During his sworn testimony yesterday, APS School Board President Marty Esquivel said blogger Joe Monahan was not a "journalist". Being "a journalist" is Esquivel's prerequisite for being afforded the respect shown to reporters from "newspapers" and "TV stations; TV stations like the ones he represents, or has represented; the Journal and KRQE.
"Blogger, says it all" Marty Esquivel offered in response to a question about my protection under the First Amendment.
When pushed, he had to admit his exclusion included one of the most widely read bloggers in the state; Joe Monahan.
When pushed further, he argued, Heath Haussamen, one of the state's most respected bloggers, was not entitled to the protection for "the press". I am relying on my memory of his indictment of Haussamen; I will bow of course to any contradictory evidence in the not yet available, transcript of his testimony.
Being "a journalist" is Esquivel's prerequisite for entitlement to the
protection according to the first amendment to the Constitution, the
first in the Bill of Rights, wikilink.
Congress (the APS Board of Education) shall make no law ... abridging the freedom ... of the press.Including taking it upon themselves to decide who and who isn't entitled to the protection of the First Amendment.
Reporters working for Esquivel's friends like Kent Walz, are of course, "journalists". They are protected from disparate treatment under the law. Bloggers are not.
Esquivel and Walz are both recently elected to the Executive Board of the NM Foundation for Open Government and transparency.
Go figure.
photos Mark Bralley
4 comments:
Mr Esquivel worked a whole summer writing sports stories in Los Angeles as an intern. Then he finished law school and then he taught some journalism ethics classes. End of history as a working journalist. The day to day work of gathering stories, interviews, double checking (and checking again) facts, and making sure to follow the journalist code of ethics is not limited to those paid by the corporate media to "report". Monahan and Heath have both shown through many years that they have the desire to get down and dirty and call a pig a pig if that is what the facts show. (I will not defend those bloggers who write anonymously.)
As for Mr Casaus - what do you call a former journalist who sells out his trade and confidential resources to work for a governmental entity? A fool.
How the worm turns. I remember when Veronica Garcia and her henchmen were stringing up a very popular principal at Washington Middle School back in the '90s, he, as a reporter, and a photographer from the Journal burst into a meeting taking place between top APS administrators and a large group of faculty and parents, who were angry with APS's decision to demote the principal. The administrators told him it was a closed meeting, but a few very brave parents insisted that he be allowed to stay and report on the B.S. the administrators were handing out. At that point, the administrators left the meeting.
We who were there that night, applauded him. Today, we who applauded him that night, look at him with utter contempt! Talk about moving to the dark side!
wow
I can't wait to read the story he wrote. Any more details that might help me find it?
thank you
I think it was in the fall of 95 or 96 when Aggie Lopez was on the board. Both the tribune and journal covered it all extensively. There were a few gifted parents from the Country Club area with connections who were very upset with the then Superintendent Horshacks decision to remove the Principal On Veronica Garcia's say so. It was also around the time Eddie Soto was removed from Rio Grand HS when half the students went on some sort of protest march up central. I remember the outed Principal sued the district but never heard the outcome. I have a folder of articles somewhere, if I ever find it I'll contact you privately.
As my mother used to say, Give a little man a little power and he becomes a bully. Give a big man a little power, he becomes a leader! The Principal they removed was a true leader.
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