A Brief History…

By Bradley J. Fikes

UPDATE: The trial was exhilarating. A shaky video, but representative of the atmosphere, is above, taken by yours truly.

Here’s another video, of John & Ken’s reaction to Tax Traitor Dave Cogdill’s calling those who voted against tax-raising Prop. 1A “special interests”.

And below is a video clip of the audience proclaiming Darrell Steinberg guilty of being a tax traitor.

The background: Republicans Mike Villines and Dave Cogdill, along with Democrats Karen Bass and Darrell Steinberg, were the top four leaders in the California Legislature last year, who supported a huge tax increase to balance the budget, while Californians were reeling from recession. KFI talk show hosts John Kobylt & Ken Chiampou held a mock trial for the “tax traitors,” on Tuesday. The trial, at the Ayres Hotel in Costa Mesa, was attended by about 200 people.

The impetus for the trial was their receipt of the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award from Caroline Kennedy, which they picked up Monday.

Since the Taxing Tetrarchy didn’t show up, they were represented by blow-up dolls, dressed accordingly, and all stuffed with money. After a trial of a little more than an hour, including audio playbacks of vows not to raise taxes, and tax victim impact statements, the four were unceremoniously stripped of their clothes (and Bass-Doll of her wig), and dumped into the pool outside.

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Hyperkinetic truth-tellers John Kobylt & Ken Chiampou are hosting their take-no-prisonersKFI talk show today at the Ayres Hotel in Costa Mesa. I’m here, as it’s too good an entertainment meal to pass up. The show begins a little less than 90 minutes from when I’m writing this.

The appetizer is served at 2 p.m. with a healthy exchange of views with Republican senatorial candidates Carly “Demon Sheep” Fiorina, Tom Campbell and Chuck DeVore.

The main course is two hours of John & Ken’s merciless skewering of pompous liars, thieving con-artists and moronic media types.

The dessert begins at 5 p.m. with John & Ken’s “Trial of the Tax Traitors,” those scoundrels who voted to raise California taxes last year, hurting the recession-suffering state. On Monday they got a “Profile in Courage” award from Caroline Kennedy.

John and Ken say they will wear robes & wigs and wield gavels as they judge the tax traitors. Listen to one of them, Republican Mike Villines, repeatedly deny to John & Ken that he would vote to raise taxes.

THE VERDICT: Tax Traitors Mike Villines, Dave Cogdill (Republicans) and Karen Bass and Darrell Steinberg (Democrats), or reasonable facsimilies thereof, have been duly convicted and punished.

DISCLAIMER: This is the personal opinion of Bradley J. Fikes, and does not necessarily reflect the views of his employer, the North County Times.

By Bradley J. Fikes

On May 3, the San Diego City Council passed a resolution condemning Arizona’s new illegal immigration law and asking for its repeal. Shortly thereafter, news stories and blog posts popped up falsely stating that San Diego had joined a boycott of Arizona.

Based on these erroneous reports, Brett Scott, of Gilbert, Arizona, began a list of cities to reverse-boycott, with San Diego first on the list. Scott has now taken San Diego off the list, after learning from me that the city council didn’t actually call for a boycott. Here’s my story on it.

San Diego reverse boycott dropped - Click to read clarification

Scott was properly mortified, and explained to me that he saw a vast difference between criticizing the law and a boycott. It’s only the latter that makes him want to fight back with a reverse boycott. He said to me:

“The site was put there simply to take those people who have declared economic war against Arizona, and say, if you’re going to be that way, and attack Arizona economically, then we’re going to respond. In other words, right back at you. If someone disagrees with us, then we’re back in the world of debate. And that is what this country’s all about, free speech and debate. So, whereas I disagree with the council’s resolution — I think it’s none of their business — I completely support their right to say so, and even do so. I think it’s silly, but that’s well within their purview.”

I had inadvertently stumbled into a classic story of how bad journalism goes viral. Scott and people working with him had found multiple stories falsely stating that the San Diego City Council had voted to boycott Arizona. He trusted the reporters to get it right, especially since more than one of them said the same thing. Scott made it very clear to me that he only wanted to boycott those actually boycotting Arizona, not just those who opposed the law.

But the reporters simply didn’t check their information. I don’t know who was the first to say San Diego was boycotting, but I can make a pretty informed guess as to how it got started.

The story was originally told correctly by the San Diego Union-Tribune, other local media, and the Associated Press.

