Michael Biesecker and the N & O's defense of his carelessly researched and written articles
Submitted by mbrock49 on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 2:29pm
May I suggest that after 3 to 4 posts on the same subject that the same etiquette that applies to emails applies to posts? in other words, start a new thread so people can stay on topic and not get lost in the thread.
Now for Michael Biesecker: I once thought he was a good addition to the now staid N & O reporting crew. He is like a bulldog with a bone on any subject he goes after. But like many bulldogs, he ain't so smart either.
I have read most of the news stories on the SBoE, and I encouraged Biesecker to look into the SBoE. I think there are indeed problems there. However, I think as usual, Michael prefers the sensational over digging out the difficult reasons for those problems. Hence, his most recent stories about Bartlett's "political cronies."
While sharing information on blogs like BlueNC does help in some ways, I wish those of you most educated on the issue would instead complain to his editor Dan Barkin, at the N&O and explain how poor a reporting job Biesecker has done.
My field of expertise is Mental Health, Disabilities, and the history of so-called MH Reform by the state of NC and its consequences (Not good ones). I have repeatedly asked the N & O for reports on specific issues, only to be ignored. They do not want the tough issues addressed. What they want are catchy and, often for those with a mental illness, stigmatizing headlines.
Just my thoughts for the day. Call the N & O and complain, don't just write on a blog about it.
Weapons of Mass Distraction
This is the point of all the hubub.
We've even got James following the MSM's (and by definition, the GOP's) lead byt headlining posts here like "The SBOE is a Mess!!!"
As I linked on the RealJobs thread...the meat of the policy is far too often the announcements that aren't covered because they don't have to do with rapes, murders, politicians on airplanes, etc.
Jingle, Jingle. Look over here.
Boo! Look over there.
Playing the game without playing into their hand is a difficult task.
Complaining to editors only goes so far. Seems we have a thread somewhere here about UNC-TV, don't we? Even James basic point about UNC-TV being nothing like a "traditional" journalistic endeavor was tossed aside only a weeks ago. Now everyone is posting that same conclusion.
The lesson isn't to follow the MSM and react to them.
The lesson is to lead them.
With all due respect ... which is a lot
... the SBOE is a mess. This article was only one piece of a bigger picture that I've been following for years. The Pope Morgan electioneering mess. The Strach mess. The manipulation of proceedings by Fetzer.
Reporters look for dirt. Over-worked or lazy reporters even moreso.
The steady drumbeat of criticism of institutions that's been happening now is the result of two things. (1) Active hot pursuit by Pope and Fetzer, and (2) shady operations in agencies and departments. The state board of transportation. The SBOE. ABC commissions. SBI. State police. Back room deals (Perdue and SEPA). These aren't stories that reporters have just made up. They are standard operating procedures in a stunningly incestuous political power structure.
The only reason I'm not suicidal is that we all know Republicans would be even worse. Just look at Pope's hand-picked Puppets running Wake County Schools. Just look at Pope's interference in Apex regarding abortion coverage. Just look at the crazy shit Andrew Brock is doing with his glittery new "Wakers" pyramid scheme. These guys are corrupt AND crazy.
The solution I see is hard choices by unsentimental leadership. As I said during the last election, Perdue has a chance to be the first of a new breed of independent-minded Democratic governors ... or the last in a dying breed of people who just don't get that people are fed up with business as usual.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Amen
Thank you. And you're absolutely right. The Republicans would be just as rotten.
But that doesn't mean that we look the other way when something is rotten.
I have always been a Democrat and plan to stay one. But I'll be damned if I won't work as hard as I can to fight corruption however I can and where ever I see it. And that goes double when the corruption is within my party. In fact, in that case, I feel a particular responsibility.
To do otherwise is to give the 'enemy' license to do the same.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
-Edmund Burke
Attend the SBoE meeting in Asheville; over 400 to attend
I was told by Don Wright, Counsel to the State Board, that in addition to info on the Agenda posted earlier today, he said that over "400 local Board members" will be mixing and mingling in Asheville next week on the 24th at the hotel. I guess anyone could "mix and mingle" and all state board meetings are public meetings and open to the public by statute.
if you are out West, especially in Asheville proper.
