We all knew it was bad. Today, New York Times media reporter David Carr tells us how bad in an exhaustive piece on Tribune Co. under real-estate mogul Sam Zell and his nutty co-conspirators, Randy Michaels and Lee Abrams.
There’s plenty of sex and rock-and-roll, though no drugs. The only false note is Carr’s description of the new barbarians desecrating the “shrine” that was the office of longtime Tribune owner Robert McCormick.
Then again, though the Colonel was a piece of work on the order of the foul-mouthed Zell himself, he never would have dreamed off stripping his newspaper and ushering it into bankruptcy.
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Reading the Times article reminded me of “Mad Men,” a show that is too painful for me to watch because I lived through it. In the 60s and 70s, women like me, who were trying to get into radio, had to put up with sexual harrassment, insults, crude frat house behavior (at one station where I worked, the guys would gather in the conference room to watch porn), oh and did I tell you that when I asked one station manager why I wasn’t getting equal pay, I was told I made “very good money for a woman”? If we complained, we were told we were not being “team players” and also told we’d never get another job in broadcasting; so we kept out mouths shut and tried our best to get along with everyone. It wasn’t easy.
Fast forward to 2010. I was profoundly disappointed to see that some of the people I worked with, and whose contempt for women was well-known, are still being rewarded for that behavior. Okay fine, Randy Michaels and Lee Abrams never personally harrassed me (although I know both of them, we did not work at the same stations), but their attitudes were the attitudes I saw and endured every day. I’m not seeking sympathy– I’m just saying that I had hoped the industry had changed. Guess not.
You are quoted as stating that “CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS MAY BE AMONG THE FACTORS TELEVISION STATIONS USE TO MAKE THEIR DECISIONS ABOUT LEGITIMACY” AND “IF THEY CAN’T RAISE MONEY AND THE ONLY THING THEY ARE RELYING ON IS THIS FREE DEBATE, YOU COULD MAKE THE ARGUMENT THEY’RE GAMING THE SYSTEM”
THE INDEPENDENT VOTERS are not gaming the system, as you so crudely spoke about in the Cape Cod Times article of October 11th. As Independents we are asking that the political process respect fairness and recognize the failures of the two party system saturated with special interest money and influence. PEOPLE of the 10th district want a Congressional leader that will use common sense, integrity and compromise to debate our issues and vote for solutions that are good for our hometowns. The voters are watching and listening to the media outlets that are excluding legitimate candidates who have followed every rule & regulation to qualify their candidacy. THEY ARE ON THE BALLOT ON NOVEMBER 2ND ! In an inclusive culture ALL people matter. “THE MEDIA MUST PLAY ALONG” if they expect to be respected as journalists. The media has an obligation to be balanced and fair by embracing INCLUSION in a society that was founded by those very principles. Shame on you for not displaying integrity.