What actually happened

But because the story fit the template of a backlash against Arizona, reporters and bloggers elsewhere folded in the San Diego City Council’s condemnation into the larger picture. In the process, they failed to distinguish between a vote to condemn the law, and an actual economic boycott. So Brett Scott got fooled by sloppy media coverage.

The Union-Tribune’s record isn’t faultless. Unclear language in the lead of one story seemed to imply San Diego was boycotting Arizona.

San Diego tourism leaders and hoteliers fear they could lose a sizable chunk of business this summer from valued “Zonies” who are so angered by elected leaders’ recent censure of Arizona for its illegal-immigration law that they’re mounting an informal boycott of their own.

To be fair, the subhed for the story said the outrage may be a “misunderstanding,” and a bit more explanation was given deeper in the story. But casual readers (who are most readers) could easily have just looked at the lead, saw the word “boycott” and concluded that San Diego was part of the boycott. The word “informal” in front of boycott didn’t make that clear.

Four days later, a story on the Web site of WHBL radio in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, drew that erroneous conclusion from the Union-Tribune article.

WHBL says San Diego council boycotted Arizona

The WHBL post stated:
San Diego Boycott of Arizona Backfires
Tuesday May 18, 2010 Posted 5 days, 13 hours ago by Kelly Meyer

Perhaps the city of San Diego should’ve thought of the hardworking men and women of Arizona and the impact a boycott would have on their livelihoods before deciding to take the action they did.

So an unclear lead in the Union-Tribune morphed into a flatly false post at a radio station in Wisconsin. This illustrates that often, the further away from the epicenter of a news event, the more inaccurate the coverage becomes. Reporters copy each other, including each others’ mistakes. Due diligence would include going back to the San Diego City Council to find out exactly what they did, or at least reading the local news reports.

Over at Fox News, Judson Berger repeated the same falsehood.

“Boycotts work,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said last month when he announced his support for his city’s proposed ban on Arizona. The City Council passed the measure last week.

Other California cities, including San Diego and San Francisco, have gone the same route. The Seattle City Council approved a similar boycott Monday.

And here’s another Faux News (sorry, in this case it’s justified), story making the same false claim about a San Diego boycott.

False claim of San Diego City Council boycott of Arizona

The ‘threat’ to LA that wasn’t – more media botchery

By the way, Judson Berger also botched a description of an offer from an Arizona power commissioner to renegotiate contracts supplying Los Angeles with electricity. The letter from Gary Pierce was a “put up or shut up” offer — if you really want to boycott Arizona, we’d be happy to let you cancel those contracts.

Berger called Pierce’s letter a threat to unilaterally cut off power:

Noting that a quarter of Los Angeles’ electricity comes from Arizona power plants, Pierce threatened to pull the plug if the City Council does not reconsider.

Fox News falsely says AZ official threatens to cut off power

The letter, which Berger’s article linked to, stated:

“If an economic boycott is truly what you desire, I will be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation.”

So into Berger’s brain goes a statement from Pierce that he’d encourage utilities to “renegotiate” agreements — and out of it comes a story saying Pierce “threatened” to cut off power.

Shelby Grad at the LA Times wrote a similarly inaccurate blog post about Pierce’s letter.

Gary Pierce, a member of the Arizona Corporate Commission, sent a letter to L.A. officials Tuesday discussing the possibility that Arizona cut power to L.A. from generators in that state. It’s unclear whether Pierce’s suggestion has any support from other members of the commission — or whether such a cutoff is legally allowed.

LA Times Gets It Wrong

The UK Guardian also distorted the story. As with most of the stories, the quotes from Pierce don’t match the claims.

Listen to a MP3 clip (1.5 MB) of a great rant by John Kobylt & Ken Chiampou about the wretchedly inaccurate local news coverage of Gary Pierce’s letter to LA, lightly edited for time and clarity. Unlike most of the reporters who wrote on this, they actually interviewed Gary Pierce — twice. The link to the full 8 MB MP3podcast where this is discussed is here. The rant begins about 20 minutes into the 36-minute podcast.

And here is a brief MP3 clip of Gary Pierce saying he can’t cut off power without LA’s consent. This is from the May 18 John & Ken Show. You can listen to the whole program, an 8 MB MP3 download, here. The segment starts at 9:00 of the 34-minute podcast.

Back to San Diego
Newsweek also screwed up the facts.

Earlier this week, student activists staged a sit-in at Sen. John McCain’s Tucson office to condemn his support of the law. City leaders (not all of them Latino) from San Diego to St. Paul, Minn., declared boycotts against Arizona.