For those in Raleigh, you can always file a complaint by phone or email to the staff. I suggest if you have a legitimate complaint, you do so. I just did. I sent mine to Don.wright@ncbe.gov.
Don't quite know how I got referred to Wright, as I just called for information on the Agenda and, in particular the item on the Apex City Hall's appeal on having an early voting site in their town. Seems they are just too poor or inconvenienced to provide an early voting site in 2010's General Election. Anyway, their lawyer (counsel) returned my phone call.
Martha Brock
Don't take this the wrong way,
but I've decided to edit my previous comment in the spirit of Progressive togetherness. :)
early voting and state law
the law requires that every county have a minimum of one early voting site.
That site can be at the county board of elections office.
Early voting does cost money, and need depends on anticipated turnout.
Lord help us if the only place to vote
is the County Courthouse. I don't know about every County but around here the Courthouse is hard to get in and out of. It almost kept me from voting in the runoff.
Why can't the Senior Centers be used? They are the obvious choice because they are all handicapped compliant. Parking and access is easy. Voting should be easy.
Progressives are the true conservatives.
limiting blog posts and a "reporter's" unlimited megaphone
It may be boring to some folks to see citizens make posts about NC SBOE or the slanted coverage by N&O, but please just don't look at them if they bother you.
As for writing LTE to correct misinformation, or to object to character assassination or reporting office politics as "news", papers only allow 1 LTE or 1 OP per month, while Biesecker gets media space as often as he likes, which is around 2 times a week.
My op/ed correcting the paper ballot/vendor information was printed on August 12 - I can't write again for 30 days, and it is highly unlikely N&O will be gracious to run yet another article on same subject, even though Biesecker still runs innuendo on the subject of paper ballots/vendor.
Yesterday I saw a great LTE, and I posted a comment, and it has since been deleted.
Thankfully, the N&O news dept and the editorial dept are separate. The Editorial dept was gracious enough to run my OP, and they ran Bob Hall's LTE, and yesterday there was a great LTE by a guy from Goldsboro.
But we citizens only get a rare shot, and the whole value of the internet tubes is to be able to be heard when mainstream media refuses to hear.
I dont agree with Gary Bartlett on everything, but I do believe he's a decent guy and an excellent administrator of elections. I've sued the NC SBoE before, but on interpretation of law.
The articles say "questionable" this and that - about paper ballots & voting vendors but I can tell you they don't ask the questions and when I called Biesecker with the facts that was not welcome either.
I am grateful to have the internet and blogs so that people can take information to the public and be heard, instead of being limited to what MSM allows us.
Let's get this straigtht! (or better, what I meant)
I did not mean to "limit blog posts" in number in any way, only to get them easier to read by limiting the length of threads. (A rule I am breaking here in the interest of clarity in to whom I am responding).
Being new to this blog and having no idea who "NC Voter" is, let me point out I myself have already posted twice on the issue of the Board of Elections this week. I was trying just to point out that limiting your actions to talking or writing is not always the best solution. Not that is is entirely without value.
I find information is more easily shared on blogs, and this blog has great readership. That is why I posted the agenda for the State BoE meeting. Folks who do advocacy for a living or as an avocation forget lots of others don't know how or where to find information like this. Especially when the office is in Raleigh, and you live far away, say, in Asheville or even further West and rarely get to state government meetings due to distance.
If you read my entry (separate) posted just after midnight, you will see I put my self out there to write, go to meetings, protest by phone--in short do whatever I think works most effectively to get attention to issues.
I have spent over 8 hours on the phone just this week on local (Wake County) and state BoE issues. I have written and talked to Wright at the State BoE and staff at the local Wake BoE. And I have talked directly with other advocates like Chris Telesca, who knows much more than I about elections and voting.
Mr. Wright at the State BoE and I had a communication problem. Serious one, but he was cordial and listened. For some reason he kept trying to email me to all of my email addresses, and I never received any of his emails. (Strange)
The Wake County Director Cherie Poucher and her Deputy Director, when asked specifically if they had dealt with issues of inaccessibility for persons with disabilities to the polls identified in 2008, had an underling call me back to say "there were no issues." There were no "complaints" about accessibility. Really?
