A wonderful new method of protesting censorship

Dear Mr. Skoglund,

For all the good it probably will not do, I have sent the following letter to Charles Beck. I hope many others have also written.

Very best, Mary, Addison, Maine

Dear Mr. Beck ... I was truly shocked to hear about the letter of censorship you sent to Robert Skoglund (AKA "The humble Farmer")... I would respectfully ask that you please reconsider your policy, and let "humble" be "humble"!....

Sincerely, Mary

+++

Hi Mary,

Instead of politely articulating your discontent over my being censored, you could have screamed in Mr. Beck's ears had you simply sent MPBN management a one sentence letter in which you honestly confessed:

“I just sent humble, by paypal, a fat wad of money that otherwise would have gone to you.”

That, Mary, would have commanded his attention.

I heartily commend this manner of protesting censorship to all of my radio friends.

Hugs to you from me and Marsha.

Your buddy humble

http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/ThisWeek.html

White House uses big PR firms to kill stories

White House uses big PR firms to kill stories

It is amazing what the right amount of money in the right hands in the right places can do.

PR firms working for the Bush administration are able to exert much pressure on the media.

White House PR Firms Squash Stories on Small Business Contracting Scandal, Announces American Small Business League

White House uses big PR firms to kill stories on small business

PETALUMA, Calif., March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman says he believes the Bush administration's expenditure of over $50 million a month to some of the nation's largest public relations firms is hampering his efforts to expose billions in fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs.

"White House PR firms have been working overtime to kill stories on Bush administration policies that have diverted over $300 billion in federal small business contracts to the top 2 percent of U.S. firms," Chapman said.

A 2006 Office of Government Accountability report found the Bush administration had spent $1.6 billion over 30 months on public relations campaigns and advertising. In some cases, journalists like Armstrong Williams were paid as much as $240,000 to promote pro-Bush administration policy and pass it off as unbiased opinion.

Chapman points to a pattern over the last few years wherein newspapers, magazines and even some of the largest television networks drop his story once Bush administration officials were notified.

NBC spent a week in California filming a story on Chapman and his successful legal battle to stop the Bush administration from diverting billions in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms, but the story never aired. CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight spent a month researching and filming a story on Chapman and his organization, but pulled the story just hours before it was supposed to air. When the story finally aired six months later, any mention of Chapman and the American Small Business League had been deleted. CBS spent weeks working with Chapman and his staff on what would have been CBS's third installment in a series of investigative reports on the diversion of billions in federal small business contracts to firms like Rolls Royce, Wal-Mart, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The story was suddenly halted after the SBA found out about the piece.

After spending months working with the New York Times on a story, any mention of Chapman and his group was removed from the story after it was written.

"After the New York Times story, I was contacted by the Los Angeles Times. They wanted to do a story on my campaign to stop fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting," Chapman said. "I told the reporter if she mentioned me in the story, my name would be removed before the story ran, but she laughed. She called me the day the story ran, very upset, and told me her editor removed all references to me in the story."

Chapman says he believes other publications have suddenly dropped their stories on this issue after being pressured by White House public relations firms, including the Associated Press, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Dallas Morning News, BusinessWeek, Inc Magazine, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Fortune Small Business and dozens of other smaller newspapers and magazines around the country.

"We intend to use the Freedom of Information Act to uncover more information on exactly how PR firms working for the Bush administration are able to exert so much pressure on the media," Chapman said. "I would like to see Rep. Henry Waxman hold hearings into why the Bush administration needs to spend $50 million a month on PR firms and exactly what those firms are involved in."

Contact:

Lloyd Chapman, president
American Small Business League
lchapman@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
http://www.asbl.com

the purpose of all these newspaper articles is to help MPBN regain some of its credibility and funding

"I'm surprised to hear you say that the letter from Justin at the National Coalition Against Censorship was on my behalf. I thought that the purpose of all these newspaper articles was to help MPBN regain some of its credibility and funding. Because of this censorship, hundreds of angry people have shut them off."

++

Robert,

I got a copy today of the letter from the National Coalition Against Censorship, on your behalf. I was hoping to talk to you about it Tuesday on the phone. Is there a number where I can reach you, and a good time to talk?

Thanks, Ray.
--
Ray Routhier
Features Writer
Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
390 Congress Street
Portland, ME 04101
207-791-6454
rrouthier@pressherald.com

Hi Ray,

Good to hear from you. I remember wondering if you would break this MPBN censorship story several months ago. You backed off rapidly which gave me the impression that you had people pressuring you, too.

I'm surprised to hear you say that the letter from Justin at the National Coalition Against Censorship was on my behalf. I thought that the purpose of all these newspaper articles was to help MPBN regain some of its credibility and funding. Because of this censorship, hundreds of angry people have shut them off.

Hope you'll stop by the farm for supper when it gets warm.

Look forward to talking with you at your convenience.

Here is a reply I sent earlier today to our friend Bill Nemitz, which is about the same letter I would have written to you had I seen your letter in my computer a few minutes earlier.

+++

Here is about the only item that hasn’t been hashed over pretty well by our friends Al Diamon and Tom Groening and Jay Davis. I make you a present of this paragraph from radio friend, Jay Peterson, who wrote:

I really can't say who, but a board member at MPBN called me on my show on WERU, said she liked the music I was playing, and suggested I "apply for your job". I told them to call me at home, then thought about it for a second, and said, no never mind. Not interested.

Bill, you’re as good a reporter as there is and I should think you’d like to get your teeth into the implications of something like that.

MPBN president Jim Dowe called me. We laughed and chatted for 15 minutes. I have the impression that he is a capable, friendly man who is going to do something so we may put this unfortunate censorship business behind us.

I am anxious to have the “guidelines” removed so that I may continue to help MPBN line its coffers at fundraising time. As you know, although I was practically ignored by management for over a quarter of a century, I’ve always done everything I could to support Maine Public Radio. If there is another person in Maine who has, for nearly three decades, brought more listeners to MPBN’s spot on the dial than The humble Farmer, I would like to have you tell me who it is.
Bill, I have a couple of hundred letters that look like the one below from David Lyman, founder of the Rockport Photographic Workshops.


