We got a complaint from the Director of Media Relations at the University of North Carolina System about the story we reported on the syllabi of UNC system professors now being public records and property of the university, not the individual, per System President Peter Hans, with reaction to this rule change from UNCW’s chapter president of the American Association of University Professors, Todd Berliner. The email said “It is concerning that no one from WHQR contacted the UNC System Office to seek comment or clarification, despite the fact that the UNC System and President Peter Hans are central to the subject of the reporting. We understand that the professor featured in the story was interviewed at length, yet no one even attempted to contact us. Making a good-faith effort to contact major parties involved in a story is a basic professional standard. As someone who previously taught journalism, I find this omission troubling and inconsistent with accepted reporting practices.” WHQR’s News Director Ben Schachtman replied, “We cited President Hans' op-ed, in which he eloquently laid out his argument for the new policy. We also put the arguments Hans made to Professor Berliner. In addition, we contacted UNCW for their comment. We would be more than happy to interview President Hans about this and other issues in higher education. Please let us know if he is available.” This invitation remains open.
Another listener had this information to add to Kelly Kenoyer’s reporting on a fatality at the Smithfield Pork Processing Plant in Bladen County. They wrote “I've listened to your Smithfield fatality piece a couple of times and appreciate you asking the question about whether penalties incentivize improved compliance. In addition to negotiating a lower dollar amount, businesses often negotiate the penalty be re-categorized so they don't admit blame for a violation.
This allows the business to deduct the penalty as a business expense on their corporate taxes. I don't think this fact gets publicized enough in stories such as this.”
This week we say a fond farewell to reporter Nikolai Mather, who has covered news from Brunswick, Pender and other counties for WHQR for the last three years. We wish him well in his next endeavor, and trust he won’t be a stranger.
Finally, all of us at WHQR were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of longtime music host John Fonvielle last week. We heard from a number of listeners, all of whom had messages like this one: “Although I didn’t know John, he provided years of great shows. I was a big fan. I do hope that WHQR honors his contributions to the station and the listening community.” We have every intention to do just that. George Scheibner has been playing John’s favorites during Smooth Landing all this week, and he is at work on a tribute program to Jon to air in the future. If you have not seen George’s remembrance of Jon on our website, I urge you to read it. We all miss Jon terribly, and will think of him whenever we hear a Bob Dylan tune. We’ll be repeating some of John’s shows from the archive for the next couple of Saturday nights in his honor.
We love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments and criticisms. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. Or you can email us at feedback@whqr.org. Thanks for your feedback, and we look forward to hearing from you.