Urban Unrest

22 April 2006 | Business, Community, Programming | Ernesto Aguilar

Friday at NFCB was a busy day. Sessions today were far better than what I attended Thursday. Among the best was a session on story focus for radio. During this session, participants learned to cultivate programming ideas through a variety of means. The issue of balance came up, and prompted me to consider a recent article I had read.O. Ricardo Pimentel’s recent piece “It’s Time to Forswear Your Civic Celibacy” (posted at Poynter Online) drew my interest as PD. I’m in charge of folks tasked with interpreting the news, and hear from listeners who tell me what they think of that news coverage. I also recognize one of our weaknesses is a need for newsroom philosophy and how it relates to our station. Pimentel makes some provocative points that Pacifica journalists might learn from.

To put what I read from Pimentel in context, I think Pacifica has the potential to blaze trails in the new millennium when it comes to journalism. I also believe we are bound, perhaps more than most media, to the basic tenets of journalism. Being a progressive media outlet shouldn’t make us propagandists for a particular side, and most listeners, I believe, don’t want us to tell only part of a story in the service of a cause. I do not believe that our goal is to capture every protest, or to cover everything. Instead, Pacifica journalism found its greatest success serving as the citizen journalist: providing hearings uncut and providing space for investigative journalism, such as Seymour Hersch’s My Lai reporting.

Friday’s presenter made a thoughtful point in this regard. In reporting for radio, it is critical to be honest, but to not deceive with emotion. Pimentel points out that reporters’ aversion to participation in pursuit of ethics creates a problem in having reporters removed from the world they have to cover. The topic of Pacifica journalism, balance, etc. are worth exploring more widely. Even the few moments we discuss this on Friday were important.

Friday’s other NFCB sessions were a noticeable step-up from Thursday, and yes, I did present at this event. I co-presented with colleagues on the issue of disaster preparedness for stations; my presentation focused on preparing volunteers and your site for disasters. I heard I got raves, and Pacifica’s Executive Director Greg Guma, unbeknownst to me at the time, was sitting in the back and later shared positive remarks. I offered those in attendance a chance to get my full presentation, which was three times the length of my 15-minute mini-workshop. If you attended NFCB, and even if you didn’t, you are welcome to email me at pd@kpft.org to receive your copy. It’s a PowerPoint file, with slides and presentation notes, but I can convert it to PDF if you would like.

Friday night’s tour of KBOO was great. I hope to upload KBOO photos, as well as conference shots, on Sunday.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!