Sooo........about that Jonetta thing.....

Jonetta Rose Barras's firing seems to be the big WAMU news of the week. Personnel issues are notoriously difficult for outsiders like us to judge, but it looks like she did have a point. WAMU put her name on the show and tripled the amount of coverage she was expected to provide, but didn't want to consider that a full time position?? Something there doesn't smell right.

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Permalink Reply by WAMU 88.5 on May 16, 2008 at 3:00pm: You guys are free to discuss this topic on The Conversation, but please understand that American University policy prohibits any WAMU staffer from commenting on a personnel issue, so you won't see any other WAMU 88.5 replies in this forum. Thanks for participating-

Permalink Reply by Karl on May 16, 2008 at 3:25pm: I have not heard anything. I have not seen anything online and Kojo didn't call me. Where did this information come from?

(BTW, just for the record, the Kojo thing was tongue in cheek.)

Permalink Reply by chinkle on May 16, 2008 at 3:32pm: Here are some references I found:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/05/13/barras...
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/05/wamu_fires_jonetta...

I can't say I'm sorry to see her go. Even though I'm interested in area issues and politics, I found it difficult to listen to her strident, shouting tone perpetually talking on top of everybody. She'd seem to rant instead of asking a question and sometimes talk over whatever response she got.

Now, the contention seems to be that she wasn't getting pay commensurate to the work she was being asked to do when the show expanded to cover VA and MD. If Kojo got an increase as a result and Jonetta didn't, then, yeah, she has a serious point and WAMU should be ashamed. If that is NOT the case (and there's nothing saying it is), then she has no basis to cry racism and sexism, in my opinion. She does, however, have every right to complain that she's not being paid fairly for her work.

Permalink Reply by Karl on May 16, 2008 at 3:54pm: Thanks, Chinkle.

I must agree with you. I am not going to miss her. I tired of her persistent, caustic tone and her underwhelming interview style.

However, if the circumstances of her dismissal are as she states in The City Paper, then I would be the first to back her re-instatement.

Permalink Reply by Larry Robinson on May 16, 2008 at 9:06pm: I applaud WAMU for expanding its regional political coverage from just DC to include Maryland and Virginia (which contain perhaps 80-90% of its listening audience, and have always been shortchanged). This became particularly important after WETA shifted to a nearly all-music format and a lot of us NoVa news junkies shifted allegience. But Kojo and Jonetta were not the right people to handle the additional coverage. They're great on DC -- edgy, urban, obvioiusly African-American. Maryland and Virginia are very different issues to cover, and I got the sense that both K&J were floundering a bit. Suggest the station rethink the issue -- maybe invite Jonetta to come back on her original terms and bring in other commentators for the two states.

Permalink Reply by Andrew M on May 19, 2008 at 12:06pm: I gotta say I am sorry to see her go. For the very reason that some did not like her, I thought she was great. Very very persistent when questioning local politicians and public servants. While her style might have been abrasive at times, I really felt she held their feet to the fire and kept them on their toes. She could get more honest/truthful comments from the guests than most anyone else WAMU has had. I felt she and Kojo were a good pair. Kojo would pull her back when things were getting out of hand. When talking to politicians and high-level public servants in particular, I think her style is necessary. She had a certain POV that I did not always agree with but the conversations were almost always more illuminating than without her.

Andrew M

Permalink Reply by Eric on May 20, 2008 at 1:44am: One of the reasons I like to listen to public radio is for the civility of conversations, so I did not care for Ms. Barras' interviewing style. She was obviously extremely knowledgable about DC politics, but I found her abrasive manner and interruption of guests hard to listen to. The DC politicians knew what to expect, but it seemed to me that some of the non-DC guests who weren't familiar with her were surprised by the situation they found themselves in.

As for whether Ms. Barras' dismissal was a result of discrimination at WAMU, it seemed like the abrupt dismissal of Tom Piwowar (the most knowledgeable Computer Guy ever) raised some questions as well. However, Dr. Piwowar is both white and male, so maybe the management is an equal opportunity employer after all -- only the insiders will know for sure.

Lastly, as a Virginia resident, I would prefer having separate DC, Virginia, and Maryland Politics Hours. Wasn't there once an occasional Virginia Politics Hours on Thursdays? Combining all three in one hour doesn't leave much time for detailed content or caller input.

Permalink Reply by ElCoyote on May 21, 2008 at 10:21am: I completely agree with Eric's comments below:

"One of the reasons I like to listen to public radio is for the civility of conversations, so I did not care for Ms. Barras' interviewing style. She was obviously extremely knowledgable about DC politics, but I found her abrasive manner and interruption of guests hard to listen to. The DC politicians knew what to expect, but it seemed to me that some of the non-DC guests who weren't familiar with her were surprised by the situation they found themselves in."

I will have to read the City Paper articles to get more of the scoop on the fairness issue.

But to me Jonetta is a spice, like cumin: "...a little of her style adds flavor and interest to a dish, too much and it can turn your stomach." She did do a good job of holding the politicians to account, but sometimes she went off on a tangent and used the public airwaves to advance her own pet-peeves and interests. These were not always the same as the interests of her listeners, and when she went on too long it got pretty boring and annoying.

I hope Kojo will have her on from time-to-time to spice things up, or to drill a stubborn pol. But I look forward to a new co-host that has the listeners interests in mind.

EC

Permalink Reply by Karl on May 21, 2008 at 1:23pm: NO EL Coyote! Please don't give them any ideas. She will do well at some other radio station. Anywhere but WAMU, please! Kojo can do well by himself. Or, he can find someone else. Just don't bring her back. It's only been a week and I am already accustomed to not hearing her. And I lkie it.

Permalink Reply by Carla on May 21, 2008 at 2:12pm: Though I do miss Ms. Barras on Fridays, I was never entirely sure of her role on the show. Was she an additional interviewer, the "Amen Chorus", the devil's advocate, a concerned citizen, or some combination?

Permalink Reply by Carlito on May 21, 2008 at 2:20pm: I'd like to focus more on the show going forward. Great idea to expand from the DC Politics Hour to The Politics Hour. Love her or hate her, Jonetta knew a lot about DC politics. MD and VA, not so much, as evidenced by her occasional reference to Virginia county elected officials as "council member" rather than "supervisor." For MD and VA, you need someone who knows those beats as well as Jonetta knew DC (where, it appears, she even knew where the bodies are buried). It's a challenge. It's hard to equate DC with a MD or VA city or county. DC is a city-county-state in function. Virginia politics requires knowledge of several cities and counties. For VA, I suggest you look to publications like the Falls Church News Press, Arlington Sun Gazette, Connection newspapers and Loudoun Times. Their editors and editorial writers are quite knowledgeable of the ins and outs of the jurisdictions they cover. I'm less familiar with MD, but I'm sure some reader can chime in with suggestions. In addition to the localities, there's Annapolis and Richmond (when relevant to your listeners) to consider. How do you get your arms around all that in a meaningful, enlightening way?

Permalink Reply by Mark Stanley on May 22, 2008 at 7:32pm: I think eliminating the monthly Maryland and Virginia Politics Hour, and merging them to the weekly Politics Hour has been a big mistake. And now with this talk of Jonetta leaving and the motives around it definitely gives me pause should I consider listening to this show on Friday. I think giving Maryland and Virginia a weekly Politics hour is the best. It would make me keep 88.5 on my radio dial all week.