State of the Union - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - President George W. Bush's final State of the Union speech seemed more about his legacy than the state of our union. He expended great effort to give his spin on the war in Iraq. Bush realizes that history will judge him by the outcome of the Iraq war. Convincing the masses that the cause was just, will determine whether Bush goes down in history as a great leader or a butcher. Bush even floated a Mid East peace agreement. Bill Clinton wanted that to be his legacy but failed. Bush hopes to one-up his predecessor. What the State of the Union speech was NOT... was politics. Bush did not overtly press a republican agenda that could help GOP candidates for president. None of the candidates want to be associated with Bush. The president is remarkably unpopular these days. It's quite a change from his nearly 90% approval rating he enjoyed just after 9-11. That's a similarity he shares with his father. George H.W. Bush was hugely popular following the first Gulf War only to leave office after one term when the economy went belly up. How will history judge "W?" That depends on how the Iraq war eventually wraps up. Kent Ninomiya

Internet Lynch Mob - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - When we look at dark chapters of our history, we shake our heads at the Inquisition, Salem witch trials, and lynchings of African Americans. We wonder how people could do such things.

The modern day equivalent of a lynch mob is sweeping the Internet. Instead of wielding pitchforks and torches, they brandish mouses and motherboards. Take the case of a 21-year-old junior at Portland, Oregon's Lewis & Clark University. A 19-year-old former girlfriend contacted him one night resulting in an invitation to come to his room. She went there willingly. Both admit to drinking and say the visit turned sexual. What happened after that is unclear, but days later the woman told some friends she felt forced. Instead of going to the police, her friends started a Facebook group naming the man and labeling him a rapist. Irresponsible Internet bloggers then picked up the story and postings spread like wildfire across the country. Just like that, the man's reputation is destroyed forever.

In response to the Internet traffic, University administrators asked the woman to come forward and press charges. Only then did she file a complaint. The man was suspended from school. Even though sexual assault allegations are supposed to be confidential, the man was very publicly hung out to dry. Keep in mind, he has NOT been arrested or charged with any crime. This woman did not go to the police immediately following the alleged incident when some physical evidence could have been recovered. The two have a sexual history, she initiated contact, willingly went to his room and was under the influence of alcohol despite being underage. Instead of going through proper channels, her friends went to the Internet and hundreds of anonymous bloggers piled on to destroy this guy without a trial or proof that he did anything wrong.

I do not know if this man is guilty or innocent of rape. The fact is, none of us do. What makes America great is that we are supposed to have due process. The accused are considered innocent until proven guilty. You can't throw people in jail without charging them and you can't toss them in prison without a conviction. Citizens are also not allowed to take the law into their own hands. You can't gather up a posse and lynch someone because you think they did something wrong. So how is an Internet lynching different than one with a rope? In one the victim dies. In the other his reputation and freedoms die. Other than that there is no difference. Our society needs to address this issue. All our freedoms suffer while this can go on. If we don't deal with it, future generations will shake their heads at us and wonder how we could let this happen. Kent Ninomiya

Campaign Trail "Erupts?" - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - The Daily Show is always brilliant. Tonight they were especially inspired. They notched up their commentary on media responsibility showing anchor after anchor crowing on and on about outbursts and meltdowns on the presidential campaign trail. The anchors suggested Bill Clinton and Mitt Romney "lost it" on reporters. Jon Stewart then, in a way only he could, showed what really happened. Both men were calm and rational. Both discussed their point of views in a controlled manner. The Daily Show called the news industry on their tendency to exaggerate. It was funny and it made us look foolish. No wonder no one believes us anymore when we say the sky is falling. "Chicken Little" should be required reading in J-school. Being a journalist is a tough job. We are supposed to make news interesting as well as informative. This is especially challenging when the news really isn't very interesting. The problem is when we go too far and make story into something it is not. When we do that we lose the public trust. Thank you Jon Stewart for reminding us to keep it real. Kent Ninomiya

Prepare to be Annoyed - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - If you live in a state where your presidential primary election hasn't been held yet, prepare yourself to be annoyed. You will likely be inundated by robotic telephone calls asking you to support one candidate or another. Since there are lots of candidates on the ballot expect to get lots of calls. Nothing is more annoying than a machine interrupting your meal, sleep, family time, etc. Now imagine getting multiple calls for days in a row prior to election day. Candidates are turning to robo-calls because they are cheap and efficient. Volunteers used to make the calls but they were slow and limited by the number of people you could round up at your phone bank. Machines can call every number in the phone book and never take a bathroom break. If you think being on the "do not call" list will protect you guess again. Sales calls always get past the list and the sheer volume of political calls guarantees that more will slip through. Some states are making efforts to limit robo calls but effectiveness varies.