Over at the Orange County Register, Jay Ambrose repeated the San Diego boycott falsehood.

Let’s boycott the boycotters. As a nation, let’s rise up and say, yes, at every opportunity we will vacation in and visit Arizona, we will order products from Arizona, we will do business with Arizona, but then say no: We will not set foot in or buy anything from San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland, Los Angeles, Austin, Boulder, Boston or any other city whose leaders announce a boycott of Arizona.

But it wasn’t just the national media. A local news source also egregiously screwed up. San Diego 6 wrote on May 19:

BERKELEY, Calif. — Berkeley has become the latest California city to join San Diego in boycotting Arizona in response to the state’s new law targeting illegal immigration.

The City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to restrict Berkeley city staff from traveling to the state on city business.

San Diego 6 Says San Diego Boycotts Arizona

Interestingly enough, this turns out to be an Associated Press story, that didn’t mention San Diego when run elsewhere.

In the Mercury News, the lead said:

BERKELEY, Calif.—Berkeley has become the latest California city to boycott Arizona in response to the state’s new law targeting illegal immigration.

There is no mention of San Diego at all in this story. My guess is that some editor at San Diego 6 inserted the reference to San Diego to localize the AP story.

And the San Diego Reader ran a short article by stringer Ken Harrison inaccurately lumping in the San Diego City Council with the San Diego Unified School District as boycotting Arizona.

On May 17, a male caller to Chip Franklin’s morning show on AM 600 claimed that the Hotel del Coronado was losing reservations from Arizona residents unhappy with the City of San Diego and the San Diego Unified School District’s boycott of Arizona due to their new immigration law.

Of course, journalists will make mistakes. We’re only human, and of course I have often made mistakes. But this level of erroneous reporting, in which a major fact is repeatedly botched, should warn readers, reporters, and editors, that standards have fallen way too low.

Others repeating the bogus San Diego boycott claim include the Prescott (Arizona) Daily Courier. the Pasadena Star-News, Canada Free Press, the Daily Californian student newspaper and yet another erroneous story from Fox News.

DISCLAIMER: This post represents my own opinion, and not necessarily that of my employer, the North County Times.

By Bradley J. Fikes
KFI talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou don’t just talk. They report. They’ve done in-depth reporting on the Arizona illegal immigration law. They’re openly advocates of the law, which puts them at odds with most of the media, such as the Los Angeles Times. (MP3 clip, 2:29)

I’m going to present here one aspect of their coverage of the law and the boycott against the state. After my description, I’m linking to MP3 audio clips from their show presenting highlights of how John & Ken tackled the story.

If you just want the audio clips, scroll way down.

Great Oak Band Letter- screencap Sunday afternoon, May 16

On May 4, John & Ken reported that “a high school in Temecula” (later identified as the Great Oak High School band) had canceled its trip to the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona as a protest against the law, according to Kristen Jarnagin, spokeswoman for the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association and Arizona Tourism Alliance. They interviewed Jarnagin while on location in Phoenix.

Jarnagin originally said “Temecula High School,” but when John questioned that, she amended it to “a high school in Temecula.” John and Ken vowed to find out the identify of that high school.

Here’s the exchange when this was first announced: (Click here for the audio, 40 seconds):
KRISTEN JARNAGIN: Today we actually got a cancellation out of Temecula High School. Today, a band that was going to come and march in the Fiesta Bowl parade. So they don’t get to come anymore.

CROSSTALK —-

JOHN KOBYLT: — Wait a minute —

KEN CHIAMPOU: John & Ken Show booms into Temecula! —

JOHN KOBYLT: Wait a second – Temecula High School?

JARNAGIN: It was a high school in Temecula —

JOHN KOBYLT: — A high school in Temecula . . . and are they not coming to Arizona at all?

JARNAGIN: Their kids don’t get to play in the Fiesta Bowl Parade now.

The exchange is on the John & Ken podcast for the 5:00 hour, available in MP3, beginning at the 30 minute mark. This is an 8 megabyte download. For the impatient, I have shorter audio clips in the timeline further down in this post.

Toward the end of the segment, John and Ken said again they would look into “this high school in Temecula.”

The next day, John & Ken re-interviewed Jarnagin to confirm that the cancellation was indeed because of the boycott, and not for any other reason. Jarnagin said her group only counts cancellations made specifically due to the boycott, and those taking the cancellations don’t inquire into the reason. Only if the group brings up the Arizona law on its own is the cancellation counted as part of the boycott.