To: Maine Public Radio Management

Where has the real Humble Farmer gone? What have you done to him?

I heard a report this afternoon on Maine Things Considered, about gagging him. I am pleased you let your reports tell the story.

I’m alarmed that the executives at MPBN have censured this Maine humorist, relegated him to the role of DJ.

There was a time when Mr. Skoglund’s “rantings” were just bad humor, and I cringed at his unprofessional presentation, but loved the music he selected. Then one day he got a whole lot better. His humor was real, his humor was original, he was now making sense. He was funny, but also insightful and relevant. I did not find some of his bits to my liking, but like his music there were tracks I did no like either . . . so, one waits 3 minutes and another track and other observation will come on. Same with his humor, not all of it hit the mark, but when it did, I knew I was listening to an original humorist.

For the last 2 years, I found myself turning in more regularly, as much for his wit, as for the music he chose.

I ran into Robert at the Common Ground Fair two years ago and congratulate him on the improvement to his show. He admitted he was “rehearsing” it these days, even writing out his tirades and bits.

I am angered that MPBN would strangle The Humble Farmer in this way. It is a shame and wrong to relegate Robert to the role of a DJ’s when he is one of Maine natural resources, a genuine commentator, observer, and outspoken comedian . . . we need him. Bring him back to his full hour slot on Friday evening, and take off the gag!

I will keep after you until you do . . .

David Lyman
Founder The Maine Photographic Workshops
Rockport, Maine 04856

Bill,

I’m pretty sure that Mr. Dowe will soon take care of this. There are several thousand David Lymans out there who will “keep after” him until he does.

+++

And here, arriving just minutes ago Ray, is the last paragraph of a letter to Mr. Dowe from the Samuels, who write:

One of our most pleasant discoveries upon arriving in Maine was “The Humble Farmer”; we have been fans since first hearing his program. We know Robert personally; we know that what you get on the radio is the real person. We have therefore been following with growing concern what appears to be efforts to censor his program in ways that are unworthy of Maine and of Public Broadcasting. We are of course aware of the intrusion of politics – particularly the efforts of the current administration – into CPB. We had hoped that the independence evidenced by Maine’s former and current U. S. senators and representatives would extend to MPBN. Margaret Chase Smith would not have been pleased to see the pressure being brought to bear on Robert. We had begun to lose that faith with regards to MPBN and were drafting a letter to you in support of Robert and in protest of heavy-handed efforts on the part of MPBN senior management to take the “Maine” out of Humble’s program when we received a note from Robert letting us know that you had intervened in the dispute.

We are now writing not to express that concern but to encourage you to reach an accommodation that allows MPBN members to continue to hear Humble on MPBN – both the music and the rants that we so much appreciate.

With thanks for your concern,

Roger and Patricia Samuel

++

Thank you Ray,

I am flattered to hear from you and look forward to our chat.

Neighbor humble

http://ncac.org/entertainment/ Perhaps you already heard from the National Coalition Against Censorship

++++


Did you know that Robert Skoglund, The humble Farmer, stands on stages and tells funny stories?
Ask humble to entertain you and your friends with dry stories like these:
http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/PortlandA.html
You can hear humble's radio program for this week:
http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/ThisWeek.html
2/22/07 Christian Science Monitor Profile on humble
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0222/p20s01-algn.html?page=1
You can visit humble and Marsha at their Bed & Breakfast on the coast of Maine.
http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/BaB.html
Robert Karl Skoglund (November-April)
260 Hamlin Drive
Fort Myers, FL 33905
207-226-7442
humble@humblefarmer.com
http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/
You are invited to stop by for supper anytime.
785 River Road (summers)
St. George, ME 04860
207-226-7442
humble@humblefarmer.com

The humble Farmer thanks You

Hello out there in radio land.

I want to thank you for writing.

Hundreds of other radio friends also wrote to say just about the same thing you did --- that I was a national treasure and other nice things like that.

It was nice to hear. If you keep saying it, I'll start to believe it. My wife Marsha never will.

But the most valuable letter I got told me to stop whining.

This radio friend said that if I hadn't been able to attend to my speaking business for 5 months this winter it was my own fault.

Nobody was making me spend 12 to 17 hours a day replying to hundreds of radio friends who had written to show support.

And I didn't even finish reading that long letter, because the person who wrote it was right on the money.

I snipped it right in the middle and replied with a, "Thank you. You are right."

Your articulate letters of support indicate that the last 30 years of my life was not wasted.

But until I get some speaking jobs so I can pay my health insurance, my only reply to your letters is going to be a cut and paste of the above.

Come and visit us at the St. George farm in June.

Neighbor humble

Big Oil just loves it. Oil today is $57 a barrel versus the $18 a barrel price under Bill "Love-Not-War" Clinton.

It's STILL the oil:

