First Amendment blog assault continues...

So School Committee Chair Michael DeChiara has not seen his name in print for a few weeks and conveniently decided to continue stoking the fires of censorship by sending a follow-up missive (this time only signed by His Majesty and not the other 4 School Committee Chairs) to the District Attorney attempting to rebut the rightfully concerned ACLU counter-letter that garnered equal headlines to his initial PR ploy.

Okay, fair enough. But one thing you probably should not do in a letter to the DA, who is after all an attorney, is to admit you are "not a lawyer and cannot offer case citations," but then go on to suggest the ACLU lawyers who are lawyers--and well respected ones at that--did "not read the 5/18/10 letter carefully."

DeChiara whines, "Because many of us perceive the possibility of a conflict between Freedom of Expression and Massachusetts' Open Meeting Law it is my/our public belief that many of us are that many public officials are self censoring; limiting their freedom of expression as a result of murky legal waters."

Oh really? So who are all these public officials holding back their desire to found a free blog on Blogger or Wordpress because they fear violation of state law? Can you name one or two? And last I looked the state of Massachusetts has one of the weakest Open Meeting Laws in the nation--as individuals do not get fined for (intentional) violations, so they certainly don't have to worry about ever going to jail.

So if a current public official is that timid to hold off on founding a blog because state government has not issued "Blogging and Open Meeting Law for Dummies," then chances are their blog would be boring as Hell and nobody would read it anyway.

The state Open Meeting Law, as toothless as it is, was enacted to ensure public discussion takes place in public; it's the intentional, deliberate circumvention that should concern citizens--not the once in a blue moon unintentional serial discussion where one board member bumps into another at the grocery store and comments about an issue before them and then that member bumps into another at the Dunkin Donuts and regurgitates the brief comments.

But on a blog, EVERYBODY can look over your shoulder and bear witness to the conversation--all of it time date stamped!

I'm glad DeChiara professes to "wholeheartedly supports the ideas and values behind government acting 'in the sunshine'. However, without clear guidelines from the District Attorney, this is not possible."

Hmm...the First Amendment is a Federal Law enacted to prevent government--even lowly town government--from restricting the rights of 'The People and The Press' to voice their opinions. Asking a (state) government agent for "clear guidelines" about free expression is kind of like asking the fox to come up with organizational rules for the henhouse.

And yeah, I kid you not, he even signed off with:

"Michael DeChiara
Shutesbury, MA
An elected public official seeking guidance from my government."

(Although to his credit, he did at least forward a copy to the ACLU--but not to School Committee blogger Catherine Sanderson who is the obvious target of his egotistical ire.)

A Comment about 'No Comment'

My Journalism prof sent the class a link to the current American Journal Review editorial where the editor, Rem Rieder rants about Anon comments on news websites. The subheadline says it all: "It's time for news sites to stop allowing anonymous online comments."

Since the AJR doesn't allow Comments, I thought I'd try to do that Journalistic fair-and-balanced thing and talk about the other side--not that I'm overly fond of Cowardly Anon Nitwits.

First off, I can tell Mr. Rieder has led a sheltered life as the ONLY example he uses of a horrible Comment was this, and it was referring to a public official in--of all places--rough and tumble New Orleans:

"Theriot, just another Jefferson Parish politician thug mobster trained by his mentor..dressed up in a façade of respectability by a corrupt Louisiana Legislature."

Hmm...sounds like Mr. Theriot (who briefly filed a defamation suit against the paper over the Anon Comments published) has pretty thin skin as well.

My Irish mother taught me a long time ago that "sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me." Geeze, if he really thinks that one is so bad, I should send him some of the choice comments I've had hurled my way over the past three years here and for seven or eight years earlier on Masslive, the Springfield Republican website.

What I worry about most--and what the editor completely ignores--are folks who post Anonymously because they fear retaliation, as in losing their jobs (which we saw here in Amherst when the Town Manager fired an Information Technology employee for copying a job related letter of complaint to the entire Select Board.)

And no, "Whistleblower Protection" does not trickle down to a town level as it is a Federal Law that only protects Federal employees who blow the whistle on corruption.

Catherine Sanderson (you know--the School Committee blogger that five school committee Chairs would love for the District Attorney to shut down) defends Anon posts on her blog because she knows some of them come from "insider" employees who could lose their jobs, or parents worried administrators or teachers could retaliate against their kids.

Family comes first.


