Virginia Daffron’s article on radio station WPVM [“Lost in Transmission: Amid Heated Controversy, WPVM Charts a New Course,” Nov. 4, Xpress] was very thorough and informative, and yet there are things I still do not understand about what has transpired.
It seems to me that it would be useful if everyone who has an interest in the station could come together, and we could all hear each other’s perspectives. To that end, there will be a meeting on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 3 p.m. in Pack Library, Lord Auditorium, in which everyone will have equal time to express their views in a respectful and constructive tone and be heard with courtesy.
Personally, even though I have been a longtime supporter of the station, all I know comes from Daffron’s article and from just two other people. I hope that everyone who has been involved in the station or who cares about it will come and be heard.
— Rusty Sivils
Leicester
Editor’s note: Sivils welcomes comments from readers at 242-6073.
I’ll be there. With bells on. -Abby the Spoon Lady.
Make sure you prep for today’s meeting.
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2015/12/friends-of-wpvm.html
From your website:
“Once MAIN voted to transfer the license we began the formal proceedings…”
This is all written as if you were there. Are/were you affiliated with WPVM?
No response? You’re directing people to something posted on your blog that obviously wasn’t written by you. You’ve taken all the “we”s out since I posted my first comment, so thanks for admitting you were caught disseminating something you didn’t write.
But guess what Jimmy, you screwed up again. When you’re whitewashing, make sure you get it all. This is what it says now:
“Once MAIN voted to transfer the license, the group began the formal proceedings of filing our Articles of Incorporation with NC Secretary of State…” (emphasis mine)
You forgot to take the “our”s out.
This proves you’re deliberately trying to mislead XPress readers, and everyone following the WPVM situation. You’re trolling for Davyne, aren’t you? Is she paying you? If so, if I was her, I’d ask for a refund.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha! This is pathetic. You missed another one:
“Smith commented on the Asheville Politics Facebook page and councilmember Bothwell used his bully pulpit to discredit the new management with some of our show hosts.”
Do I get paid for helping you with the whitewashing?
I’ll chip in if he stiffs you. This is just too good to let end.
Thanks. Who knew that this could be a profession?
Hostile Factchecker For Hire
And that quickly, he changes the last “our” to “the”.
Do you think this is the last bit of whiteout you’ll need? Think again.
I want my money. You’re welcome.
It’s like that scene in 1984.
“Minitrue plays a role as the news media by changing history, and changing the words in articles about events current and past, so that Big Brother and his government are always seen in a good light and can never do any wrong.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministries_of_Nineteen_Eighty-Four#Role_in_information
You’ll always have a job in the Ministry of Information, Tim “Minitrue” Peck.
Although next time you might think about air-brushing that photo, too. I know a guy in Canada who has a whole bunch of great head shots he can’t use anymore.
Just to re-cap the re-write:
http://bit.ly/1NjCiHa
Well, that’s all good then. Obviously written by Mr. Peck himself, and not by an outside, unnamed co-conspirator from within WPVM’s Board of Directors.
Ironically, the fig-leafed version is less credible than if the original had been simply attributed to a knowledgeable guest blogger in the first place. The revised, pseudo-detached language just makes the reader wonder where Mr. Peck got all this detailed information about day-to-day radio operations and what biases those undisclosed sources might have. Some friend of the station he is.
Mr. Peck’s blog has a long screed about WPVM critics (under his own name) that was almost certainly written by Davyne Dial.
Not much going on in the Moffitt-spokestroll world these days. He’s taking on new clients, I see.
Does anyone need any other evidence of where the station formerly known as the ‘Progressive Voice of the Mountains’ is headed?
Too bad Barry Summers (or anyone for that matter) chose not to show to the meeting Saturday. I was there, wanting to hear what folks had to say face to face. So much nastiness online, was hoping folks would come out from behind their computers to discuss. If this was really such a hostile takeover and things went down as folks said it did seems someone would have shown. But no one from the side who says WPVM experienced a hostile takeover and Davyne Dial acted illegally showed. No one. Not. One. Person.