Here's my take on the trend. I am so annoyed when I get a robotic sales call I vow never to do business with whomever calls. Likewise, I'm sure many voters will decide against candidates who sanction robotic calls to their homes. This whole robo call thing could backfire on presidential hopefuls. Kent Ninomiya

Who's the Front Runner? - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - So who is the Republican front runner now? Romney won the mostly uncontested Nevada caucus Saturday but McCain picked up the coveted South Carolina primary. Since 1980, every Republican who won South Carolina got the party nomination. However, Romney still leads in delegates. To complicate the situation even more, Rudy Giuliani is betting it all on the upcoming Florida primary, and Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee is hanging in there. So who's the front runner? That depends who you ask. It's a fun time to be a journalist or political junkie. It's any one's race in both parties and no one has any idea who will be the next president. Kent Ninomiya

Haven't We Seen This Before? - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - It's the economy, stupid! Remember when that was the rallying cry of the Clinton campaign? That's Bill Clinton. Back in 1992 that slogan helped him defeat George Herbert Walker Bush and move into the White House. It's ironic that 16 years later another Clinton hopes to replace another Bush with the economy becoming a pivotal issue in the campaign. There are more parallels. In 1992, a war with Iraq was fresh in our minds. Most potential candidates for president assumed that would be the prevailing issue in the campaign. Since George H.W. Bush was immensely popular for his handling of the war, none of the Democratic heavy hitters wanted to take him on. Only a little known governor from Arkansas had the audacity to think he could become President of the United States. What helped him do it? The economy went south and Clinton wouldn't let voters forget it. As we elect a new president in 2008, those lessons should be heeded by the candidates. When voters are out of work, watching their portfolios wither, and unable to buy or sell a home, a war on the other side of the world becomes less relevant. The Dow plunged more than 307 points on Thursday. It's down more than 1100 points this year. Housing construction is the worst its been in 16 years with home values plummeting. Oil topped $100/barrel and the dollar is losing value against every major currency around the world. These are significant numbers reflecting pervasive issues. There is no issue more pervasive than a thinning wallet. The first George Bush made the mistake of under estimating the impact of a bad economy on voters. I doubt very much the successors of the second George Bush will make the same mistake. Kent Ninomiya

Romney Wins Michigan - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - Never mind those bickering Democrats. The Republican race for president is getting more interesting by the day. Mitt Romney wins the Michigan primary making him the third Republican winner in four early races. Romney also won Wyoming even though no one noticed. John McCain won New Hampshire and Mike Huckabee won Iowa. Romney suggests his Michigan victory is a mandate for him to lead the nation. The other candidates take issue with that. After all, Michigan is Romney's home state and he campaigned harder than anyone there. A loss there would have all but ended his run. The truth is there is no Republican front runner and they all know it. South Carolina should thin the field a bit if there's a clear winner. If there's not we could be in for a state by state dog fight through Super Tuesday. With a similar dynamic on the Democratic side this is a fun time to be a journalist. Clear front runners and slam dunk primaries are bad for business. Kent Ninomiya

Political History - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - This presidential election could conceivably be the most historic of our era. There is much at stake. Our economy is at a critical turning point, the environmental debate is at a fever pitch and the war in Iraq threatens to divide our country the likes of which we haven't seen in a generation. To give the race for the White House the attention it deserves, I will be devoting this blog to political issues through the end of the election and perhaps beyond. After all, politics is history and history is political. Thanks. Kent Ninomiya

This Day In History

Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - Here's a link to a blog you might find interesting. The author seems to have a good grasp on some pressing sports issues of our time. http://oldschool.tblog.com/post/1969970957#comment_anchor

