Freedom of speech: for whom?

UPDATE: 5:15 PM: Naturally the McCormic campaign jumped on this journalistic travesty:

For A Fair and Balanced Panel Discussion on ACTV

The Amherst Bulletin announced yesterday that the Amherst
Community Television station will be hosting a free campaign appearance for the well-heeled state senate incumbent at the expense of his opponent. State Senator Stanley Rosenberg has been invited to be a panelist on a program about Ballot Question 1, to be taped and aired in the run-up to the upcoming election, in which he is facing an opponent, Keith McCormic, who was not invited to appear on the panel. McCormic is considered to be an expert on Ballot Question 1, and will be speaking at a Ballot Question 1 event in Boston on October 4th at Faneuil Hall.

Also, all three panelists are known to oppose Ballot Question 1. For the cable access station to advertise this program as an opportunity for voters to learn about the issues involved is misleading at best, since only one side of the arguments will be presented.

The Bulletin article neglected to mention that the panel discussion is being orchestrated by the League of Women Voters, which, as an organization, is opposed to Ballot Question 1 on the statewide level.

There are two responsible things for ACTV to do: 1) Make the discussion fair and balanced, by inviting speakers (including McCormic) who are in favor of Ballot Question 1; or 2) Bill the event as a slanted panel that will give the arguments against Ballot Question 1. Because if the bias is allowed to go forward unchecked, the impartiality of the station could be called into question. After all, 95.4% of ACTV's revenues come from the Town of Amherst, and most of the rest come from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which Rosenberg has actively increased funding of during his tenure on Beacon Hill.
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Original Post 3:30 PM So the Amherst July 4’th Parade Committee endures years of bureaucratic bullying from the Amherst Select Board, Town Manager, the Amherst Democratic Town Committee and the League of Women Voters to allow any-and-all “opinion/protest” into the private celebratory parade, yet the People’s Republic of Amherst now excludes dissenting opinion/speech on Ballot Question One--the one that would significantly reduce the supply of pork to the public trough.

ACTV is the town of Amherst. They receive $250,000 annually from Comcast –a small slice of overall revenues from Amherst subscribers (5%)—and if they went dark tomorrow that money would be diverted to the town’s General Fund. So it is Amherst tax money.

President Reagan killed the FCC “fairness doctrine” in 1985. Ironically that damn Republican opened the door for folks like ACTV to get away this unfair and unbalanced coverage of a major political ballot question.

State Senator Stan Rosenberg is slated to speak at the Panel Discussion with two other opponents of the ballot question. Keith McCormic, his opponent in the state senate election, champions passage of Question 1.

Talk about a stark difference! Yet Mr. McCormick is being denied a seat at the table.

What are they afraid of?


Amherst Bulletin 9/26/08:

Amherst panel talk takes up Question 1

A panel discussion of ballot Question 1, concerning the repeal of the state income tax, will be taped in front of a live audience Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the ACTV studio at 246 College St. The panelists are State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg; Pam Schwartz, Western Massachusetts coordinator for the Coalition of Our Communities; and Tim Sheehan, Fort River Elementary School grade 4 teacher at and President of the Amherst-Pelham Teachers Association.

The program is free and open to the public. Parking is limited and the studio seats 50, so residents are advised to arrive early. For information call 253-0633.