Secret Condi Meeting on Oil Before Invasionby Greg PalastSunday, March 18, 2007Four years ago this week, the tanks rolled for what President Bush originally called, "Operation Iraqi Liberation" -- O.I.L. I kid you not.And it was four years ago that, from the White House, George Bush, declaring war, said, "I want to talk to the Iraqi people." That Dick Cheney didn't tell Bush that Iraqis speak Arabic … well, never mind. I expected the President to say something like, "Our troops are coming to liberate you, so don't shoot them." Instead, Mr. Bush told, the Iraqis,"Do not destroy oil wells." Nevertheless, the Bush Administration said the war had nothing to do with Iraq's oil. Indeed, in 2002, the State Department stated, and its official newsletter, the Washington Post, repeated, that State's Iraq study group, "does not have oil on its list of issues."But now, we've learned that, despite protestations to the contrary, Condoleezza Rice held a secret meeting with the former Secretary-General of OPEC, Fadhil Chalabi, an Iraqi, and offered Chalabi the job of Oil Minister for Iraq. (It is well established that the President of the United States may appoint the cabinet ministers of another nation if that appointment is confirmed by the 101st Airborne.)In all the chest-beating about how the war did badly, no one seems to remember how the war did very, very well -- for Big Oil.The war has kept Iraq's oil production to 2.1 million barrels a day from pre-war, pre-embargo production of over 4 million barrels. In the oil game, that's a lot to lose. In fact, the loss of Iraq's 2 million barrels a day is equal to the entire planet's reserve production capacity.In other words, the war has caused a hell of a supply squeeze -- and Big Oil just loves it. Oil today is $57 a barrel versus the $18 a barrel price under Bill "Love-Not-War" Clinton.Since the launch of Operation Iraqi Liberation, Halliburton stock has tripled to $64 a share -- not, as some believe, because of those Iraq reconstruction contracts -- peanuts for Halliburton. Cheney's former company's main business is "oil services." And, as one oilman complained to me, Cheney's former company has captured a big hunk of the rise in oil prices by jacking up the charges for Halliburton drilling and piping equipment.But before we shed tears for Big Oil's having to hand Halliburton its slice, let me note that the value of the reserves of the five biggest oil companies more than doubled during the war to $2.36 trillion.And that was the plan: putting a new floor under the price of oil. I've have that in writing. In 2005, after a two-year battle with the State and Defense Departments, they released to my team at BBC Newsnight the "Options for a Sustainable Iraqi Oil Industry." Now, you might think our government shouldn't be writing a plan for another nation's oil. Well, our government didn't write it, despite the State Department seal on the cover. In fact, we discovered that the 323-page plan was drafted in Houston by oil industry executives and consultants.The suspicion is that Bush went to war to get Iraq's oil. That's not true. The document, and secret recordings of those in on the scheme, made it clear that the Administration wanted to make certain America did not get the oil. In other words, keep the lid on Iraq's oil production -- and thereby keep the price of oil high.Of course, the language was far more subtle than, "Let's cut Iraq's oil production and jack up prices." Rather, the report uses industry jargon and euphemisms which require Iraq to remain an obedient member of the OPEC cartel and stick to the oil-production limits -- "quotas" -- which keep up oil prices.The Houston plan, enforced by an army of occupation, would, "enhance [Iraq's] relationship with OPEC," the oil cartel.And that's undoubtedly why Condoleezza Rice asked Fadhil Chalabi to take charge of Iraq's Oil Ministry. As former chief operating officer of OPEC, the oil cartel, Fadhil was a Big Oil favorite, certain to ensure that Iraq would never again allow the world to slip back to the Clinton era of low prices and low profits. (In investigating for BBC, I was told by the former chief of the CIA's oil unit that he'd met with Fadhil regarding oil at Bush's request. Fadhil recently complained to the BBC. He denied the meeting with the Bush emissary in London because, he noted, he was secretly meeting that week in Washington with Condi!)Fadhil, by the way, turned down Condi's offer to run Iraq's Oil Ministry. Ultimately, Iraq's Oil Ministry was given to Fadhil's fellow tribesman, Ahmad Chalabi, a convicted bank swindler and neo-con idol. But whichever Chalabi is nominal head of Iraq's oil industry in Baghdad, the orders come from Houston. Indeed, the oil law adopted by Iraq's shaky government this month is virtually a photocopy of the "Options" plan first conceived in Texas long before Iraq was "liberated."In other words, the war has gone exactly to plan -- the Houston plan. So forget the naïve cloth-rending about a conflict gone haywire. Exxon-Mobil reported a record $10 billion profit last quarter, the largest of any corporation in history. Mission Accomplished.

**********
Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans -- Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild.

A new edition, updated and expanded, will be released April 24.

humble farmer, the most dangerous d.j. that ever lived, makes wolfman jack look like peter pan...

humble farmer,
the most dangerous d.j. that ever lived,
makes wolfman jack look like peter pan...

good thing we can still find your old tapes on the underground black market,
although it's getting dangerous to have them,
i keep my ipod hiddenin the sole of my shoe,
if my body washes up somewhere,
make them bury me with my shoes on,
i don't want my family to know i was listening
to the old, the dangerous, humble...

Jeff Jacques

Part of a poem by Jeff

'Humble Farmer' takes vow of silence - By Tom Groening - Friday, March 16, 2007 - Bangor Daily News

'Humble Farmer' takes vow of silence

By Tom Groening

Friday, March 16, 2007 - Bangor Daily News

The "humble Farmer" has taken a preemptive vow of silence.

Robert Skoglund, 71, whose radio persona and show on Maine Public Radio both go by the name "The humble Farmer," is adhering to a self-imposed silence in response, he claims, to pressure from Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s management to avoid appearing political.

Since April 1978, Skoglund has produced a one-hour show that airs on Maine’s public radio stations featuring jazz from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, interspersed with segments of Skoglund’s wry observational humor, delivered in a heavy Maine accent.

The prepared "rants," as he calls them, might leave the listener chortling in agreement or scratching his head, but most often, the response is a knowing chuckle.

But the rants that Maine Public Broadcasting Network has perceived as political have landed Skoglund in hot water.

A show taped for broadcast in early November was killed, he said in a telephone interview from his winter home in Fort Myers, Fla., Thursday, because in the program he read a letter from a Maryland man who decried the state of public schools there after adoption of a tax cap.

Reading the letter apparently was perceived as advocating a "no" vote on the so-called Taxpayers Bill of Rights on the ballot the next week, Skoglund said, a perception he finds ridiculous.

"It is what he perceived," he said of Charles Beck, MPBN’s vice president for radio services.

A phone call to Beck was not returned Thursday.

The incident prompted a letter from Beck, dated Nov. 20, 2006, in which Beck cautioned Skoglund to maintain political neutrality.

Beck wrote: "[Y]our show is indeed valued by MPBN, and I myself am and have been a fan for many years. I have to say, though, that I am (we are) very disappointed at your apparent continued lack of understanding and willingness to comply with our need to maintain political neutrality in our programming, real or perceived.

"If we were to allow a program, such as yours, to regularly advance a political agenda — clear or implied — we would break that trust with our listeners and supporting members," the letter stated.

Beck noted the letter marked the third warning on the issue, and outlined MPBN policies including: "You will not introduce your own or others’ political thoughts, ideas, expressions, writings or thinking which clearly or can be perceived as endorsing, dismissing or taking a stand on controversial issues."

