Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 11:31:30 -0600 (CST)
From: Dennis Grammenos <dgrammen-AT-prairienet.org>
Subject: M-I: CNN News chief and the "Chief" 



Just a few minutes ago I called in to a radio talk show on our local NPR
affiliate, WILL-AM and I confronted --live and on the air-- the new head
of CNN News Rick Kaplan over the callous remarks he made in regards to the
U. of Illinois rascist mascot "Chief Illiniwek".

I explained that I am concerned about how decisions are made on what is
and what is not worthwhile news.  More importantly I am concerned with how
stories are presented, how they are "spinned".  Then I posed a basic
question to Mr. Kaplan: "What biases does the head of CNN NEws impart to
what is presented (or not presented) as news? 

I went on to inform the listening public that just yesterday, Mr. Kaplan
called the anti-racist, anti-"Chief" campaign "bullshit," that he went on
to declare that if "Chief Illiniwek" were eliminated he would never visit
the campus again, that this is merely a "prissy PC issue", and that "there
is no story there, no one would be interested".

Mr. Kaplan, sounding a bit shaken, side-stepped the immediate issue of his
callous comments and sought to portray his record as one of "great
integrity" and "open to public scrutiny".  He emphatically dismissed the
possibility of his own biases reflected in the stories covered (or not
covered) by CNN News.  

I tried to push the issue a bit more by repeating that it is --at the very
least-- disconcerting to think that a person with such strong biases as to
publically dismiss an anti-racist campaign as "bullshit" and to declare
that "there is no story there, no one would be interested", and that it is
a "prissy PC issue", is running CNN News.

Mr. Kaplan seemed to have swallowed his tongue since he had no response to
my comment and after a few seconds of absolute silence, the host said "I
guess that is all he has to say on this matter."  Just to get the last
word in I concluded "I guess that IS all his has to say!" and hung up the
phone.


That's the news from central Illinois:-)

Solidarity,
Dennis Grammenos

 _____________________________________________________________
| Dennis Grammenos                      dgrammen-AT-uiuc.edu     |
| Departments of Geography &                                  |
| Russian and East European Studies                           |
| University of Illinois                Phone: (217) 333-1880 |
| Urbana, IL 61801                      Fax:   (217) 244-1785 |
|_____________________________________________________________|








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