Painful Words - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - Should someone lose their job and career for saying the wrong thing? Is it right that years of unblemished service be wiped out by a single off hand comment? The answer is... it depends. Last Friday, Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman said young pro golfers trying to catch up to Tiger Woods should "lynch him in a back alley." Naturally this comment sparked outrage since Tiger Woods is part African American. The anger further intensified as Tilghman was allowed to appear on the air all day Saturday as if nothing happened. She issued an on-air apology Sunday and said he apologized directly to Tiger Woods, however she remained on the air that day. The Golf Channel issued a statement saying "we regret if any viewers were offended by Kelly's choice of words."Tiger Woods is apparently taking the high road and not making an issue out of it. Woods' agent is quotes as saying "It is a complete non-issue. Kelly and Tiger are friends. It might have been a poor choice of words, but there was absolutely no ill intent whatsoever."It is entirely reasonable to assume that Tilghman did not mean to offend anyone and is not a racist. It was most likely a slip of the tongue and she did not realize the context of the word "lynch" when she said it. So then, what should be her "punishment" if anything? The Golf Channel is obviously concentrating on intent. Since she has no ill will then it's a simple matter of apologizing. The fact that their viewer base is primarily white and not overall offended by her remark anyway also limits their motivation to dole out any punishment. To some this makes the Golf Channel seem apathetic and racist. Other groups out there are horribly offended and want Tilghman's head. It doesn't matter to them that Woods himself says he's not offended and is willing to drop the matter. They want to make an example out of Tilghman as if punishing her will stop others from making slips of the tongue in the future.I have worked in television for more than 20 years now. Many comments have passed my lips that came out differently than I intended them. When you talk for a living on live television you sometimes say stupid and inadvertently offensive things without realizing it. Is that a punishable offense? One time in San Francisco I was chatting on air with my co anchor about a man who found several stolen Oscar statues in a trash dumpster. His reward for returning them was an invitation to the Academy Awards ceremony in the next day or two. I commented that I hoped he had time to find something nice to wear since the Academy Awards are all about what people are wearing. The man happened to be African American. One viewer was greatly offended by my comment and wrote a letter accusing me of being a blatant racist. He said I claimed African Americans are too poor and stupid to dress themselves. I have quite honestly never had that thought in my life and was not thinking about the man's race at all when making the comment. I was talking about clothes. Despite this the viewer was irate. I personally expressed my regret to the viewer if my comments offended him and explained that I did not mean what he believed I did. It did not satisfy him and he continued to be angry and convinced I was a racist. Nothing I could say or do would satisfy him. He just wanted to be offended.I have also been on the other side of misspoken words. I was hired to be a primary anchor at a television station in Minneapolis and partnered with an African American woman. The general manager who hired me was a visionary. He was willing to create an all minority main anchor team in an overwhelmingly white market. When asked about this, he said when it comes to anchors it didn't matter the color of their skin or the "slant" of their eyes. Columnists and Asian American groups around the country took it upon themselves to be offended by the "slant" comment. Some called for the general manager's firing. They didn't bother to ask me if I was offended. I wasn't. I knew this man to be honorable and brave. He took a huge risk hiring me and was in no way a racist. His words came out wrong. That's all. The story diminished what should have been a hugely positive story about the landmark all minority anchor team in Minnesota. Those who were so offended missed an opportunity to focus on a positive accomplishment by being petty and negative.The bottom line here is that words are powerful, but they're just words. A sum of a person's character and accomplishments can not be reduced to a single inadvertent comment no matter what it is. If there's a pattern of offensive behavior or words, that's different. If it's a single off hand statement then it should be judged in the context under which it is said. Making a big deal about an innocent statement harms the movement for equality. If the mainstream sees minorities as over sensitive and unreasonable then they will ignore legitimate complaints. Likewise, the mainstream needs to understand that offensive comments do harm us all and use these incidents as opportunities to focus on removing them from our lexicon. There is work to do on both sides. Kent Ninomiya

