[Libs-Or] [IFACTION:8281] CNN.com_-_'OutKast' not_allowed_in_Kansas_libraries_-_Aug_6,_2004 (fwd)
Beth Heins
bethheins at yahoo.com
Mon Aug 9 14:05:56 PDT 2004
I think this statement from the Exec Director of the Kansas Library
Association clears up a few points that the reporter neglected to cover.
As she states below, "This is a clear cut case of the difference between
reporting the news and creating news to report."
The whole article and response makes for some very interesting reading!
Beth Heins
Sherwood Public Library
-------
This is a statement from the Executive Director of KLA.
I have been encouraged by many to clarify the statement I made
concerning the selection process that Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline
used during the process of Kansas libraries receiving CDs from the
settlement.
The settlement stipulated that record labels prepare lists of a
"diversity of music" from which states' attorneys general selected CDs.
The reporter did not state that all AGO's (not just Phil Kline) selected
from a HUGE list and they selected based on what they thought libraries
would want and use. Yes, it would have been wonderful if libraries had
been invited to help decide, but they were not, that is not what the
court ruled. It also would have been nice if the reporter, who called
twice "bating" me to call it censorship, would have accurately reported
what I said in the second phone call after I researched the facts and
came to agreement with KLA leadership what I should convey.
This is a clear cut case of the difference between reporting the news
and creating news to report. I believe the reporter and the ACLU have
twisted this issue and has now put the conservative agenda in the
spotlight. Which is exactly where they want to be. They love a circus
and librarians hooked right into it. The reporter painted it as the AGO
censoring, when Phil Kline was doing what the settlement said to do,
select. And he used it as an opportunity to "paint himself white"
(again) because he knew there would be reaction that would put him out
there.
I wish KLA members had an inkling how hard KLA worked against the
filter bill behind the scenes the last two sessions. And it *was*
defeated. We also made tremendous efforts speaking out against the
Patriot Act at both the state and national level, and spoke out for the
Freedom to Read Act. I am always sorry when the membership does not
trust what goes on behind the scenes and how hard KLA works on behalf of
its membership, for libraries, and the profession.
We (KLA leadership) were trying to downplay this issue as much as we
could because if we had called it censorship, the backlash would have
been terrible going into the next legislative session, and it would have
been perceived as reactionary. We were already accused of that during
the fight against the filter bill.
I have copied a list of the CDs that were not selected and I encourage
you to pass this list on to your member libraries encouraging them to
acquire and make available these now famous titles so that all Kansans
have access to them. Remind people that the list the recording industry
put together was the back log that didn't sell and therefore a flawed
list to begin with. (Yes, Outkast didn't sell until they got the Grammy
this spring, and yes, Lou Reed doesn't sell except to select groups), A
cash settlement would have been much preferred so that each library
could have determined what to purchase at the local level, and what was
best for its community. No one is saying libraries in Kansas can not
offer these titles.
Alice In Chains, "Greatest Hits," "Live"
Big Punisher, "Yeeeah Baby"
Blink 182, "Cheshire Cat"
Foxy Brown, "China Doll"
Concrete Blonde, "Bloodletting," "Classic Masters"
Cypress Hill, "III," "Live at the Fillmore"
Da Brat, "Unrestricted"
Devo, "Pioneers Who Got Scalped"
Heavy D, "Heavy"
Jagged Edge, "JE Heartbreak"
Live, "The Distance to Here"
Mas,e "Harlem World"
NAS, "It Was Written," "Nastradamas"
Nortious B.I.G., "Born Again"
OutKast, "Aquemini," "Stankonia"
Rage Against the Machine, "Renegades"
Lou Reed, "Growing Up in Public," "Rock and Roll
Heart,"
"Sally Can't Dance," "Walk on the Wild Side"
Silver Chair, "Freak Show"
Soul Asylum, "Candy From a Stranger," "Let Your Dim
Light
Shine"
Stone Temple Pilots, "Tiny Lights: Songs From the
Vatican Gift
Shop"
Toadies, "Hell Below"
"Bad Boy Records Greatest Hits"
The Wu-Tang Clan, "The W"
Wyclef Jean, "The Carnival"
------
Source: Documents obtained by The Associated Press from the Kansas
Attorney General's Office.
