OLD ANSWP NEWS

OPINIONWITHOUT A PROMPTER
The Nazi challenge
By Karl RundgrenSpecial to Toledo Free Press
I wish Toledo had a Neo-Nazi warning siren — a loud blaring alarm, just like the tornado sirens, to warn people that racist hatemongers had crossed into the city. That way, we would know when to be concerned. Until we get that siren, the media has cast themselves in this role, scrutinizing Web sites for any sign the same hate groups that sparked the North Toledo riots could return. Recently, a small blurb was spotted, indicating that the American National Socialist Workers Party might plan a trip in August and, almost immediately, a barrage of reports came out. All of the local television stations, including my own, found the old 2005 riot video and re-aired it, along with warnings that the Neo-Nazis were coming.As the coverage continued, Terry Glazer, CEO of United North, got more and more fed up. “I'm not saying the media shouldn't report on the story,” he said, “but they've been reporting on the story day after day after day. The media keep pushing the issue. It's just so unnecessary to do that, to create that kind of fear.”Glazer said he's been getting a series of phone calls from concerned North Toledoans, asking what they should do. He's tried to assure them there isn't even a set date for any so-called rally, and that city leaders would fight to keep it contained Downtown. That's what they did in December 2005, when the Neo-Nazis returned to Toledo without incident. But people don't see that video on the news, showing a wall of police officers keeping the peace. They see the riot, again, and they get scared.Glazer gets frustrated: “It could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. By reporting it, it could actually happen,” he said. It's a true conundrum. How do you cover a story, which could become worse through your coverage? The closest comparison I can think of is severe weather. Whenever a storm blows into the area, all of the local television stations take turns breaking into programming, warning you of what's coming, so you can stay out of its way. It's one of the most important things that electronic media does, even if it does often get blown out of proportion.Now imagine if that nonstop coverage actually made the storms worse. How do you sufficiently cover a small danger if there's a risk you could cause that danger to swell?I don't want to think our coverage has that kind of violent impact, but I can't deny the possibility. I remember the flurry of attention the Neo-Nazis got back in 2005, and perhaps if there had been less, there might have been less destruction. Still, I believe that the media can only shoulder part of the blame for what happened. There are myriad reasons things blew up that day, including socioeconomic inequalities, insufficient preparation, and a collective sense of outrage that the city didn't do more to stop the rally in the first place. You might be surprised to learn about another person who agrees with Terry Glazer that the coverage has gotten out of control. That's Bill White, an ANSWP leader, who was interviewed extensively before the riot and again just recently. “Every time we come near Toledo, the smallest actions become this huge overblown nonsense media campaign,” he wrote on a Web site. Of course, that doesn't stop White from agreeing to interviews and relishing the publicity.That's publicity Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner doesn't want White to get. He's echoing the call for quiet, sending a letter to local media outlets, asking that they “minimize” their coverage of any planned Neo-Nazi rally. Of course, this is hardly the first time the mayor has attempted to influence press coverage choices. There isn't a perfect answer. I wish there was. If the media ignores the Neo-Nazis and something happens anyway, the media will be blamed for not giving ample warning. If we give it coverage and something happens, we're accused of fueling the fire. Hello, Catch-22.And Terry Glazer will be watching what we do very closely. “I think it's time this community holds our media accountable. I don't believe in censorship; I believe in a free press, but I believe the press has a responsibility to be ethical in how they report news.”Each media outlet will have to decide how best to walk that coverage tightrope, how best to serve their viewers, and then live with the ramifications of that decision. At least until they get that Nazi warning siren working.Karl Rundgren is managing editor and co-anchor of Fox Toledo News.