Four candidate profiles left out the union’s role, the endorsements and money, and the incumbents’ votes. The promised funding and endorsement story hasn’t run yet. Ballots went out Oct. 5.
It pains me to read these articles about OUSD and OEA, and the lack of truth in some news media in covering the outsized influence of OEA. The flashpoint for me was over 30 years ago when my kids were in elementary school and OEA went on a month long strike, pulling parents to support them by naming the strike “Classrooms First”. The promises of smaller class sizes etc, which would have improved the learning environment for our children, ended up being cover for the usual: higher salaries and healthcare benefits. Yes, both are important for sure but a month long strike with empty promises was when I had enough. I sent a “my word” letter to the Oakland Tribune, titled “How do you Spell Doublecrossed”. The trust was gone.
Here we are today, with OEA basically running the school board. All of the teachers and administrators - former or current - need to be voted out.
Time and again I see folks online moaning about how stupid Oaklanders are to keep voting the same way. But the reality is that we're deep into one party territory, so the differences between candidates are subtle at best - memes and misinformation are easily used as weapons. Sadly Oaklandside is part of this phenomenon - continuing to brainwash and obfuscate to prevent real change instead of bringing actual analysis and decision support to its readership. Thank you for highlighting this and for being part of the difference! It's gotta be awkward to have to criticize something that purports to be community-supported and -serving local news...
Rex -- Thank you for your interest and comment, but it is self-defeating. The 1950s senator you mentioned, Joe McCarthy, was a demagogue whose unsubstantiated public accusations and attacks on the character of his political opponents led to his censure by his Senate colleagues; and several of his accusations turned out to be false.
People like McCarthy, who use their power and influence to engage in bullying and deceptive means to achieve their political ends are wrong, no matter what their political views or justifications may be. As such, McCarthy is a poor and ultimately self-defeating example to make the point you seemed to be trying to make.
You're free to write your thoughts as you see fit (and others are free to respond, ignore, or block you online, as they see fit), but I thought you should know how your comment comes across to some readers, or at least to this one. I hope this feedback is taken in the spirit of good faith with which it was written. Thank you again.
Rich, what is your explanation/justification for Oaklandside’s consistent omission of OEA’s financial and other support for the very candidates that will negotiate their contracts with them. Is there a good reason that Oaklandside doesn’t follow the journalistic imperative to “follow the money?”
My point was that we need to understand and respect the difference between reporting and advocating. I would have no problem with Oaklandside if they clearly stated they were advocating the public employee union positions and not hiding as a news organization. As a democrat, small ‘d,’ I trust readers and voters when information is presented fairly. Organizations that mislead, spin, use bias reporting, and propagandize are fundamentally disrespecting us.
This is the third article I have seen in Oakland Reports that has focused on the reporting of Oaklandside. I find this focus offensive. It feels the same as when a candidate goes negative on their opponent during a campaign. If you want to report on Oakland, report on Oakland. Report on candidates, issues, campaigns the way you think they should be covered but please refrain from complaining about your competition not reporting the way you think they should. Just report about Oakland. Your continuing focus on Oaklandside makes me distrust your motives. If you have something honest to say about what is going on in Oakland, have some faith that the people of Oakland are smart enough to see through any B.S. Report on Oakland. Otherwise why not just call yourselves the Oaklandside Review .
Renais, Thank you for your comment, but it doesn't address any the points raised in the article. Producing analyses of Oakland-based local media is a form of reporting on Oakland. Thank you again for commenting; the engagement is appreciated.
These articles on the Oakland Report analyzing the writing of the Oaklandside coverage?! - What is up with this Silicon Valley-style Data Bro weaponized pedantry? I skim these articles - largely because I find it so amusing that there are "journalists" out there who will do anti-progressive actuary work, short of a quant-mod right-inquisition. I've only lived in Oakland for six years, but who thinks this type of obsessive-compulsive citation-slamming liberal press watchdogging works in this city, other than getting likes from those with the same selective confirmation bias - that think doing some kind of word count and adjective analysis lends itself to confirming their truth.
The reason why this style of weaponized pedantry works is that some people enjoy derailing political arguments or undermining an institution's credibility with hyper-granular statistical audits and linguistic nitpicking. Jeez. You may want to consider that the 9% of extra coverage an incumbent got over a challenger is due to the incumbent spending the last 4 years in that elected role, rather than some sort of manufactured conspiracy.
At least the Oaklandside journalists are out there, joining public meetings in person, talking to city and school administrators, and being on site of a story. This type of journalism isn't even backseat journalism; it's like cheap IKEA armchair quarterbacking - prompt engineering AI to audit word counts instead of getting up and doing the actual reporting.
Final note: I am writing in my individual capacity as an Oakland resident because I read the Oaklandside and also appreciate Ashley McBride's education coverage.