Rosanne E. Siemens
Kansas Library Association
1020 SW Washburn
Topeka, KS 66604
phone/fax 785-235-1383
kansaslibraryassociation at yahoo.com
I'm posting this with permission. This is a statement from the Executive
Director of KLA.
Ann
I have been encouraged by many to clarify the statement I made
concerning the selection process that Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline
used during the process of Kansas libraries receiving CDs from the
settlement.
The settlement stipulated that record labels prepare lists of a
"diversity of music" from which states' attorneys general selected CDs.
The reporter did not state that all AGO's (not just Phil Kline) selected
from a HUGE list and they selected based on what they thought libraries
would want and use. Yes, it would have been wonderful if libraries had
been invited to help decide, but they were not, that is not what the
court ruled. It also would have been nice if the reporter, who called
twice "bating" me to call it censorship, would have accurately reported
what I said in the second phone call after I researched the facts and
came to agreement with KLA leadership what I should convey.
This is a clear cut case of the difference between reporting the news
and creating news to report. I believe the reporter and the ACLU have
twisted this issue and has now put the conservative agenda in the
spotlight. Which is exactly where they want to be. They love a circus
and librarians hooked right into it. The reporter painted it as the AGO
censoring, when Phil Kline was doing what the settlement said to do,
select. And he used it as an opportunity to "paint himself white"
(again) because he knew there would be reaction that would put him out
there.
I wish KLA members had an inkling how hard KLA worked against the
filter bill behind the scenes the last two sessions. And it *was*
defeated. We also made tremendous efforts speaking out against the
Patriot Act at both the state and national level, and spoke out for the
Freedom to Read Act. I am always sorry when the membership does not
trust what goes on behind the scenes and how hard KLA works on behalf of
its membership, for libraries, and the profession.
We (KLA leadership) were trying to downplay this issue as much as we
could because if we had called it censorship, the backlash would have
been terrible going into the next legislative session, and it would have
been perceived as reactionary. We were already accused of that during
the fight against the filter bill.
I have copied a list of the CDs that were not selected and I encourage
you to pass this list on to your member libraries encouraging them to
acquire and make available these now famous titles so that all Kansans
have access to them. Remind people that the list the recording industry
put together was the back log that didn't sell and therefore a flawed
list to begin with. (Yes, Outkast didn't sell until they got the Grammy
this spring, and yes, Lou Reed doesn't sell except to select groups), A
cash settlement would have been much preferred so that each library
could have determined what to purchase at the local level, and what was
best for its community. No one is saying libraries in Kansas can not
offer these titles.
Alice In Chains, "Greatest Hits," "Live"
Big Punisher, "Yeeeah Baby"
Blink 182, "Cheshire Cat"
Foxy Brown, "China Doll"
Concrete Blonde, "Bloodletting," "Classic Masters"
Cypress Hill, "III," "Live at the Fillmore"
Da Brat, "Unrestricted"
Devo, "Pioneers Who Got Scalped"
Heavy D, "Heavy"
Jagged Edge, "JE Heartbreak"
Live, "The Distance to Here"
Mas,e "Harlem World"
NAS, "It Was Written," "Nastradamas"
Nortious B.I.G., "Born Again"
OutKast, "Aquemini," "Stankonia"
Rage Against the Machine, "Renegades"
Lou Reed, "Growing Up in Public," "Rock and Roll
Heart,"
"Sally Can't Dance," "Walk on the Wild Side"
Silver Chair, "Freak Show"
Soul Asylum, "Candy From a Stranger," "Let Your Dim
Light
Shine"
Stone Temple Pilots, "Tiny Lights: Songs From the
Vatican Gift
Shop"
Toadies, "Hell Below"
"Bad Boy Records Greatest Hits"
The Wu-Tang Clan, "The W"
Wyclef Jean, "The Carnival"
------
Source: Documents obtained by The Associated Press from the Kansas
Attorney General's Office.
Rosanne E. Siemens
Kansas Library Association
1020 SW Washburn
Topeka, KS 66604
phone/fax 785-235-1383
kansaslibraryassociation at yahoo.com
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
More information about the Libs-Or
mailing list