I don’t know Barry, but all he wants to talk about here is Tim Peck and Peck’s blog. No one showed, Barry. That says a lot to me.
Excellent. Another Tim Moffitt employee heard from.
Barry, I haven’t worked for Moffitt in over a year and I only worked for his firm, not his political career. Nevermind, that’s all you have. You don’t have an answer to the very valid points I made. All you can do is finger point. You are a sad.
“a sad”? Interesting. Never heard ‘sad’ used as a noun.
If you made any ‘very valid points’, I must have missed them. You’re frustrated I didn’t attend this meeting? Not sure why you people are so obsessed with me. Tim Peck almost blew a gasket when I didn’t show up at the CPP forum on water month or so ago.
Other than the fact that I feel for Rusty and the Vets for Peace losing their show, there was no real reason for me to attend this thing. Davyne & crew have gotten away with it. I’ll watch her antics from afar.
Sorry to disappoint you.
Don’t blame me. I didn’t want to the meeting ill-informed and they hadn’t finished revising the prep material yet.
Opps. That should say “I didn’t want to go to the meeting ill-informed and they hadn’t finished the prep materials yet.” Probably isn’t as pithy the second time around.
Why don’t you tell me what you really think?
And don’t be afraid to get a little personal this time. I think they’ve relaxed that rule. Again.
Ah, I see now. Mr. Robert is part of the attack APD/attack Cecil Bothwell brigade, which Davyne has joined in on from time to time. And you’ve been on her show at least once, also.
Thanks for the encouragement, Mr. Robert. Whenever someone like you goes after me with that sort of vitriol, I know I’m onto something.
This thread has gone seriously downhill. Commenters, please get back to talking about the issue rather than lobbing insults at each other. We’d rather you all follow the rules for this forum rather than push us to shut down comments.
Barry,
See, you’ve taken the flawed logic of your cartoonish “us vs. them’ worldview and tried to somehow shoehorn me into some mythical “brigade”. Once again proving that you have no sense of context or nuance, whatsoever.
I went after APD for filming peaceful political protests and stifling First Amendment free speech (something I’d think any freedom loving citizen would support):
http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/08/25/complaint-asheville-police-violated-city-resolution/14591809/
I’ve “attacked” Cecil Bothwell on occasion for being a spineless blowhard (like when he tried to blame the ineptness of our last Police Chief on some vast conspiracy of racism, rather than the fact that the guy was an incompetent moron who had failed at three of his prior posts).
I’ve also “attacked” the Mayor for selling us out to the McKibbon Hotel group, like I “attacked” Jan Davis for refusing to grant the part-time employees of the Civic Center a raise to living wage, like I “attacked” Gordon Smith for giving his Brother-in-Law taxpayer handouts, like I “attacked” Marc Hunt for his decision on the Basilica property…
You see the list goes on and on, because I don’t venerate any of these “politicians” and I certainly don’t belong to any “team”, unless you count that Team Asheville. We’re the people who hold the community’s best interests at heart, and refuse to let binary thinking and petty loyalties cloud us from seeing what is actually happening in this community. A basic fact your simplistic mind doesn’t seem to be able to grasp as it furiously seeks to place me in one of your only two mental compartments.
The fact is, I call out bullshit wherever I find it. And today I find it smeared all over your self-serving, egotistical face. For the record, I’ve never been on “her show” (whatever that means). I was given the opportunity to live broadcast for 8 hours during the most recent City Council elections. And if you bothered to listen, I went after Mumpower as hard as I did Mayfield. And guess what, the whole time I was on air there was “no (wo)man behind the curtain” directing my thoughts and telling me what to say.
I’m a fiercely independent voice, and will remain so. WPVM was pretty brave putting someone like me on the air. I choose to fight for what I believe is right and not whatever simplistic “left / right” banner I happen to find myself under. Its hacks like yourself and your generation, that have reduced political discourse two these narrow realms whereby those in power get to play you like pawns in chess.
No thank you, I’ll take critical thinking over “teams” any day.