Since the letter, Skoglund dropped the rants and merely plays music and announces the song titles and musicians. His unedited programs are available on his Web site, www.thehumblefarmer.com.

Another rant that drew Beck’s ire came in the Feb. 28, 2003, show, a few weeks before the U.S. invaded Iraq.

"How do you feel about war?" Skoglund asked listeners. "I probably shouldn’t take sides ... but I am going to come right out and admit that I don’t care for war. No, it’s not the war itself that bothers me. It’s the needless killing and starvation and destruction and expense part of war that bothers me."

His rant continued to refer to "a wimpy-looking, weasely-faced war monger from way down south who didn’t even get most of the popular vote."

Skoglund continued: "All this while, even though the war-mongering, rat-faced wimp knows what he’s going to do no matter what, he’s making a big public show of talking with the top guys in Russia and France and England — trying to either get their support or keep them off his back while he blows half the world to kingdom come.

"I’ve said enough about him. Every time I see him blabbing on TV I wonder how anyone could possibly have been stupid enough to vote for such an idiot. I comfort myself by knowing that most of the people who went to the polls didn’t."

The rant ends with Skoglund saying the man he is speaking of wrote a book about his views called "Mein Kampf," which of course is Hitler’s manifesto.

Yet another one, an Encyclopedia Britannica entry on Mussolini which he read verbatim, also seemed like a veiled shot at the Bush administration.

"They picked on half a dozen [rants]," he said, out of 15,000 he has done over the years.

"These guidelines are obviously a mechanism through which ‘humble’ can hang himself," Skoglund said, and so he has opted to play it safe by cutting the personality from the program. "I realized they were setting me up to fail."

Hundreds of listeners have contacted him and expressed their support, he said.
A Camden man who described himself as politically conservative recently sent Skoglund a $100 check, and said though he disagreed with his views, he wanted to support keeping The humble Farmer on the air.

Skoglund also believes Beck objected to a recording Skoglund made for an automated telephone campaign urging people to vote for Democratic candidates in the fall election.
"That’s what precipitated this," he said.

A year ago he asked MPBN to pay him $30 for the show. Up to that point, he provided the program to MPBN for free.

Skoglund, who lives in St. George during the warm months, has parlayed the "humble Farmer" persona into a marketable corporate speaker. He has gigs planned in Gallup, N.M., and Miami, he said.

More than anything, Skoglund believes he is misunderstood by Beck and MPBN management.
"I’m not a political animal. I’m a social commentator. I don’t deliver punch lines. What I say is conducive to thinking," he said.

The backlash is likely coming from "frightened bureaucrats with big salaries and cushy jobs," Skoglund said, echoing the observation of newspaper columnist Al Diamon who weighed in on the matter.

http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=147541&zoneid=164

our wives are usually offended by your blathering

Bearmaine (email, which was up here yesterday, deleted by request)

Hi there Mr HUM,

You seem to be making a big fuss about Chuck Beck at MPBN. My friends rather like the
fact that you shut-up on air, as our wives are usually offended by your blathering on and on every week. You DO seem rather full of yourself, and should realize that just maybe some folks really WOULD like you gone from the airwaves.

We love your choice of music, but don't get thinking that you are some sort of radio god.

IF you need money you should have made better choices in life... those free lobster picnics must have cost you a pretty penny.

You'd be a swell greeter at a Wall Mart or perhaps at McDonalds (just don't EAT there!)

So PLEASE, get a grip, you are no mega star and are't going to be one...even at Becks expense. No amount of publicity will make you any funnier and you really should not pick on the Public Radio folks. It's a free world, so if you do not want to play by MPBN's rules, then maybe you should start your OWN radio station....... Keep the great tunes coming, but please, please shut up. Take care....

A disgusted fan,

Paul Bunyan

+++

Here is Paul Bunyan's reply to my reply in which I thanked him for taking the time to write --- told him that my wife Marsha agreed with much of what he said, and invited him and all his friends and wives down for supper.


+++

Good morning, I do appreciate your response....not many media folks will do that anymore!

Slushy stormy day in Maine....going to dig out the 78's and play music today.... Probably bake some bread too!

I do not mind if you put my email on your blog, but I must ask that you do not share my email address. I get way too much spam and the filters can not catch it all.

Take care and keep the great tunes coming, I'm delighted that folks around the country/world get to hear your thoughts.

Stay warm and healthy!

Sincerely,

Paul (my real name is Ian)

David Lyman on MPBN censorship --It is a shame and wrong to relegate Robert to the role of a DJs when he is one of Maine's natural resources

Friday, March 16, 2007

Humble . . . . are you still at this address? I heard the report on your tiff with the MPBN management this afternoon, and am am appalled. Here is a copy of the memo I just sent management and the Advisory Board of MPBN. Will it do any good?

I am sure I am not alone in my desire to hear you make a fool of yourself each week, as you tell it like you see it.

Hang in there, we'll have you back in there and telling it like you see it.

MPBN Folks . . . .

To: Maine Public Radio Management

Where has the real Humble Farmer gone? What have you done to him?

I heard a report this afternoon on Maine Things Considered, about gagging him. I am pleased you let your reports tell the story.

I’m alarmed that the executives at MPBN have censured this Maine humorist, relegated him to the role of DJ.

There was a time when Mr. Skoglund’s “rantings” were just bad humor, and I cringed at his unprofessional presentation, but loved the music he selected. Then one day he got a whole lot better. His humor was real, his humor was original, he was now making sense. He was funny, but also insightful and relevant. I did not find some of his bits to my liking, but like his music there were tracks I did not like either . . . so, one waits 3 minutes and another track and other observation will come on. Same with his humor, not all of it hit the mark, but when it did, I knew I was listening to an original humorist.

For the last 2 years, I found myself turning in more regularly, as much for his wit, as for the music he chose.

I ran into Robert at the Common Ground Fair two years ago and congratulate him on the improvement to his show. He admitted he was “rehearsing” it these days, even writing out his tirades and bits.