John & Ken also said they had found out the high school involved was Great Oak High School. They also read an email from Melanie Norton, a Temecula Valley Unified School District spokeswoman, saying that the cancellation was for financial reasons, not a boycott. She also complained that their show’s listeners had bombarded all high schools in the district with phone calls.

However, John & Ken found the actual truth to be more complicated. The band indeed had trouble raising money, but they’ve amassed evidence suggesting that the band director, Jerry Burdick-Rutz, also spoke in opposition to the law. They’ve said they’ve received emails confirming this, and talked to people on the air who have said this. Others have told the talk show hosts on the air this was a strictly financial decision.

So how to discern the truth? The most obvious way would be to get Burdick-Rutz on the air to tell his side of the story. However, J&K say he’s not agreed.

Another way to find out would be to offer to raise money so the band could make its trip, and see if the school district bites. The duo said they’d rally KFI listeners to donate enough so that the students could go.

However, John & Ken say they’ve received conflicting responses from various school officials.

— On Friday, May 7, John & Ken said they had received a tentative sign of interest from the school district for help with the fundraising.

— But the next Monday, May 10, they said the school district turned down the offer, because the band was going to save money by going to local competitions.

— Still later, the school district said the band had decided to eschew the Fiesta Bowl because it wanted to save money to appear in London at the Olympics, in 2012.

The North County Times turned up independent evidence confirming that the Arizona law was a factor, a letter on the band’s Web site saying the Arizona law created security issues.

On Wednesday, May 12, Temecula Mayor Jeff Comerchero appeared on the John & Ken show to talk about the situation. He said school administration officials assured him that they want to go to the Fiesta Bowl competition, if the money could be raised. Comerchero said he and his four colleagues would chip in $10,000 from a discretionary city fund.

John & Ken also read various emails, including one a listener said was forwarded from the band director’s wife, Carrie Burdick-Rutz, giving a hard to believe reason for canceling the Fiesta Bowl trip (MP3, 23 seconds). Here’s the transcript of the clip:

KEN: She heard back from Carrie Burdick-Rutz, who said, “Maybe there are some other factors which John & Ken have not cared to look into. The band just returned from our national DC Memorial Day parade, 2009 . . .”

JOHN: They just got back?

KEN: I don’t know what that means.

JOHN: That’s almost a year ago!

KEN: “. . . Which cost each member nearly $2,000 to attend.” Yeah, that was about a year ago.

JOHN: They just got back? That’s a slow plane!

That’s the story up until last week.

There’s a grain of salt you have to take with some of John & Ken’s reportage, because it includes people who aren’t fully identified, such as parents and band members. I’d like to see reporters track down these people, and get them fully on the record.

Now here are some audio clips from the John & Ken show where you can hear for yourself how the story evolves. For your listening ease, I’ve kept most of them to no more than 6 minutes; some are much shorter.

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TIMELINE WITH MP3 AUDIO CLIPS

MAY 4
Kristen Jarnagin says a high school in Temecula boycotted Fiesta Bowl (40 seconds)

Lengthier clip of Kristen Jarnagin explaining boycott (5:45)

John & Ken vow to investigate “this high school in Temecula” (7 seconds)

MAY 5
John and Ken investigate, doubt school’s story (5:02)

Father of band member says cancellation was financial, not boycott (3:21)

Jarnagin repeats that cancellation was boycott (8:17)

Anthony, band parent, says it was just financial. (1:46)

Great Oaks staff member says it was just financial (2:28)

Another caller says it was just financial (0:45)

J & K read from what they say is a student email that it was boycott-related (1:15)

J&K discuss crediblity of boycott claims (5:45)

MAY 7
Why J&K think student email is true (1:17)

J&K say they’ll raise money to help send band to Fiesta Bowl (4:04)

Mother of former band members says cancellation was political (2:12)

Temecula school district ponders offer (0:34)

MAY 10
School district says band wants to go to 2012 London Olympics (0:35)

Another email says band cancellation was political (0:58)

Letter on band site mentions Arizona law as safety issue (3:55)

Dueling Explanations (1:05)

Will juniors and seniors raise money so sophs and freshmen can go to London? (0:17)

MAY 12
Email about the role of Burdick-Rutz’ wife, Carrie Burdick-Rutz. (2:22)

Temecula mayor Jeff Comerchero says district wants band to go to Fiesta Bowl Part 1 (3:32)

Temecula Mayor Jeff Comerchero, Part 2 (3:08)

DISCLAIMER: This post represents my own opinion, and not necessarily that of my employer, the North County Times.