If the analogy is 1984, then the Mountain Xpress is doing a pretty good job at controlling the discourse and being Big Brother by failing to post my comments…
They do that when you post insulting tirades without redeeming relevant content.
As to your final jab at me, I do have a hobby – it’s exposing those who twist and misrepresent the issues to the point that reasonable dialog is impossible.
Prime example: my (OK, somewhat ad nauseum) expose of perennial conservative agitator Tim Peck’s role in this. If the post on his blog that he directed people to in response to Rusty Sivils’ letter was written by Davyne Dial, as seems obvious, the question is: why? Why did she give it to him to post it there (without her name on it), and then send tweets out on the WPVM twitter feed directing people to read it? That’s bizarre, as is Mr. Peck’s desperation to whitewash the fact that he had not written it himself.
I feel bad for Rusty and the other veterans who lost their show on WPVM. They join the long list of people who found themselves shown the door by Davyne.
Its pretty clear to me that this is a one-sided debate facilitated by the moderators at the Mountain Xpress who will let you say anything you want but have failed to post my comments… How’s that “reasonable dialogue”
Oh, please. You can’t just dash off a comment and expect it to get in on the first try. As was shown above, you have to keep revising and revising and revising until people can scarcely tell you wrote any of it at all. If you need help, just ask.
And, trust me on this, Barry is damn good at his hobby.
Hey look! They posted that one!
I’ve learned to try to scale back the insults, whereas your first post was just a pure mean personal attack on me. You’re apparently on a little moderated leash for the time being, until you stop doing that.
I should have said earlier that I respect some of your activities on the APD front, such as the issue of the police videotaping all political events, etc. Thank you for that – that was a fight worth fighting. But I’m sure that you had people wanting you to sit down and shut up the whole time, didn’t you?
Unfortunately, I believe those legitimate issues were hijacked by a cabal of people in this town (like Davyne) who simply want to attack the City for reasons that they never really acknowledge. That’s why this WPVM tempest in a teapot is of concern to me, and that’s why it’s currently my “hobby” to stay aware and expose what I believe are the unethical things going on behind the surface. How much do you really know about the gang you are defending?
I appreciate you recognizing that my fight against APD was a righteous one…
I went after APD for filming peaceful political protests and stifling First Amendment free speech (something I’d think any freedom loving citizen would support):
http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/08/25/complaint-asheville-police-violated-city-resolution/14591809/
I’ve “attacked” Cecil Bothwell on occasion for being a spineless blowhard (like when he tried to blame the ineptness of our last Police Chief on some vast conspiracy of racism, rather than the fact that the guy was an incompetent moron who had failed at three of his prior posts).
I’ve also “attacked” the Mayor for selling us out to the McKibbon Hotel group, like I “attacked” Jan Davis for refusing to grant the part-time employees of the Civic Center a raise to living wage, like I “attacked” Gordon Smith for giving his Brother-in-Law taxpayer handouts, like I “attacked” Marc Hunt for his decision on the Basilica property…
You see the list goes on and on, because I don’t venerate any of these “politicians” and I certainly don’t belong to any “team”, unless you count that Team Asheville. We’re the people who hold the community’s best interests at heart, and refuse to let binary thinking and petty loyalties cloud us from seeing what is actually happening in this community.
The fact is, I call out nonsense wherever I find it. For the record, I’ve never been on “her show” (whatever that means). I was given the opportunity to live broadcast for 8 hours during the most recent City Council elections. And if you bothered to listen, I went after Mumpower as hard as I did Mayfield. And guess what, the whole time I was on air there was “(wo)man behind the curtain” directing my thoughts and telling me what to say. Now I’m working on a truly nonpartisan, issue based political talk show for Friday afternoons… You’re welcome to come on air when I launch in the new year.
I’m a fiercely independent voice, and will remain so. WPVM is pretty brave putting someone controversial like me on the air. I choose to fight for what I believe is right and not whatever simplistic “left / right” banner I happen to find myself under. Its your generation that has reduced political discourse two these narrow realms whereby those in power get to play you like pawns in chess.
