Pub radio editorial standards

A debate is stirring about the public radio station in Athens, Ohio, refusing to broadast Amy Goodman's "Demoracy Now." I ran across the issue in the pub radio journal Current. A retired professor challenges the station's position that Amy's "DM" does not meet its editorial standards.

In a local newspaper op-ed, he writes: "I challenged WOUB's assertion that "Democracy Now" does not measure up to certain journalistic standards. With respect to journalistic standards, we wonder about WOUB's own journalistic standards, when the station recently accepted a $500,000 donation from Roger Ailes to help pay for a technologically advanced newsroom. Ailes is best known for his association with the right-wing Fox News Channel as news chairman and then, since 2005, as chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group.

"Additionally, my first analysis focused on the coverage of Secretary of State Colin Powell's address to the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003, in which Powell marshaled the evidence for invading Iraq. "Democracy Now" had experts who expressed skepticism about Powell's evidence, while the guests on NPR and PBS largely accepted the evidence in favor of an invasion. I will be investigating coverage of other significant events in coming months."

FYI, KSFR does air Amy Goodman and as news director I've found less reason to question her slant on issues I know about than some of the majors.