I am angered that MPBN would strangle The Humble Farmer in this way. It is a shame and wrong to relegate Robert to the role of a DJ’s when he is one of Maine natural resources, a genuine commentator, observer, and outspoken comedian . . . we need him. Bring him back to his full hour slot on Friday evening, and take off the gag!

I will keep after you until you do . . .

David Lyman
Founder The Maine Photographic Workshops
Rockport, Maine 04856
DHLyman@TheWorkshops.com

I really can't say who, but a board member at MPBN called me on my show

This just arrived a few minutes ago. Jay Peterson, who has a show on WERU, says:


I really can't say who, but a board member at MPBN called me on my show
on WERU, said she liked the music I was playing, and suggested I
"apply for your job". I told them to call me at home, then thought
about it for a second, and said, no never mind.

+

I'm glad to see that MPBN board members are taking an interest in MPNB programming issues.

Thanks for sending this along Jay, Neighbor humble

We love your show. --- public radio seems to be mostly this endless news and analysis and we haven't renewed our membership

Dear humble

Thanks for the email. I've been wondering what's going on with your show.
I tuned in most Fridays, and for a while I thought it wan't on anymore
because they changed the time to 7:30 instead of 7:00.

Then one night I tuned in and your show wasn't on at all, only the endless
news and analysis of the latest political event in Washington. My husband
and I have been remarking that public radio seems to be mostly this endless
news and analysis and we haven't renewed our membership. They start in at
5:00 AM with the BBC, and go on until about 9:00! At noon of course there
is more news. Then late afternoon and evening until about 7:30 or so.
After the first hour of it we've heard all the news we need to hear for the
rest of the day, and at that point we shut off the radio. Where is the
music?

We love your show. It is interesting and gives us a few laughs at the end
of the week. In addition, you play great music. Your show is too short. I
am always sad when your hour is over.

Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help

Sincerely,

Michelle from Waterville

++

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for writing.

Why do you think Charles Beck changed the time of my show from 7 until 7:30 without telling most of my radio friends?

When was the last time you heard aired on MPBN a promo that I made advertising the 7:30 time change or even any mention of The humble Farmer show? For over a quarter of a century about the only time my friends at Maine Public Radio contacted me was for "more promos." No more.

If you would like to see a change in the way things are done at MPBN, the best thing to do is to write letters to newspapers. Or write to your legislators. There is something about a letter or a phone call from a legislator that makes bureaucrats sit up and listen.

I have discouraged my radio friends from writing to Charles Beck at MPBN.

It is a waste of your time and effort.

For years my radio friends have told me that Charles Beck is not influenced by their letters, so the best way to get the word out about this censorship and the elimination of programs that you enjoy is in letters to the editor. Or through your legislator.

Your buddy humble

With regards to humble ... he is one of the very few things that MPBN has going for it.

Bruce ...

on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 8:50 AM -0500 wrote:

I am writing with regards to your recent censorship of the humble farmer program. Whoever is behind this conspiracy to be apolitical is a fool and should be terminated. Take a look at the world around us ... our nation is at war and being "led" by a bunch of crooks. Your determination to "present only the facts"(ie: half truths) is a journalistic cop out.

With regards to humble ... he is one of the very few things that MPBN has going for it. Other than humble and a couple of local interest programs you are merely a classical radio station with some censored news content. If your management had half a brain, you would place greater value on humble's program and years of volunteer service ... he is the one personality that makes MPBN unique.

... Get over the non-sense and set humble free. He is one of the few things you have going for you. ...

Dear Bruce:

Thank you for contacting The Maine Public Broadcasting Network. We value and appreciate input from all our viewers and listeners. Your comments will be shared with our programming department.

Is MPBN for its listeners or is my sustaining membership paying for a Charles Beck filter?

Re: Humble Farmer and the issue of CENSORSHIP.

I didn't understand, all these years, that my sustaining membership was paying for a Charles Beck filter. Thirty years is a long time to be paying for something I definitely don't want!

My husband and I have enjoyed Humble Farmer for many years for his enjoyable music selections, but also for the intelligent, witty, sage and relevant commentary he provides. Whether or not we agree on any given issue, we are pleased to know that our first amendment rights are alive and well and safe on PUBLIC radio. It seems we wrong! I really thought this media listened to the 68% block of listener funding. It seems that we do the funding and corporations and politicians (one and the same often), do the programming.

Is MPBN for its listeners or not?

Do we no longer have a free voice?

Can we no longer be free to choose the opinions we listen to? Do we need Big Brother Charles Beck to tell us what is good for us to hear?

I left MPTV on Friday nights because of run to death programming.

I went to Public Radio and was delighted to find Friday night jazz. I wouldn't go out on Friday nights so I could listen to Humble and Rick and later Marion. It was a welcome relief from too much news all week, A night off. Now you have stuck a news program in front of Humble and put a gag order on him.

Where do I go now? XM Radio?

Do I want to fund this kind of censorship?...any kind of censorship???


K J

Carrabassett Valley

Greg Palast Office --- MPBN Censorship --- Keillor

Listened to your show- you are rightly compared with Keillor (personal hero)- do you ever do interviews or book segments?

I'd love to get Greg on your show for a couple of minutes...either way great stuff, not enough of people like you left on the radio.

Finest- Zach

Greg Palast Office

shadow cast by MPBN’s action --- Garrison Keillor no longer feels free

A candle has gone out in our society and the chill of its passing sent dark shivers down my spine. I had considered Public Radio – Maine Public Radio – to be a bastion of free thought and expression, that is, until Robert Skoglund aka the humble farmer went missing. Silly as his comments sometimes were, they helped push back a darkening culture of intolerance. .

The shadow cast by MPBN’s action is far greater then this missing point of light. Is there a hand now ready to snuff out other programming that dares cross some line? Where will we be when, say, Garrison Keillor no longer feels free to sharpen his pencil and say for us what we’re all thinking?

With the dark crowding in upon us, now is not the time to be turning out the lights.

Lead on humble – I hope you’ve brought a match.