It pains me to read these articles about OUSD and OEA, and the lack of truth in some news media in covering the outsized influence of OEA. The flashpoint for me was over 30 years ago when my kids were in elementary school and OEA went on a month long strike, pulling parents to support them by naming the strike “Classrooms First”. The promises of smaller class sizes etc, which would have improved the learning environment for our children, ended up being cover for the usual: higher salaries and healthcare benefits. Yes, both are important for sure but a month long strike with empty promises was when I had enough. I sent a “my word” letter to the Oakland Tribune, titled “How do you Spell Doublecrossed”. The trust was gone.
Here we are today, with OEA basically running the school board. All of the teachers and administrators - former or current - need to be voted out.
Time and again I see folks online moaning about how stupid Oaklanders are to keep voting the same way. But the reality is that we're deep into one party territory, so the differences between candidates are subtle at best - memes and misinformation are easily used as weapons. Sadly Oaklandside is part of this phenomenon - continuing to brainwash and obfuscate to prevent real change instead of bringing actual analysis and decision support to its readership. Thank you for highlighting this and for being part of the difference! It's gotta be awkward to have to criticize something that purports to be community-supported and -serving local news...
The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.
Vladimir Lenin
“Soft” Marxists have infiltrated the media going back to the 1920s. McCarthy’s 1950s charges were just the tip of the iceberg….
Rex -- Thank you for your interest and comment, but it is self-defeating. The 1950s senator you mentioned, Joe McCarthy, was a demagogue whose unsubstantiated public accusations and attacks on the character of his political opponents led to his censure by his Senate colleagues; and several of his accusations turned out to be false.
People like McCarthy, who use their power and influence to engage in bullying and deceptive means to achieve their political ends are wrong, no matter what their political views or justifications may be. As such, McCarthy is a poor and ultimately self-defeating example to make the point you seemed to be trying to make.
You're free to write your thoughts as you see fit (and others are free to respond, ignore, or block you online, as they see fit), but I thought you should know how your comment comes across to some readers, or at least to this one. I hope this feedback is taken in the spirit of good faith with which it was written. Thank you again.
But never about facts and truths.
Rich, what is your explanation/justification for Oaklandside’s consistent omission of OEA’s financial and other support for the very candidates that will negotiate their contracts with them. Is there a good reason that Oaklandside doesn’t follow the journalistic imperative to “follow the money?”
Oakland Report is a news operation. Oaklanside is a propaganda op.
My point was that we need to understand and respect the difference between reporting and advocating. I would have no problem with Oaklandside if they clearly stated they were advocating the public employee union positions and not hiding as a news organization. As a democrat, small ‘d,’ I trust readers and voters when information is presented fairly. Organizations that mislead, spin, use bias reporting, and propagandize are fundamentally disrespecting us.
This is the third article I have seen in Oakland Reports that has focused on the reporting of Oaklandside. I find this focus offensive. It feels the same as when a candidate goes negative on their opponent during a campaign. If you want to report on Oakland, report on Oakland. Report on candidates, issues, campaigns the way you think they should be covered but please refrain from complaining about your competition not reporting the way you think they should. Just report about Oakland. Your continuing focus on Oaklandside makes me distrust your motives. If you have something honest to say about what is going on in Oakland, have some faith that the people of Oakland are smart enough to see through any B.S. Report on Oakland. Otherwise why not just call yourselves the Oaklandside Review .
Renais, Thank you for your comment, but it doesn't address any the points raised in the article. Producing analyses of Oakland-based local media is a form of reporting on Oakland. Thank you again for commenting; the engagement is appreciated.
These articles on the Oakland Report analyzing the writing of the Oaklandside coverage?! - What is up with this Silicon Valley-style Data Bro weaponized pedantry? I skim these articles - largely because I find it so amusing that there are "journalists" out there who will do anti-progressive actuary work, short of a quant-mod right-inquisition. I've only lived in Oakland for six years, but who thinks this type of obsessive-compulsive citation-slamming liberal press watchdogging works in this city, other than getting likes from those with the same selective confirmation bias - that think doing some kind of word count and adjective analysis lends itself to confirming their truth.
The reason why this style of weaponized pedantry works is that some people enjoy derailing political arguments or undermining an institution's credibility with hyper-granular statistical audits and linguistic nitpicking. Jeez. You may want to consider that the 9% of extra coverage an incumbent got over a challenger is due to the incumbent spending the last 4 years in that elected role, rather than some sort of manufactured conspiracy.
At least the Oaklandside journalists are out there, joining public meetings in person, talking to city and school administrators, and being on site of a story. This type of journalism isn't even backseat journalism; it's like cheap IKEA armchair quarterbacking - prompt engineering AI to audit word counts instead of getting up and doing the actual reporting.
Final note: I am writing in my individual capacity as an Oakland resident because I read the Oaklandside and also appreciate Ashley McBride's education coverage.
Rich, Thank you for your comment, but it doesn't address any of the points made in the article. We wish you the best.