News bulletin
You performed a valuable service in printing Project Censored’s Top 10 stories of 2003-2004 in your September 28 issue [“All the news that’s fit to gag”]. Unfortunately, the public seems unable to absorb and to respond even to the uncensored information that is freely circulating in the press, such as:
-Iraq possessing no weapons of mass destruction, and Saddam Hussein posing no threat to the United States.
-The Bush Administration’s pattern of ignoring intelligence warning of Bin Laden’s determination to strike in the United States; its failure to bring together various intelligence agencies despite Richard Clarke’s urgings; and its original opposition to an independent investigation of the 9/11 attacks.
-The statement “outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade” in the February 10, 2004, Economic Report of the President to Congress.
-Dick Cheney’s retaining $8 million in stocks and getting paid $1 million per year by his former company, Halliburton, which is being awarded no-bid contracts in Iraq.
Etc., etc., etc.
Vanthi Nguyen
Charlottesville
Clear difference
This is in response to Doug Knox’s letter [“Radio waves,” Mailbag, October 26]. It is also a purely personal account of my experiences with WCHV-AM, the local Clear Channel affiliate, which is often the target for those who joust in the ongoing battle between small (local) and huge (corporate).
As someone who has never, and who will never, be greeted by a Wal-Mart greeter, I much prefer dealing with hometown/homegrown businesses. When I lost my theater-reviewing outlet due to The Observer’s folding, I thought I’d put my vocal cords to use as well as my typing fingers. The first station I contacted was WCHV, where the operations manager, Regan Keith, could not have been more courteous. He said it was an interesting concept—reviewing plays on-air—and he would get back to me.
I am a Luddite who, nevertheless, expects instant messages. So I waited a couple of weeks, and then called the manager of the soon-to-be-local “other” station. Intrigued? Yes, he was. However, there were conditions: I had to listen to the morning show, and resume my call-ins which, for a variety of reasons, I’d quit doing last year. “Sure,” I told him, knowing my reservations for this kind of trade-off would win out.
Lo and behold, a couple of days later, I received a call from Tony Boothy, WCHV’s morning guy, asking me to come in for an interview. The result: a cordial relationship with Booth, who chats with me before and after my reviews, and my delight at having found a congenial outlet for my theater-obsessed self.
WCHV, and Clear Channel, are involved in many good causes—both national and local. Big doesn’t always mean bad. I am happy with my minimal association with the station, and wish—as does Knox—that it would receive the appreciation and respect it deserves for its participation in the life of the community.
Barbara Rich
Charlottesville