Actually there were documented cases of failures in compliance, and they were sent a letter by not just one, but more than one organization. "Brenda" said they would get back to me on that. I'm still waiting.
Martha Brock
Wake Cnty BoE not same as SBoE and about accessibility issues
First my apologies for not "signing" my other posts. I'm Joyce McCloy of NC Verified Voting.
regarding Wake BoE and accessibility issues. Wake does not speak for the NC SBoE and if you have problems with the Wake BoE, and if addressing problems in public meetings does not work, then you can file a complaint to NCSBoE.
I approached the Mayor's Council on Disabilities in early 2006 to encourage their group to attend voting machine demos in Wake Cnty. I was told that Wake BoE said there was no reason for them to bother, that the touchscreens were the only feasible choice for disabled and that the ballot marking machine was no good.
I contacted Dottie Neely, a social worker for the blind who also had contacts with National Federation of the Blind to encourage them to attend voting machine demos around the state. One friend in NFB suggested I contact Alliance for Council on Disabilities in Raleigh, so that was next point of contact.
Meanwhile, Dottie Neely did this interview regarding accessible voting systems:
Accessibility For All Voters - Has It Arrived?
by Pokey Anderson, for VoteTrustUSA January 11, 2006
An Interview with Dottie Neely, Advocate for the Blind
NCVV worked with Alliance of Disability Advocates back in 2006 to ensure disability advocates were notified of voting system demonstrations, and to make sure they had a voice in which voting machines were selected in their county.
Some of our activists worked with ADA folks to learn about the choices of accessible voting machines: 1)DRE touchscreens, which only provided audio readback and are very slow, or 2) ballot marking devices, which assist a broader range of disabilities, and later we learned also assist the elderly and illiterate voters.
The Alliance of Disability Advocates had not been notified or invited to attend the voting machine demos, and would not have known if we hadn't reached out.
We are aware that there are issues of physical accessibility to the polling places. That may be the greatest reason disabled don't GO to the polls.
Regarding what NCVV should do regarding physical accessibility - we can do what we can, but our expertise is in the area of electronic voting and voter registration databases and laws governing those. We cannot be experts on everything and do it all well. We can offer our assistance in efforts to be heard. Those who experience these barriers first hand will be best at speaking to those issues, and we can pass along those messages to a broader audience.
For communication with Don Wright, I've found that he will do his best to answer questions. I've never failed to get his emails, and I have used various email programs over the years.
If you don't feel you are being responded to, you can file an election complaint. This puts your complaint into a legal format and helps clarify the issue and desired results.
As for the message r/e the lack of accessibility of the Busy Bee - I'm not from Raleigh and while NCVV did have a meeting there a year ago, I never knew that there were still places that weren't disabled accessible, and was surprised to learn so, and especially in a progressive city like Raleigh.
I don't agree with NCSBoE on everything, and they haven't always responded to my satisfaction, and I have sued them before.
Writing on blogs, LTE and OPED is no guarantee of getting desired results, but it is a way to educate and inform the public. And an informed public makes better decisions.
Complaints: Boards of Election
I guess I am still not making myself clear for some reason. I am well aware of the difference between a local and a state BoE. As I stated before I did file complaints already:
1) with the Wake BoE (Poucher et al--no reply yet)
2) second one by email to Don Wright at the State BoE, which he did try to respond to and give me information about. I am as puzzled as you about the email glitch. Never happened to me before this either.
3)There are many many inacessible places/building structures "grandfathered in" because date of construction preceeded the ADA 20 years ago. Unless and until new additions or alterations in construction are made, they exist as before the ADA became law.
Also, specifically in terms of voting churches or old community centers are conspicuous examples are building that are frequently old and not ADA compliant.
I know a little about your organization, and I know your expertise lies other than disabilities. And yes I know about the Alliance of Disbility Advocates. Fred Johnson, who accompanied me to the N&O yesterday, is I&R person there and a former co-worker from when I was employed there myself.
Martha Brock