No thank you, I’ll take critical thinking over “gangs” any day. And believe me when I say that I have license to critique whoever I want on my show (including WPVM’s Board of Directors), if that weren’t a part of the agreement I would walk immediately.
The proof is in the puddling, as they say, so I invite you to listen in starting Friday’s in January :)
“You’re welcome to come on air when I launch in the new year.”
Why would I want to appear on a show that has “completely boring, one-size-fits-all hacks”, “sad little men shouting into the void”, and “futile little whiners” on it? With all due respect, that sounds awful.
Good luck.
Wow, that was weird. I was replying to a comment that got yanked before I could click ‘post’. And now it seems they’ve decided to post Mr. Roberts earlier comment, which didn’t include the invitation to be on his show, and a couple more drops of vitriol. Wow, is my “self-serving, egotistical face” red.
Keep on plucking that chicken…
I just find it amazing that you would invite me onto your show after attempting to humiliate me into silence with that barrage of insults. That’s really peculiar.
“I just find it amazing that you would invite me onto your show after attempting to humiliate me into silence with that barrage of insults. That’s really peculiar.” – Simply because I would enjoy humiliating you and destroying your worldview in real-time, and not just trade salvos from behind a keyboard, like a pansy :)
Leaving your continued insults aside for a minute, aren’t you concerned about a show by and about Veterans getting shown the door in this shabby manner, with Davyne not even being willing to take credit for her public statement on why it was done?
Sometimes I feel like this entire town is built on fairy dust and make believe… You do understand that radio station’s don’t just magically run, correct? There’s budgets to be met and technology to understand and operate?
From what I understand, WPVM was a straight up circus before the present incarnation. Anything goes (and often went), in that way that soft-headed hippies have of trying to build a utopia without putting in any of the hard work.
What I know is that the Vets program lost its lead point person, and after the organization’s own internal wrangling the show’s replacements didn’t know how to operate and of the equipment and failed several times to attend an orientation meeting. Right now I’m sitting here trying to convince myself that the guy who “doesn’t have a home computer”, is somehow a wizard being the sound board, and its not working for me.
I can state unequivocally that there is a place on WPVM for a radio show by Vets about Vets and for Vets. But that show is going to have to meet the same policies and procedures as anything else that wants to be on air. Its really not that complicated.
Anyway, back to the topic: would either Ms. Dial or Mr. Peck care to explain who wrote that response to Rusty Sivils letter, and why it was posted on Peck’s blog? I think that’s a question that Mr. Sivils deserves answered.
I spoke to him via phone today, and since he doesn’t have a home computer, he wasn’t even aware of this version of how his show came to be off the air, nor did he know how it had been doled out to the public.
Dude, hear those crickets? No one cares… The world has turned and left you here. Does no one see the irony of a bunch of disgruntled folks bitching about how much a radio station sucks, while simultaneously wanting so desperately to be a part of it!?!?
There is no “controversy” at WPVM… There is a fully functioning radio station with a duly granted FCC license to operate and a duly elected board of directors carrying out its duly constituted business. The only “controversy” is that which has been generated out of whole cloth by a group of self-serving people with a hostile agenda.
You’re going to fit in great. Best of luck to you.
Personal attacks are not OK on this forum.
You know what, Tracy? I’m fine with this. Let Asheville know who Mr. Robert really is.
Ain’t no shame in my game… I consistently work to make my community a better place… I don’t sit behind a keyboard and snipe all day, thinking I’m making a difference… I’m sorry I broke up the little gleeful moment of snark that y’all were having… But you don’t run this town, not by a long shot
Well, friend Robert, I gather from the discussion you have so capably scrambled that Rusty Sivils was trying to make his community a better place, too. Not at your level of greatness maybe. But still. Let’s not forget he made some arguable contribution to our welfare even before his broadcast days began. I don’t know him, but it is possible that he may deserve better than to be treated like an unsuccessful contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. In public. In ever-changing blog comments. Apparently composed by former bosses who won’t own up to being the source of the criticism. Oh, yes. The new management appears to be running a tight ship over there. Bravo.