Like Agri-Culture, our Human-Culture needs diversity to thrive. Please take a few minutes to watch this MSNBC news story on #Pointergate. It provides a concise overview and the necessary context required to fully understand whats going on. Not only has KSTP-TV continued to stand by their original racist and inflammatory reporting (although the station owner did say Im sorry if you dont like it) in their follow-up story they shamelessly shift the spotlight from blaming Mayor Betsy Hodges for pointing to attacking Navell Gordons reputation. And in so doing they continue to perpetuate harmful stereotypes that play on peoples fear of diversity when we what we really need is to embrace it. And please pay attention to what is happening in #Ferguson. What can we all do? I have found this blog to be helpful; thuginpastels/ The following is cut and pasted from the November 8th entry. First, let KSTP know of your outrage. You can find their comment page here or you can call their newsroom phone at 612-588-6397. As always, please be civil but firm. Also, continue tweeting at them your outrage, letting them know you refuse to watch their show and will not patronize their advertisers. Tell them to stop standing by the shoddy reporting of Jay Kolls. He is damaging their brand, and maybe eventually they will realize the problem he is for them. A twitter user calling her/himself @kstpadwatcher has begun tweeting the names of companies advertising on KSTP news. The account was just created and doesn’t have many followers, but watch there to see if this develops into a full-fledged campaign. With advertisers, let them know why you object to their sponsorship of a TV station that displays such an appalling disregard for journalistic ethics. Let’s not let the Minneapolis Police Federation off the hook. The Federation’s president, John Delmonico, chose to pursue a vendetta against Mayor Hodges because she dared assert that, while the overwhelming number of cops are good men and women doing their jobs, there are a few who damage the reputation of the whole force. In response to Hodges’ “Open Letter” to the community of Minneapolis, Delmonico wrote his own open letter stating that the problem in the Minneapolis Police Department is too many officers are being disciplined. After his role in #pointergate, it is clear that John Delmonico himself is one of those cops damaging the reputation of the corps. The Federation’s email address is info@mpdfederation and their phone number is 612.788.8444. Remember again, civil but firm. The twitter handle for the police department is @MPD_PIO. It is important to make a distinction between the action of Delmonico and the force as a whole. It is the opinion of many that there is a cultural problem within the department; one role the public can play in improving that culture is highlighting the difference between cops who are building community and those who are damaging it. (Let me point out that taking on the Police Federation and pushing for reform in the MPD is something that white allies can in particular play a big role in. People of color, especially African-American men, have reason to be concerned that speaking out could lead to police harassment. One of the things that has been missed in a lot of the reporting on #pointergate –and that KSTP, of course, completely ignored–is that the young organizer in that photo with Mayor Hodges, Navell Gordon, had recently caused some bad press for the police department when he was featured in news stories alleging police harassment of Get-Out-The-Vote canvassers on the North Side. A question Jay Kolls didn’t think to ask the cops who spoon-fed him the pointergate story is, did this very recent bad press have anything to do with why cops were trolling his Facebook page photos to begin with?) Finally, you can do something proactive. MN Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC) is the community organization that was slandered by KSTP and Jay Kolls. They are a youth and people of color-led organization that is doing amazing work focused on the North Side of Minneapolis. Support their work. Throw a few bucks their way. You can also follow their work on Facebook. Thank you for caring. And thank you for sharing.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 04:13:33 +0000
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