A P

Cape Elizabeth

an outrage that should lead to demands for Mr. Beck's resignation

Dear Humble,

... It's a mystery to me how a man as ill suited to public radio as Charles Beck, a man who believes in the preservation of 1970s disco music, could possibly have been put in a position to dictate which thoughts should be permitted on the public airwaves. He clearly does not realize that public radio is for the public and should not be run by frightened bureaucrats who think they can decide what the public must be kept from hearing. The commercial media do a more than adequate job of that. Attempting to stifle the rare instances of unique and humorous insights into the lunatic policies of contemporary government is an outrage that should lead to demands for Mr. Beck's resignation.

Don't despair. Keep speaking your mind. Continue to entertain us. Ignore the idiots in charge.

Yours, CG
S/V MM

Shame! Shame on MPBN in general and Mr. Charles Beck in particular!

... my letter to the BDN got published in the Sat/Sun BDN. I am sending the following cover letter to NPR in Washington, having given up complaining to Maine Public Radio.
J in Addison

National Public Radio

Dear sirs:

Shock and awe! That’s what I felt when I watched NOVA’s special on the Tiananmen Square incident and, at pledge break, saw Charles Beck make a pitch for contributions.

From what I have learned, it was Charles Beck’s thin-skinned political mindset that prompted him to muzzle Maine humorist Robert Skoglund and ruin a 28 year run of “The humble Farmer” show on MPBN. Some facts came out in a recent Christian Science Monitor. It seems Mister Skoglund had had the nerve to read on the air an entry from an encyclopedia on the subject, “fascism,” with emphasis on the rise of Mussolini in the 1920’s. There were eerie parallels to the present American political scene which Mr. Beck found insulting to himself and other ....

I am enclosing a copy of my letter to the Bangor Daily News, published today: I wrote MPBN and suggested they put a disclaimer in front of Mr. Skoglund’s show as is done before the 1 PM community forum shows. MPBN never replied.

Perhaps Mr. Beck was too self-righteous to see the enormity of his appearing in the middle of a program in which a desperate, paranoid and repressive Chinese government attempts to strip away the human rights of its citizens to protest and to express themselves, rights that real Americans should cherish. On the other hand perhaps he was fully aware of that irony and relished every moment of it, thinking that nobody in the audience would see his hypocrisy. If so, he was wrong and I am sure I’m not the only one who saw it.

Later in the week another pledge break interrupted a lovely two hour American ballroom dance competition. The woman who was cheerleading the fund drive, promoting a news program on MPBN, commented, “There’s more than one side to every story and you deserve to hear them all.” Maybe it’s a good thing Mr. Beck, the Torquemada of Public Radio, wasn’t on TV that evening: he might have choked on such a hypocritical platitude. Shame! Shame on MPBN in general and Mr. Charles Beck in particular!

J in Addison

Charles Beck says perception is reality. And right now, my radio friends perceive I’m being censored

The items and views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of The humble Farmer --- but he enjoys them immensely.

++

Shut Up and Play

By AL DIAMON

I’ve been fired for saying stuff like this. So, if I’m not occupying this space next week, you’ll know why.Just kidding. This publication would never dismiss someone for exercising his First Amendment rights.I hope. Like I said, my experience has been otherwise.

Also, this doesn’t seem to be a good time to be outspoken. The Legislature is currently considering a bill to limit protests at funerals, so when Uncle Oscar, the child molester, finally croaks, you won’t be able to stand next to his cemetery plot with a sign that says, “I’m Glad He’s Dead.” The bill’s sponsor is apparently unconcerned that there’s never been a funeral protest in Maine (a group of anti-gay psychos threatened to hold one, but never showed) and doesn’t seem to realize that if one occurred, it would provoke such a backlash against the organizers as to be self-defeating. Like flag burning, this is a problem that corrects itself, even without a law.

Meanwhile, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices has told a Superior Court justice it has the right to fine a legislative candidate for what it considers misleading campaign material. In a 2006 brochure, Republican Michael Mowles of Cape Elizabeth used old endorsements from U.S. senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Careful readers would have noticed the quotes were dated 2004, but the ethics commission seems to think free speech ought not to require careful reading.So, let me put this disclaimer in capital letters: SOME STUFF LATER IN THIS COLUMN HAPPENED MORE THAN A DECADE AGO.

In an atmosphere where you can be pummeled by the left for saying, “That’s so gay” and by the right for saying, “Iran has a valid point about nukes,” the safest course seems to be to limit conversations to sports (“The Yankees are so gay”) and the weather (“Iran has a valid point about global warming”).

Or maybe you should just shut up. Which is what Robert Skoglund is doing.

Skoglund, better known to listeners of the radio stations of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) as the capitalization-challenged host of the Friday evening program, “The Humble Farmer,” has gone silent. He said he has no choice.

Until recently, Skoglund’s show was a mix of old jazz recordings and wry comments on his life and times. But in November, Skoglund got a certified letter from his boss, MPBN vice president of programming Charles Beck. “You will not,” Beck wrote, “introduce your own or others’ political thoughts, ideas, expressions, writings or thinking which clearly or can be perceived as endorsing, dismissing or taking a stand on controversial issues.” Among the topics Skoglund is not allowed to mention are politics, corporations and commercial products. He’s also not supposed to discuss MPBN without prior approval.

Uh oh.

“It is not what I say,” said Skoglund without prior approval. “It is what they perceive …Charles Beck says perception is reality. And right now, my radio friends perceive I’m being censored.”

This isn’t a new problem. In 2003, Skoglund got spanked for a commentary about Hitler that came uncomfortably close to describing George W. Bush. Last fall, his show was pulled from the air for one week after he included criticism of the proposed Taxpayers Bill of Rights ballot question. Now, he’s being told his 28-year tenure at the network is in danger of being abruptly concluded.

As a result, Skoglund says nothing at all between songs, in protest of what he called, “far-right censorship that’s been settling down on public radio like a fog.”

He’s wrong about that.

MPBN is run not by conservatives (or, for that matter, liberals), but by bureaucrats intent on protecting their soft jobs and fat paychecks. They don’t want their easy existence threatened because somebody offended an elected official who controls a big part of their budget.

MPBN calls itself “public.” A more accurate description would be “government-funded.” Sort of like those semi-official TV stations in the Middle East. Only not so interesting.