"No Comment" Editorial June/July American Journalism Review

Journalism's hope and power

Edward Kennedy closed his eulogy to brother Bobby with a variation of a George Bernard Shaw quote: "Some men see things as they are and ask why, I dream of things and say why not."

For me that sentient represents the power, nobility and awesome potential of Journalism. To see wrongs and expose them--but better yet, try to replace those wrongs with something right, while minimizing collateral damage. To make a difference, sometimes THE difference.

If you stand in Amherst town center at high-noon on the 4th of July and send up a flare, hardly anyone will notice. It will get lost in the bright background of a nice sunny summer day and even those who do see it will simply consider it a routine byproduct of a holiday celebration.

But if you trudge to that same spot during the coldest darkest days of February in late afternoon and launch that same pyrotechnic anybody in the center of town will stop and take notice, and they will tell their friends who will maybe pass it on to their friends.

Such is the power of the Internet, where stories can go viral simply by folks taking a moment to post the link or pass along an email and suddenly more eyeballs take in something on their computer screen or smartphone than will see the same story on network television later that night or in print the next morning.

In 1986 soon after the Challenger disaster, Professor Ziff had as guest speaker the editor of the Concord Monitor, Christa McAuliffe's hometown newspaper. I asked him what he would have done if he absolutely knew beyond a shadow of a doubt the Challenger would explode that morning but had no corroboration. He looked me directly in the eye and said (with his voice somewhat trembling) he would have done "Anything--absolutely anything--to get the word out, including standing in town center naked with a warning tattooed to my butt."

A page one story or editorial may also have done the trick, and at the time he was in a position to make that happen (probably over the objection of his managing editor or publisher if he only had once source). I got the impression he almost felt guilty.

We are hearing only now of all the economic shortcuts and chances BP took with their Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded killing 11 workers and perhaps forever staining the environment. Only now! Where was the investigative media spotlight teams a few months ago when it could have made a difference?

Yes, Twitter and Facebook garner fawning media attention for number of users and the ability to instantaneously transmit thought (much of it mindless); and it's safe to say some of those who died on the oil platform had an account with one or the other.

But is it their job to blow the whistle on safety shortcomings when it could easily cost them a very lucrative job? Perhaps, and considering they are now dead, a better choice indeed. But would the old guard mainstream media, who's supposed to act as watchdog, have paid attention--especially when Big Oil companies are lucrative advertisers?

Give voice to the voiceless. Stand up to the 'Powers that Be'. Seek the truth knowing full well that rarely is the truth pretty or easy to come by. And do so proudly by signing your name.

I wish the mainstream media would embrace the Internet rather than curse it. It has been over 15 years now and they still don't appreciate it. Print media rely on BIG expensive presses that "go to bed" after putting out a daily edition. The Internet is always on, with a publish button simply a click away. A blessing and a curse.

The wisdom of the masses is now infinitely easier to tap into as anyone with expertise, knowledge or an eyewitness account can instantly add to a story..or Anonymous trolls can ruin it for everyone by posting malevolent drivel.

And while the First Amendment allows for a lot of things, propriety and good taste can still be maintained. As William Woo pointed out, wearing a jacket emblazoned with "F_ck the draft" in a public place is legal, but may not be tolerated at Sunday family dinner.

The rules of Journalism have not changed, only the method of presentation. "The trick in effective change," according to Woo, "learning what from the past should be retained and what should be replaced." Or as Thomas Jefferson pointed out, "A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing."

Behind every print byline or website posting sits a human being trying to have an impact on other human beings. Words and good writing are still of paramount importance. Principles will always matter.

Flag Day: There they go again...

(9/27/09) The Select Board added that day for the 250th Parade

UPDATE: 11:20 AM The flags are now up in town center (yeah, behold the power and all that). And they will stay up until Bunker Hill Day, June 17. Although now that the state is thinking about nixing that hack holiday, maybe the Select Board will nix it as well for the flying of the flags. Until then the casual observer passing through town center will mistake Amherst for a quaint, patriotic, Rockwell kind of New England town. Mistake indeed.
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Original Post 10:00 AM

So for the second time in six years town center is barren of the 29 commemorative American flags on Flag Day. And no, I do not think it's a conspiracy hatched by flag haters or any sort of political statement, they just, quite simply, forgot.

Now you know why I tried to trade Flag Day for 9/11 a few years ago as one of the six official days the commemorative flags could fly with the rulers of the public way, our venerable Select Board.

