[Email address: allandalereporter #AT# yahoo.com - replace #AT# with @ ]Tom Linehan
I picked up a post to the Crestview listserve about a story NPR recently did on Austin that is now live on the NPR web site. The story is about the neighborhoods' fight against the colossal Wal-Mart that was originally planned for Northcross. NPR's State of the Re:Union is a series "to explore how a particular American city or town creates community, the ways people transcend challenging circumstances and the vital cultural narratives that give an area its uniqueness." Including Austin in the series seems like a natural given the city's growth and interest in preserving its uniqueness – keeping Austin Weird. Here is a link to the story they did on Austin. Segment B is the one that pertains to the community fight against the Wal-Mart at Northcross. It is told from the RG4N perspective. Allandale's involvement is not mentioned. I drove by the store yesterday and talked to an employee walking into the store who said store opening is scheduled for October 27.
Perhaps the NPR piece illustrates the consistent and I believe deliberate distortion of the fact that Mr Jason Meeker has and continues to foist on the unsuspecting public.
He referred in the NPR piece to “Texas Stadium over there at the University of Texas”. We all know that Texas Stadium used to be the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Irving, TX and it is a shining example of our throw away society as it was recently demolished.
A minute or two later in this same NPR piece, he stated “to form a human chain around the Northcross property which is roughly a mile – a square mile. Please refer to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/square+mile to see that if this were so, the “human chain” would have had to be four miles long covering 640 acres … and NPR broadcast it as “fact”. You and I both know that the “human chain” may have been a mile long … rather thinly populated in some areas away from the media’s eye, but the average NPR listener was given the impression that the “human chain” was four miles in length.
See Allandale Yahoo Group message 11663 dated 7 Jan 2007 where Mr Meeker publicly states “As many as 30,000 cars per day going to the Wal-Mart. Thousands of more cars traveling down Rockwood or Shoal Creek
or Woodrow to avoid the jammed intersections. 200-300 tractor trailers a day supplying the store.”
I have a copy of message 11663 WITH all header information in the event that it disappears from the Yahoo post as has happened in the past.
It is NOT my desire to reopen and rehash the Walmart issue (and these ridiculous statements have been proven false time and time again), but it troubles me when a national radio program such as this NPR program fails to fact check its productions prior to airing material that would be considered perjury if given under oath in a court of law.
Perhaps we should hold ALL media and public officials to the high standards we desire for our courts.
Hi Neighbors,
I hope you’ve had a chance to hear the report and found it enjoyable. I should note that the interview took place in July 2010 was 1.5 hours long. And I even took part in a 2 hour pre-interview before the real interview!
Throughout the discussions, the reporters learned all about the history of the “Walmart battle” and all of the players involved, and all the lawsuits.
The 7-minute report is the result.
Well, here we are. November 2006 to October 2010.
Back on March 26, 2010, I brokered a meeting between RG4N, local residents and Walmart. There are still lots of issues, such as truck routes and security. Public transportation access for the disabled on Northcross Drive is a major problem, and RG4N recently addressed this in an email to supporters.
Time will tell how people will react to the store and how Walmart will address unresolved issues, as they’ve promised to do, when the issues come up.
Neighborly yours,
Jason Meeker
While not an issue that Walmart management can address, it would be great to have access via foot and/or bicycle from the Read Pre-K School area to the Chase Bank/Northcross/Capital Metro Bus Stop area. If I remember correctly, one of the neighborhood/RG4N concerns was that bicycle racks be provided in the newly developed Northcross area. If Walmart provides the bicycle racks, could the city possible provide access so that neighborhood residents can use the bicycle racks that Walmart has so greciously provided us. Current foot/bicycle access from this area forces most residents into their cars Allandale residents would use Capital Metro more if they had closer and quicker access to the bus connections on Northcross Drive.
If the city of Austin is really a pedestrian/bicycle frendly city, easy access from neighborhoods to local businesses should be a priority.
Jay, there is no deliberate distortion going on. Any normal reasonable listener would have understood we meant the stadium at UT, and that a mile around the property is not a square mile. The Northcross property 70ish acres, and a square mile is 644 acres. Like Jason said, much of our interview was cut, which means that any prelimary or follow up information to “a statement” was cut. The point of the story was to highlight how a community came together and fought to have a say in how their neighborhoods are developed. Perhaps you should have sent your comment to NPR instead.
Kat:
During the Wal-mart dialogue and discussions I referenced and that are contained in the history of this group, there were numerous distortions of the fact that could have been corrected my Mr Meeker and others, but were not. In fact, he made some assertions in multiple posts that apparently were removed by their author but have been preserved in the group record.
Unfortunately the media does quite a job on all of us by strategically picking and choosing what “sound bites” they will present to the unsuspecting public as “fact”.
It is really an insult to Mr. Meeker (and apparently you since you indicate that “much of our interview was cut”) that NPR took up at least 3.5 hours of his (and your) time (by his own account) and managed to choose sound bites that you claim misrepresent his interview.
As I previously stated, “we should hold ALL media and public officials to the high standards we desire for our courts.” You and Mr Meeker could help set this standard by publicly requesting that NPR make the ENTIRE 1.5 hour interview AND the ENTIRE 2 hour pre-interview available on the RG4N website so that NPR is held accountable the cut and hack job that you seem to be accusing them of. I did find it interesting that Mr. Meeker’s response to my initial post did not seem to dispute any of my concerns.
Finally, my comments are in response to content on and promoted by THIS web site. It is my understanding that Allandale Reporter readers were encouraged to respond in this forum to content published in the Allandale Reporter at the September meeting of the Allandale Neighborhood Association. I am sure that my fellow readers of the Allandale Reporter would welcome your and Mr. Meeker’s clarification and correction in this forum of the cut and hack job you seem indicate NPR has done to your interview.
Silence seems to embolden some, so let me just say I do not respond to and will not get into irrelevant arguments with an anonym.
The point of the story is clear, regardless of my math.
Optimists: 1. Cynics: 0.
– Jason
Jason …
Thanks for refusing to respond to the FACTS in black and white. YOUR silence speaks volumes … and supports the truth!