I know from sad experience. For six years, I was a regular panelist on an MPBN TV show called “Media Watch,” which critiqued local press and broadcast outlets with a distinct lack of reserve. In 1995, the show took MPBN itself to task for airing what appeared to be a documentary that was really a thinly disguised fundraiser for the network. After myself and others said stuff about MPBN management that bears more than a passing resemblance to the contents of the paragraph before last, the program was cancelled.

Censorship? You bet. By far rightists? More like by far-too-worried-about-keeping-their-cushy-jobists.Returning to the current controversy, Skoglund has suggested a solution: Run a disclaimer at the beginning of the show stating that the opinions expressed are the host’s and not MPBN’s. Beck has so far ignored that idea.

I understand his reluctance to discuss it. After all, talking can get you fired.

I can’t fire you, so talk to me by e-mailing

aldiamon@herniahill.net

Mr. Diamon lives in Carrabassett Valley. --- Probably because he figures They can't get him up there.

++

Skoglund, better known to listeners of the radio stations of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) as the capitalization-challenged host of the Friday evening program, “The Humble Farmer,” has gone silent.

This is one of the cleverest things I've read in a long time --- "the capitalization-challenged host." Right on, Al. humble

Charles Beck gives MPBN Undeserved Black Eye

Below please find copy of e-mail we just sent to MPBN- Radio this date, March 12, 2007. We hope to hear you again on Friday nights, 7 PM sharp, and with your comments unchained...as it were.

***********************************************************

The Humble Farmer: how dare you hobble such a personality and then continue
C O N T I N U E to carry a motto on your letterhead saying "MORE TO EXPLORE".

We have lived in Maine since 1980 and have loved and enjoyed Robert Skoglund Friday nights. We emphasize that we tune in to hear Mr. Skoglund. For your management directors to even consider censoring him is a direct attack on the concept of PUBLIC radio.

Return him to radio, return his famous "rants" and leave him alone.

And for the sake of humanity (not too small of an endeavor) pay the man considerably more than $30 dollars a show. Believe me, your public support depends on radio shows just like his.

You can call us at home and we can suggest more what you might consider doing in regard to this hobbling of The Humble Farmer.

G in Machias

Greg Palast and Garrison Keillor and Bill Moyers on Censorship

http://www.gregpalast.com/

Just wanted to tell you that we didn't ironically censor you on our site we just don't allow adresses and phone numbers on the comment ,

I sent your comment to Greg...finest-

Zachary RobertsGreg Palast Office
zach @gregpalast.com

Thanks Zach, Sounds like a good deal. The Christian Science Monitor article on Maine Public Radio censorship is agreeably small potatoes, but then it is an illustration of how the far right operates: the small guys are the easiest to topple and are therefore the first to go.

When all the little humble Farmers are gone it becomes relatively simple to silence Greg Palast and Garrison Keillor.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0222/p20s01-algn.html?page=1

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0305/p08s01-cole.html

http://digg.com/political_opinion/Radio_Personality_of_28_Years_Censored_for_Anti_War_Views_on_PUBLIC_Radio

MPBN Censorship: "Public radio, of all places, should be the first venue to welcome opinion" Barbara & Herb Jacobowitz

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0222/p20s01-algn.html?page=1

February 22, 2007 profile on The humble Farmer radio program in the Christian Science Monitor.

++

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0305/p08s01-cole.html

Letter in March 5, 2007 Christian Science Monitor

Protect free speech

Regarding the Feb. 22 article, "A farmer who tills the airwaves":

As Maryland listeners of Robert Skoglund's radio show on public radio in Maine, we were delighted with the article. We are particularly fond of the "over-the-top" Maine accent and sensibilities that "the humble Farmer" conveys. (It is a Maine-produced program after all.)

However, we were very alarmed at Maine public radio's reaction to Mr. Skoglund's opinions. Public radio, of all places, should be the first venue to welcome opinion of all varieties. We hope that Maine public radio will reconsider its unfortunate position and allow Skoglund, and all of us, to return to the quirky, authentic, Maine-inspired program that so many people love.

Barbara and Herb Jacobowitz

Silver Spring, Md.

+++

Anti Censorship Organizations:

http://www.thefileroom.org/documents/AntiC.html

++

Making a Difference With Humor on Public Radio. An article for the University of Rochester Review by Robert Karl Skoglund.

http://www.rochester.edu/pr/Review/V69N1/gazetteRVP.html

++

Radio Friends Write:

http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/FriendWrite.html

++

http://knox.villagesoup.com/AandE/story.cfm?storyID=87854

Jay Davis, Village Soup, Camden, Maine: follow up on Christian Science Monitor article on MPBN censorship.

++

on Saturday, March 03, 2007 at 2:49 PM -0500 wrote:

I will no longer be sending donations to Maine Public Radio. I have reached this decision based on the fact that Charles Beck chose to censor the Humble Farmer and his comments. I will not support any organization that DOES NOT ALLOW FREE SPEECH.

This whole affair smells and I think Charles Beck should be severely spoken to and perhaps should resign. He is not representing the public in a fair way. He seems to be using his personal feelings to run the programming.

Will he censor Garrison Keillor next??????

I think this is disgusting.

Dear Ms. Evans Messer: Thank you for contacting The Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
We value and appreciate input from all our viewers and listeners. Your comments will be shared with our programming department. Thanks again for contacting MPBN.

Sincerely, Maurice Doyon
Audience Services Associate
Maine Public Broadcasting Network
1450 Lisbon St.Lewiston, ME 04240
Phone: 207-783-9101

+++

Hi humble,

... When I was trying to stop the Central American wars on the streets of Belfast, I remember working an anti-war table at the entrance to Shop 'N Save just after they moved to Starett Drive. The supermarket did not object to our presence; I suspect we asked permission to set up.

Many hundreds of people passed our table and gave us a thumbs up or down, signed our petition--had a little chat. Only one person ever got REALLY frantic over our presence.

Charles Beck, then likely the morning classical music DJ, approached the table like any inquisitive passerby. When he saw that we were soliciting people to help stop the war-- he freaked out; sputtering that he couldn't be seen associating with anyone like us--recoiling in horror, with a weeks worth of body language. I always remember the episode because I never experienced anything like that response in a public place before or since.

