I listen to the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU all the time. I especially make sure to listen to The Politics Hour every Friday, and usually it’s an excellent show. This Friday, however, I must say I was very disappointed in the people who screen Kojo’s callers, and also in Kojo himself. Why?
First, watch the following video, of Jaime Areizaga-Soto responding to three calls from listeners. In particular, I have a huge problem with the first call, and to a lesser extent, with the second call.
That’s right, first off they allow an outright racist – someone who believes that black or Latino (he calls them “Hispanic”) elected officials “only work on” black or “Hispanic” issues (whatever THOSE are exactly), who refers disrespectfully to the “Virginia Hispanic whatever caucus,” who claims that white candidates are “forced to deal with all races,” etc. Why on earth would the screeners let someone like this ask a question of a Latino candidate, and why wouldn’t the hosts cut him off as soon as they realized that they had (mistakenly?) let this individual through? Truly apalling, c’mon Kojo!
Second, and of FAR lesser importance, the screeners also let through a caller who had no idea what on earth he was calling about, going on for a while about Rob Krupicka, a candidate in a completely different district than Jaime Areizaga-Soto, with the hosts not correcting him or cutting him off. More substantively, what a waste of the candidate’s time, with 2 of 3 questions being a complete waste of time and/or a “troll”. Ugh, not a good day on the Kojo Nnaamdi show!
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