimmerman of the Hawaii Reporter remains the sole member of the media in Hawaii who isn't blaming Chevron and other usual suspects, but instead points out that perhaps, just perhaps, Hawaii's 60-cent-per-gallon tax might have something to do with the state's higher than mainland gas prices (by comparison, Zimmerman points out, Alaska's per-gallon gas tax is 29 cents). Rather than reiterate her eloquent Wall Street Journal essay, I'll just provide a link to it. Read it and weep that she doesn't run the Associated Press. Or the Denver Post.
Even the most humble small-town newspaper reporter knows that he can't uncritically accept a newsmaker's version of a story. It's necessary to find opposing views and perspectives, and when facts contrary to the politician's assertions are discovered, they must be dutifully reported. The same applies whenever someone says anything "newsworthy."
It's safe to say that the Denver Post is no small-town newspaper. Nor is the Associated Press.
Pity.
Newsworthiness can be defined broadly as the utterances of "anyone with a vested interest in a particular outcome." It's obvious that Churchill has a vested interest in the outcome of the SCRM's interminable slouching toward its decision. Since neither the Post nor the AP manages to fulfill the mission any small-town journalist would (simply report the story... the whole story), perhaps they each fall under the definition of "anyone with a vested interest in a particular outcome." I wonder in what outcome to the Churchill fiasco the Associated Press has a vested interest. What vested interest has the Post in the outcome of the Churchill case?
No matter. Suffice it to say that had the Post and the AP for just a moment pretended to be small-town reporters with a mandate to report the whole story, those of us not following the Churchill debacle with something akin to obsession (which would seem to include everyone but me and maybe two or three other irascible cranks) might just have learned that the inquiry committee's referral of most of the charges for further investigation means that Churchill is now in more trouble than he was, and that his separation from CU, while no certainty, definitely looms larger and more clearly on the horizon.
TRANSLATION: "The same Kangaroo University Courts that persecute campus Conservatives and impose totalitarian political correctness and speech codes on helpless students under our thumb decided to give a free pass to one of their own, Professor Ward Churchill."
"The comments he made were very very damaging and very hurtful," Giuliani told a crowd of about 2,000 at the Coors Events Center.
"I think the remarks were extremely cruel," he told reporters "He inflicted a tremendous amount of pain on these families."
Giuliani compared Churchill being on CU's faculty to having a geography teacher who believed the world is flat.
"He's entitled to that opinion, but you don't want him to be teaching geography, do you," Giuliani said.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3673489,00.html
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