Back in 2004, the last time this happened, I biked through town center and Selectman Gerry Weiss held the only extra flag out that day, in the upside down position (sign of distress), to protest the war in Iraq.

And at the time I said that scene perfectly illustrates what our flag represents: the precious right of individuals to protest government policies.

Consonance and Dissonance

So if I were--God forbid--the editor of the esteemed Amherst Bulletin, I would have been a tad more, errr, snarky with my Page One layout.

I loved the main above-the-fold top story placement for "ACLU backs 'official' blogs" as well as the almost equal placement (folks read left to right) of A-Rods rant about his brief tenure as highest paid Superintendent in history. Hey, at least he did not blame the blogosphere this time.

But the just below-the-fold, "Amherst Boycotts Arizona" contiguous with Amherst Regional High School baseball pitching phenom Kevin Ziomek getting drafted by the ARIZONA Diamondbacks where the Bully purposely left Arizona out of the headline "Ziomek drafted by Diamondbacks" is what I'm really talking about.

Oh well, I guess the diffident Amherst Bulletin doesn't want to piss off the Amherst powers that be.

Boycott Amherst?

UPDATE: 7:00 PM
Amherst Regional High School pitching sensation Kevin Ziomek was today drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Is that karma or what?
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Original Post: 9:00 AM
It was one of those great bluffs from the original Star Trek where Captain Kirk, with his venerable ship about to be destroyed by a hostile Death Star bluffs the opposing captain by suggesting the Enterprise hull was imbued with "corbomite"; so if any destructive energy touches it, a reverse reaction of equal strength reverberates back--destroying the attacker.

Obviously Amherst Selectboard members are not Star Trek fans and, even worse, none of them have any small business experience (yeah, you would think one or the other is mandatory for the "job".)

Last nights grandstanding 'Boycott Arizona' resolution is, unfortunately, going to rebound back with many times the destructive force intended. And it will be the small business owners of Amherst, already outnumbered and under siege, that will pay the heavy price.

The Springfield Republican Reports (as always, reader Comments are the best)


My previous report

Score (another) one for the blogosphere!

6:15 AM (Tuesday) So the print Gazette put this ACLU spanking of school committee chairs for trying to censor blogs story on the Front Page--but, alas, below the fold. My friend Vladimir Morales hogged the above the fold location with an article about him getting the Select Board to endorse a boycott of Arizona (geeze, like how hard was that to do?) Just another typical 'Only in Amherst' idea, so naturally it attracts undue media attention.
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9:25 PM Gazettenet just put up tomorrow's edition of the Daily Hampshire Gazette and it contains a "guest column" by Michael DeChiara, chairman of the Shutesbury School Committee defending his idea to get the DA to issue a (restrictive) guidebook for public officials daring to use the open transparency and power of the blog.

The ACLU counter-letter railing against that Free Speech chilling idea could not have come at a better time. Let's hear if for the cavalry!
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1:15 PM (hot copy)

Those White Knights of Freedom, the ACLU, has come to defense of the blogosphere--or at least Amherst School Committee member Catherine Sanderson's piece of it--with a common sense official letter of concern to the local District Attorney who was recently asked by five School Committee chairs to provide a legal opinion potentially shutting down the freewheeling discussion that takes place on blogs if maintained by public officials--that as an Amherst Redevelopment Authority member include me.

They share the tremendous concern of all of us who value the freedom and New World Order brought on by that great equalizer for Democracy, the Internet.

According to the dispatch signed by William Newman, Director ACLU western Massachusetts Law Offices and his legal partner Thomas Newman, "The Supreme Court has been unwavering that expression on public issues rests on the highest rung of the First Amendment values."

They also point out that which should be pretty obvious: "Blogs are completely open to the public for inspection and response. And where there are no secret meetings or deliberations by a quorum, there is no violation of the Open Meeting Law."

Even more to the point: "The goals of the Open Meeting Law, we suggest, are enhanced, not jeopardized, by the use of blogs by public officials, who invite public comment and debate and allow an elected official to state his or her views and to invite criticism and comment, much as elected officials regularly do when newspapers ask for , and then report, comments and positions of elected officials on pending issues."

And they conclude with "We urge the greatest caution in any formulation of the Open Meeting Law that might tend to compromise the guarantee of the First Amendment."

Or to quote Scottish Braveheart William Wallace's dying word (at least as enunciated by Mel Gibson): FREEDOM!

My initial breaking of this story

The Bully Reported (better late than never)