A Letter From Someone Who Has Issues With Arizona Public
Media
I just got over a bout of nausea from reading the gushing
self-compliments you repeated from a KUAT Channel 6 bureaucrat
regarding their TV shutdown (“KUAT Experience Indicates the Digital
Transition May Not Be So Bad,” Media Watch, April 23). Once I was clear
of the bathroom, I sent KUAT the following screed:
“Once again, you manage to twist the facts to suit your agenda of
endless self-promotion. In the Tucson Weekly, your Mr. Delgado
was singing his own praises on the successful shutdown of analog TV on
Channel 6, which curiously still appears at the top of your main Web
page as a way to get the picture. Here is a big headline: There is
nothing on analog 6. And even when there was something on analog 6,
there was nothing on analog 6. PBS programming and your own programming
have become so third-rate and lacking in integrity or originality that
whatever appeal you might have had is long gone.
“The reason you got only a smattering of calls is not because you
did such a fabulous job of informing the public, but because the public
has given up on getting any satisfaction, answers or response from you
about anything. I have written several letters to you criticizing your
so-called “news” on the radio, but you don’t even bother to write with
a denial or defense. You probably treat everyone that way, and everyone
has decided not to even bother calling or writing to you. Your smugness
and snottiness and self-isolation have served only to thoroughly wrap
your cocoon up so tight that no light of day can penetrate the miasma
of self-praise which clouds every pronouncement and fatuous utterance
by Robert Rappaport several times each morning. As the house organs for
the Board of Regents and Robert Shelton’s PR machine, your radio
stations especially are a laughingstock of pretend journalism. If the
students graduating with degrees in that field are using KUAT and KUAZ
as models for their future, the future is in deep trouble. Please spare
us the continuing stream of back-patting about how well-run your
operation is. It is not, and your only accomplishment of late is
running what once was a somewhat credible outlet into the ground.”
They never reply to anything I send them, and I don’t expect any
sudden enlightenment. But I do expect more from your paper than
lockstep affirmation of government irresponsibility and arrogance.
My disappointment in all institutions is dropping lower by the day.
Thank you for reading this.
Tom Higgins
Get Lubed Up and Ready for the City Council!
Karin Uhlich strongly favors the rent tax, and it seems she will
persist in having it her way (“Back to the Drawing Board,” Currents,
May 7). The approach she favors is one I describe as the “Astroglide
Method,” and the City Council commonly uses it in face of strong
opposition.
As she says in the article, “… we could phase it in over time and
start at a much lower rate.” She certainly knows how to screw
taxpayers.
Daniel Shay
Thanks for Promoting the Causes of Compassion and Hope
Thank you so much for including “Treasures for TIHAN” in City Week
on May 7. Thank you for bringing attention to HIV/AIDS in our community
and what TIHAN is doing to address the issue. Our event was a great
success, thanks in part to the excellent coverage that we received from
you.
As the number of people living with HIV/AIDS increases, it is
important that you bring awareness to this topic. Here at the Tucson
Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN), we serve people of diverse
backgrounds, all living with HIV/AIDS. We have helped stay-at-home
mothers, sweet abuelas (that’s “grandmothers” in Spanish),
leaders of local Christian churches, teenagers and others. Through our
work, we have learned that there is not a typical person living with
HIV/AIDS. All strive to fill basic human needs, like having a
supportive community, not being hurt by discrimination and access to
health care. We hope you will keep those we serve in mind for any story
about compassion and hope, and not only for stories about HIV/AIDS.
Thanks again for helping increase awareness about HIV/AIDS.
Ari Kelly
Director of education and community relations,
TIHAN
It’s Time to Ban Greyhound Racing!
Regarding “Kennel No. 1” (Currents, April 23): Thanks for focusing
attention on the horrific living conditions for greyhounds at Tucson
Greyhound Park. Greyhound racing is fraught with cruelty. Dogs often
spend their entire lives muzzled in cramped, filthy cages, except when
they are taken out to race. These gentle, sociable dogs rarely know the
comfort of a kind word or a comforting hand. Illness and
injuries—including broken legs, heatstroke and heart
attacks—claim the lives of many dogs. Those who don’t “make the
cut” are discarded like garbage.
It is time for Arizona officials to ban this shameful “sport” once
and for all. To learn more, visit grey2kusa.org.
Jennifer O’Connor
People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals
This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.
