But as the host of the thrice weekly morning show People of Interest tells TGCTS, "His first response, I just shook my head. "There's no debate with the Biz, there's only moving forward." What the heck does that mean?"
"I have little to zero journalistic training, but that doesn't mean I don't know the issues" states Price, who chased Grande by Twitter, email and phone to appear on the show on October 17 to no avail. "We're not idiots", Price exclaims, believing that Grande "probably didn't want, as knowledgeable as Brian Kelcey is, isn't something Stefano wanted to do on a Monday morning".
What he, as a citizen journalist sees of the Downtown Biz, is "this strategic, tactful, trying to sidestep things put on the teflon so things don't stick approach" that fails to recognize that Grande's suggestion to go on CKUW to talk about topics such as housing was insufficient at best and insulting at worst.
"If we're talking about downtown residents, crime and safety is at the top of the list ... Our audience is Downtown, West Broadway, west end. To me, when the Biz was evasive, these people give us their money ($50,000) every year to keep us as a media source, every year, there's a disconnect there, maybe Mr. Grande doesn't realize that."
Price admits that even at 6'2" and over 200 lbs, it was "heads up hockey" out there, going so far as saying he and his friends as a rule plan to "only make 1 beer run" to avoid being jacked leaving the Sherbrook Hotel vendor. In our exclusive interview, he is as unimpressed by the Downtown Biz' CEO Sleepover stunt as we were, and also criticizes, as we had, the charade of City of Winnipeg public consultations for the Sherbrook bike lanes and the Our Winnipeg open houses.
Campus radio certainly "gets it" when compared to what Price saw as the mainstream newsroom "oligarchy".
Also on the Friday podcast:
A review of the racist attack on the Okay Groceries supermarket (3 blocks from Health Sciences Centre) by radical supporters of the deceased shoplifter Geraldine Beardy yesterday, leads TGCTS to ask serious questions.
Will Justice Minister Andrew Swan and the police brass will take action to crack down on vigilantiism against the Korean storeowner after charges against him were dropped? Or does the store have to have the windows smashed out or be torched by arsonists first.
Listen to the Friday podcast and the interview with Scott Price here:
http://tgctspod.podbean.com/2011/10/28/ckuw-host-calls-out-teflon-downtown-biz-for-ducking-public-safety-discussion/
