Plus, O'Malley is about 10 years out of college, and her career is a very good example of the kinds of careers you can have with a degree from a liberal arts college.
Read the column, and answer these questions ... as comments to this post:
- What is O'Malley's role here? Is she functioning as a watchdog? If so, who is she watch-dogging? (Whee! I just made up a new verb.) Are the media and lobbying groups like the Alaska Federation of Natives public institutions in the same way as government is? Who should they be accountable to? Who holds them accountable?
- A related question. In this column, O'Malley is focusing on the mass media in much the same way that comedian Jon Stewart focuses on the media. (Oops! I just gave away the answer to the first question.) Compare and contrast the way they do it. If the media don't watch-dog themselves, who else is going to do it?
- What is the role of the two disc jockeys here? What responsibilty do radio personalities have to the public? How did the disc jockeys in this story understand their responsibity? How did that understanding change?
- The Alaska Natives decided not to go to the media because, "News stories split things into two sides and heighten the conflict." Do you agree? Do the stories have to be divisive? Compare the State Journal-Register's coverage of the controversy a Halloween display - link here and here - in Springfield.
- In general, what responsibility do professionals in the mass communications industry have to the overall community? How can they balance those responsibilities with the need to entertain people and make a profit?
Here's O'Malley's story, which ran in Sept. 1 and was headlined "When the conflict is race, don't feed the fire" ...
But first, a little background: Alaska Natives include diverse groups of people, including several American Indian tribes and the peoples we lump together as Eskimos. The First Alaskans Institute is a Native not-for-profit agency that focuses on "leadership development, education and public policy." One of the important Indian tribes is the Tlingit (pronounced KLINK-it). The controversy arose last spring when Rochene Rowan-Hellén heard a tasteless joke about "cash for Tlingits" on KWHL and contacted FAI. They met with radio hosts Bob Lester and Mark Colavecchio of the Bob & Mark show, whose joke it was, and their boss Anchorage Media Group General Manager Dennis Bookey. O'Malley continues the story:
At this point, something predictable could have happened, along the lines of what happened to KBFX personalities Woody and Wilcox, who made a similar on-air gaffe in 2008. That provoked rebuke statewide, from the Alaska Federation of Natives, to the mayor, to the Anchorage School District. The dee-jays were suspended and ordered to sensitivity training. And people whispered that Alaska Natives couldn’t take a joke.So instead of going public with the story, they quietly contacted the station and met with the disc jockeys. They promptly acknowledged they'd messed up and took steps to correct it. But it went beyond that, when they met with a group of Natives.
Rowan-Hellén didn’t want it to go that way. Humiliating Bob and Mark wasn’t going to make them see things from her point of view, she said.
Lester, Colavecchio and Bookey agreed to be part of a working group to come up with ways to make lasting changes at the station and in the community. Lester and Colavecchio went to a training at the Alaska Native Heritage Center to learn about Alaska Native culture. When they were there, they met a lot of Native people who listened to their show.Out of the meeting came some changes in programming. Says O'Malley:
“The thing that hit me that day was these people love what I do and I let them down. It’s like letting down a loved one,” Colavecchio said.
At KWHL, they reviewed all their radio skits and deleted the ones that had racial overtones. They apologized formally. They started planning some outreach events in the Alaska Native community. They discussed the possibility of having an Alaska Native intern on their show. And, the two guys, who over the years have flirted with shock-jock status because of edgy humor, thought hard about what it means to be funny. Funny can be irreverent. Funny can poke at public figures. Funny doesn’t have to rely on stereotypes.I don't usually like to editorialize too much in class. I'd rather have you develop your own independent judgment. But this time I'm going to: Sometimes you can do well (financially) by doing good.
“If I’m going to have fun, it’s with my arm around somebody,” Lester said. “I’m not going to punch them in the face.”
“You can’t satirize a culture,” Colavecchio said. “If nobody ever tells you that, you don’t know that. You are ignorant.”
For the last three months, they tweaked the tone of the show. And their ratings came back higher than at any time in recent memory. They hadn’t lost their edge. They’d gained audience.
4 comments:
Yes! O'Malley was he watchdog in this situation and so was the Alaskan natives. The disc jockeys should have been accountable as soon as the skit aired, just as any other skit. O'Malley makes people aware that media or people in the media, speak on things that offend others all the time. It is unacceptable, and in this situation the disc jockeys were made aware of their on-air mistake.I do believe that the situation was handle well. It was not taken too far to the extent of embarrassing these well known disc jockeys, but made them realize that the skit they aired was offensive and ignorant. I also believe it takes a bigger man to admit when he is wrong. And the two Alaskan disc jockeys did so. I believe overall these situations happen all the time. But, if people are offend it isn't about forgiveness but a concept of REVENGE! I only wish all negative media was handle this way.
O'Malley and the Native Alaskans are both acting as watchdogs in this situation. O'Malley because she writes about it, declaring that it is wrong to do. The Native Alaskans because they stood up for themselves and told the disc jockeys that they were wrong as well. If the media does not watch dog itself, then someone has to do it. It does not take violence or hate to display your point of view. You can act in the same way as the Natives to try to make someone understand your point of view. Then that way, the message can be spread thoroughly.
The disc jockeys play an important role in this situation. They are responsible for the emotion that arose. They said hateful things in their skit on the radio, which offended the Natives. They should be responsible for the consequences. The jockeys definatly understood their responsiblities after they realized they had hurt multiple people. They handled the situation well I believe, after the problem arose.
I think that it was really nice of the Alaskans not to go to the media, because they knew the reprocusions it could have. It was the right decision because the point of view, the message, was displayed well.
It is the responsability of the media to keep all offending subjects off the television, radio, etc. It is common curtosy and respect to treat everyone nicely, even if you are not fond of a race. The media should start being their own watchdog....
Yes, O'Malley was a watchdog! The Alaskan Natives are and aren't the same as the government. I don't believe they are as professional. Some Alaskans hold them accountable, not as many as the government though.
O'Malley and John Stewart are both watch dogs if someone doesn't watch what is and isn't put on the Internet or on television our world will be in a frenzy.
In this instance the DJs are a bit more bias than they should be. There job is to release information, in an unbiased way, hopefully!! They began to understand at the end.
I believe that it was a good idea to not go to the newspapers, but also bad. Depending on the newspaper they could portray it in a good or bad perspective. But most likely it was a good idea because media often edits things in a different light and what it really is.
I believe that people get caught up in money and don't remember that they have a job to serve the community and give them information. They have a huge role and need to remember that.
Yes I O'Malley was wa watchdog, she watched dog on the situation about a radio station and their skit that hurted their Alsakan natives audience. Omally explains that it's not right to talk about racial groups on the radio because that it can hurt viewers feelings. The way the natives handle it was acceptional instead of goin to the media because media can split things up and wound up not going in the right direction. Instead they called for a meeting with the two disc jockeys and settled it ove a discussion on how they felt about the skit. From there on they have changed and deleted eve skit that dealt with racial issues in a way changed the or whole show and now have a higher rating than ever before. O'Mally displayed the issue and how was resolved
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