Today we'll debate whether journalists should reveal their sources. We'll also discuss the topless protests organized by FEMEN, and whether they get feminism right. Later, we'll consider Governor Jerry Brown's visit to China, talk about the potential crackdown on Los Angeles street vendors, and examine the significance of the pay gap for college professors. All that and more, on AirTalk.
Should journalists reveal their sources?
Mother Jones published on Tuesday a secret meeting between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and his aides on February 2. Mother Jones said they were given the secret recording by an anonymous source, and the FBI is currently investigating who bugged the Senator’s office. In the meeting, Senator McConnell and his aides discussed how to bring down Democratic opponents, especially actress Ashley Judd. They discussed at length her political views, religious beliefs and her personal struggles with depression.
Also, a Colorado judge yesterday decided to delay his decision about asking Fox News reporter Jana Winter to testify in the James Holmes trial. If Winter takes the stand, she has to reveal her sources or serve time in prison for being in contempt of court. Winter reported that anonymous law enforcement sources told her that Holmes sent his psychiatrist a notebook with details about “how he was going to kill people.” The law enforcement officials who told Winters about the notebook have not come forward, but the judge is also deciding whether or not the notebook’s contents are admissible in court since it may be protected under physician-patient privilege.
Should journalists still be protected from revealing their sources? Is there negative bias towards the media outlets have that covered these stories?
Guests:
Sara Morrison, Assistant Editor of the Columbia Journalism Review
Kelly McBride, Senior Faculty for Ethics, Poynter Institute
Topless protests split feminists
The feminist protest group FEMEN, founded in Kiev in 2008, has been in the news lately with a series of topless protests. The latest was held this week in Hanover, Germany, when Russian President Vladimir Putin was meeting publicly with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Protesting the jailing of members of the Russian group Pussy Riot, a FEMEN protestor approached Putin, breasts bared, with anti-Putin slogans painted on her body in Cyrillic script.
FEMEN was and has become known for staging topless protests highlighting women’s issues, including sex tourism, violence against women, religious oppression. According to their website, FEMEN uses “sextremism” to protect women’s rights and attack patriarchy “in all its forms: the dictatorship, the church, the sex industry.”
FEMEN protests have targeted the International Olympic Committee and the World Economic Forum, and recently staged “International Topless Jihad Day” in support of Tunisian student Amina Tyler. Tyler, who came under attack by Islamist groups for posting topless pictures of herself on Facebook, is currently in hiding after reportedly receiving death threats.
FEMEN members have declared that using their bodies is the best way to gain attention for their political message. But how do other women’s groups feel about their bold tactics? Are they undermining the cause of feminism by taking such a blatantly sexual stance? Putin was visibly amused by the sight of a woman baring her breasts; did he totally miss the message? Does getting naked trivialize serious political issues? Is FEMEN helping or hurting women’s causes?
Guests:
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, co-founder and editor of feminist online magazine The Vagenda, blogger for the New Statesman at The V Spot
Edina Lekovic, Director of Policy and Programs, Muslim Public Affairs Council
Governor Brown shopping for trade in China
Governor Jerry Brown touched down in Beijing today. He’s on a week-long trade mission and told reporters today, “We’re a green state, and we like greenbacks.” Chinese officials see a parade of Western governmental and business leaders keen on finding investors.
So is a trade mission still worth it? What are the compromises California might make for Chinese money? What type of long-term trade office is Brown opening?
Guest:
Rob Schmitz, China Correspondent, Marketplace, American Public Media
Will LA lay down the law on street vending? (Poll)
The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors is considering a motion today that would clamp down on illegal street vendors. The motion, written by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas who represents the 2nd District, applies to illegal vendors that sell everything from bacon hotdogs on pushcarts to used and new items on the streets in the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles.
Efren Martinez, executive director of the Florence-Firestone/Walnut Park Chamber of Commerce, says vendors are coming into South Los Angeles to sell because the lack of law enforcement. He notes that you'll find anywhere between 60 and 300 illegal vendors in his community on an average day.
"The worst part about it is that the vendors go ahead and place themselves right in front of another established business," he said. "... They are coming here because they know they can get away with it."
Two possible solutions that have been tabled include coordinating yard sales so they only take place once a month, and giving sheriffs the authority to issue citations to offenders on the spot.
While proponents of the motion say that illegal street vendors are hurting legitimate brick-and-mortar businesses, Rudy Espinoza, executive director at Leadership for Urban Renewal Now, said these illegal vendors are just trying to make an honest living.
Espinoza points to macro economic issues, such as poverty and chronic unemployment, as the underlying problem: "I think we have to bring everyone to the table ... the issues small businesses are dealing with are the same as what vendors are dealing with."
"Most of the vendors are older women who can't find a job," he said. "They are trying to find a legal way to do it but unfortunately in Los Angeles, there is no legal way for them to vend on the street."
Where do you stand on the issue? Should unlicensed vendors be sent packing? Or do you find their services helpful?
Guests:
Efren Martinez, executive director, Florence-Firestone/Walnut Park Chamber of Commerce
Rudy Espinoza, Executive Director at Leadership for Urban Renewal Now, who has done work with street vendors
Study shows widening income gap between professors at public and private universities
The annual economics report from American Association of University Professors reveals that the difficult economic climate is taking a particularly nasty toll on professors at public universities. Tenured professors at private universities received an average of $167,118 last year, while their counterparts at public institutions received an average of $123,393.
According to the report the gap has grown wider in recent years, and state budgets across the country continue to appropriate fewer and fewer funds to higher public education.
Is the gap stretching so wide that it will affect where professors choose to teach in the future? How can public universities continue to compete for top talent?
Guest:
Dr. F. King Alexander, Ph.D., President of California State University, Long Beach
Technology, immediacy, and coping with ‘presentism’
Have you ever been annoyed by someone who answered a text in the middle of the conversation? In Douglas Rushkoff’s new book, “Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now,” Rushkoff believes that this is a symptom of a new way of life.
Rushkoff challenges Alvin Toffler’s 1970s book “Future Shock,” which theorizes that mankind will be unable to cope with rapid change. Rather, with our microwave and smartphone lifestyles, Rushkoff believes that society has adapted to view time in a different way – by living in the “now.” In “presentism,” the top priority is whatever is happening at that moment.
But unfortunately, the consequence is a lack of caring for the future and moving forward towards goals. Is Rushkoff right? Do you feel pressured by the “now”? Do you want immediate results? Are we more impulsive as a society? Have we lost sight of long-term goals?
Guest:
Douglas Rushkoff, Author, "Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now" (Current; March 15, 2013); the prolific media theorist also wrote, "Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age" and "Life inc." Rushkoff has written and hosted PBS Frontline documentaries, including “The Merchants of Cool,” which looked at the influence of corporations on youth culture.