Hillary Not History Yet - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - Despite news pundit forecasts of her political demise, Hillary Clinton defies the so-called experts and wins the New Hampshire primary. Her 3% squeeker victory is just the latest dip in this already thrilling roller coaster ride of a primary election season. The swings are amplified by the all news channels making grandiose predictions about outcomes. They were all wrong. The polls predicted a double digit loss to Barack Obama. Political commentators declared that Hillary was on the ropes and had to completely retool her campaign if she wanted to survive. Clinton did retool her message a bit on the day of the New Hampshire primary but it was far from a complete refit of her strategy. The bottom line here is that predicting politics is like predicting the weather. Forcasters are so often wrong that people don't even notice or hold them accountable for their predictions. Now that the race for the Democratic nomination is hot again they will have much more to talk about. They will have much more to get wrong too. Kent Ninomiya

How Will History Remember Clemens? - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - What is an innocent man supposed to sound like? Do we know? If I asked what a guilty man sounds like I'm sure I would get all sorts of answers, but an innocent man is harder to identify. This is the no win situation facing Roger Clemens. No matter what he does he will look and sound guilty to many just because he was accused. This is the gross injustice inflicted by our media culture. While the courts are supposed to assume innocence until guilt is proven, it is the opposite in the media. Public perception is always to assume guilt. The tragedy is that even if a celebrity is later proved to be innocent, people generally don't remember that. Roger Clemens seems to realize that he is ruined no matter what he does. Still he is releasing statements, holding news conferences and suing his accuser. He is doing what he can to clear his name even though he realizes it will never be enough. Celebrity is an unforgiving double edged sword. It will slice you a path to the front of the line then cut you down where you stand. In my career I've witnessed countless lives ruined by unsubstantiated accusations. I do not know if Roger Clemens is guilty or not, but I will strive to give him the benefit of the doubt while due process is observed. I do this even though I know my media colleagues wont. I urge my fellow journalists to consider what they do on a daily basis. Our job as journalists is to uncover the truth and report the facts. Giving false impressions by repeating unproven accusations as fact is wrong. Let's do the right thing. Kent Ninomiya

Historic shift - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - Perhaps the most shocking thing about Barack Obama's Iowa caucus victory is that he did it without the support of major unions. This is an historic shift of influence. Unions are supposed to be the backbone of Democratic politics. Both Hillary Clinton and John Edwards got union backing. They benefited from union money and manpower yet trailed Obama when the votes were tallied. This is no small feat. It could be an omen of things to come. If Obama does well in New Hampshire without union support a panic among union leaders could follow. Everyone wants to back a winner, especially unions. Support for Clinton and Edwards could quickly shift to Obama. If he could win Iowa with unions working against him, what could he do with unions working for him? Kent Ninomiya

Recent posts on Kent Ninomiya blog

wide open election - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - It is on! In just a few hours the Iowa caucuses begin. A few hours later we will know who is out of the starting blocks first in the race for the white house. Will it be Clinton or Obama or Edwards? Will it be Romney or Huckabee? Those are the front runners in the polls anyway. Others include New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware and Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio for the Democrats, and Arizona Senator John McCain, Representative Ron Paul of Texas, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the Republicans are on the ballot. The spinning is already beginning. The winners will declare it a mandate. The runners up will declare victory as well. The losers will declare Iowa irrelevant and bank on New Hampshire next Tuesday. The news media is eager to eat all this up. They are mobilized and ready in Iowa tonight. It's like the playoffs for political reporters. The deck gets reshuffled after the Iowa results are announced and journalists will have a fresh batch of stories to pursue. That's a relief after making stuff up for the past year. This election is also wide open so there is no clear favorite yet. Time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. This should be fun! Kent Ninomiya

Iowa Caucuses - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - Get ready to make some history tomorrow. The long awaited Iowa caucuses kick off the presidential primary season. All the political reporters are as giddy as kids on Christmas morning. For the first time ever a woman and an African American have a real shot at not only winning the Iowa caucuses but the Democratic nomination and the presidency as well. If that happens, the first tangible step will happen tomorrow. So pay attention and prepare for an adventurous presidential election. It promises to be fun and historic. Be sure to check back here for more historical insights. Kent Ninomiya

Happy New Year! - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I hope your 2008 is fullfilling and fruitful. Let's all treat each other well and work toward peace and harmony. Kent Ninomiya