I have shuddered everytime Charles Beck got another promotion at MPBN--always feeling that he was hard wired only to "Big Brother".

++

Would you see anything wrong in reading, on Maine Public Radio, an Encyclopedia Britannica definition of fascism in Italy in the 1920s? Can you guess what happened when The humble Farmer did?

http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/Fascism.html

Would you think one could get in trouble by saying, on Maine Public Radio, that Hitler was a rat-faced wimp? Can you guess what happened when The humble Farmer did?

http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/WarRant2.html

++

Dear Representative Dill and Senator Bromley,

Over the last several years, American society has witnessed a steady decline in civil liberties including the right to free speech, right to a speedy trial and protection from illegal search and seizure to name but a few. This phenomenon has been exhibited on both the federal and state level. Reasonable people could disagree as to the extent of the erosion of protections afforded Americans under the Bill of Rights but what cannot be disputed is the fact of the erosion.

I write to you about these issues so as to frame a very disturbing incident involving MPBN and the attempt to suppress the free speech of one of their long time commentators Robert Skoglund aka The Humble Farmer. Over the last twenty eight years Robert Skoglund has provided public broadcasting radio listeners with a witty, insightful mix of social commentary and 'old fashion music'. Many have called him the Garrison Keillor of Maine. My personal feeling is that Mr. Skoglund provides a far deeper intellectual analysis of the human condition than does The Prairie Home Companion as well as significant twentieth century American music history. He has never failed to promote and support local performing artists.

Personal bias aside, the trend to direct and control the content of The Humble Farmer goes back at least to 2003 when Mr. Skoglund received a reprimand / warning based on commentary regarding Adolf Hitler. The November 3, 2006 show was not aired at all due to content deemed 'political'. The limits imposed on Mr. Skoglund are new; former MPBN management did not see fit to criticize or curtail Mr. Skoglund. In addition the negative attitude directed at Mr. Skoglund from MPBN management has been of a nature that has simultaneously threatened and cast doubt on the future of the program 'The Humble Farmer' should he not "shape up".

Robert Skoglund is an international treasure. His program is streamed on the internet and is as well received in Paris, France as it is in Miami, Florida. He is not in violation of the original mandates of public broadcasting; rather he celebrates and embodies the very creative spirit that public broadcasting seeks, or used to seek, to enable. Are you never quite sure what he might say or play next ? Now you understand the nature of the appeal.

I am requesting each of you to look further into this issue. A good place to start might be Village Soup @ http://www.blogger.com/www.villagesoup.com. The latest posting describes another perspective on this topic. The Christian Science Monitor also recently profiled The Humble Farmer. After you have read about the unfortunate turn towards suppression of speech at MPBN I hope you will further consider closely questioning MPBN representatives should they appear before you during budget negotiations. I do not consider their actions either appropriate or necessary.

I am a life long Democrat. I have been a public broadcasting supporter / listener throughout my life. I will hopefully always be a learner. I do not seek to de-fund MPBN. I do seek a modification of their behavior and the utter rejection of the 'guidelines' that management has imposed at this very late date in the history of Maine Public Broadcasting on commentary. Robert Skoglund is a teacher, a mentor and a member of the old school.

Please, let's support the guy that has done so much for Maine and at the same time get back some of the liberties to which we are entitled.

Thank you both for your time. I appreciate your interest in this matter.

Ken Brown

++

From Garrison Keillor's Daily Diary...

"It's the anniversary of the rise of one terrible dictator and the end of another. It was on this day in 1933 that the Nazi Party won the majority of the seats in the German parliament, known as the Reichstag, effectively taking control of the country. It was the last free election in Germany until the end of World War II.

Six days before the election, the Reichstag building caught fire, supposedly set by a communist terrorist. The Nazis used the fire as a symbol of the chaos that they would help correct. No one knows for sure, but some historians believe that the Nazis set the fire themselves. In the days after the fire, Hitler persuaded the president to issue new restrictions on personal liberties. Men with ladders suddenly began going around the cities and covering up political posters with plain white paper. All political parties other than the Nazis were forbidden to campaign in the last few days before the vote. And the plan worked. The Nazis took a majority, handing Hitler enough votes to grant himself absolute power.

Just five days after the election, Victor Klemperer, a Jewish professor of romantic languages living in Germany, wrote in his diary: "What, up to election Sunday on March 5, I called terror, was a mild prelude. ... It's astounding how easily everything collapses. ... Since [the election,] day after day commissioners appointed, provincial governments trampled underfoot, flags raised, buildings taken over, people shot, newspapers banned, etc., etc. ... A complete revolution and party dictatorship. And all opposing forces as if vanished from the earth. ... No one dares say anything anymore, everyone is afraid."

++

The two stories below are typical of what you'll hear on The humble Farmer's radio program. Click the link on his web page:

http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/ThisWeek.html

Within the next few months I will be speaking at a state association of funeral directors in one of those big states west of Texas. The man who heads up that state’s funeral directors association called me on the phone and sounded quite excited about having me entertain his group.

He said, “Let’s see, if you start telling stories at two in the afternoon, you can finish at four.”

Of course that kind of startled me. Two hours?

I said, “Perhaps you should understand something. In my business, when we talk too long, our customers can get up and walk out.”

+++

If you have listened to this program for any amount of time, you know that my primary purpose in chatting with you --- my goal in life—is to tell you things that will make your life more pleasant. What better employment can one find than to be able to educate one’s best friends and do it in a manner that might bring a smile to their lips? If I can’t smooth out the bumps in your road of life I can at least prepare you for the fact that they are waiting for you.

If you have ever married, I would like you to listen closely to what I am about to say.

If you have never married, I would like you to listen even more closely.

How much anguish and unnecessary suffering could be spared in this life if, during the wedding vows, the performing magistrate would say,

“Do you, Alison, promise to go through Steven’s pants and remove the Kleenex, loose dollar bills, his ipod and notebook BEFORE throwing them in the wash?”

Thank you again for listening.

Your neighbor humble