Thursday, September 16, 2010

NY Law School Ban on Taping


Hi Nancy,

I understand your decision is final. I just hope in the future NY Law School will consider why academic discussions shouldn't be able to reach a wider audience, who may not have the luxury of attending a mid-day event (that is open to the public). Policies like this only serve to reinforce an Ivory Tower reputation. I am also surprised because I've been welcomed (and in fact encouraged - often when I don't have the time in my schedule) to cover academic discussions relevant to K-12 education at Columbia, NYU, Teachers College, Barnard, the New School, CUNY schools and SUNY schools. If it seemed like I was being pushy, it's only because the policy seemed to make so little sense. Are you also barring print reporters?


Lindsey Christ
Education Reporter
NY1 News
75 Ninth Avenue
Lchrist@ny1news.com
212-379-3388


From: Guida, Nancy <Nancy.Guida@nyls.edu>
To: Leonie Haimson <leonie@worldnet.att.net>; Christ, Lindsey; leonie@att.net <leonie@att.net>
Cc: Suransky Shael <SSURANS@schools.nyc.gov>; JAC <jac@nyls.edu>
Sent: Wed Sep 15 10:10:12 2010
Subject: RE: No Child Left Behind Event
New York Law School is not allowing this event to be taped. I understand Lindsey approached you directly. Any interview/taping you choose to do would have to take place outside of the event. The event is meant to be an academic discussion.



Nancy Guida/VP, Marketing and Communications/New York Law School/185 West Broadway/New York, NY 10013-2921/212.431.2325

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From: Leonie Haimson [mailto:leonie@worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 9:55 AM
To: 'Christ, Lindsey'; leonie@att.net
Cc: Guida, Nancy; 'Suransky Shael'; JAC
Subject: RE: No Child Left Behind Event

Hey Nancy, Lindsey forwarded me your response. 

You have my permission to tape and I’m sure Shael would be fine w/ that as well.

Many people have asked if this will be available on video, and as I’m sure you and other at NYLS would agree, transparency and educating the public on these issues is very important!


Thanks,

Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
classsizematters@gmail.com
www.classsizematters.org

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From: Guida, Nancy <Nancy.Guida@nyls.edu>
To: Christ, Lindsey
Sent: Wed Sep 15 07:39:01 2010
Subject: Re: No Child Left Behind Event
Hello Lindsey, I have confirmed that videotaping and audiotaping will not be allowed at the event at all. Please do not approach the participants at the event. Thanks, Nancy


From: Christ, Lindsey <lindsey.christ@ny1news.com>
To: Guida, Nancy
Sent: Tue Sep 14 19:35:53 2010
Subject: Re: No Child Left Behind Event
I'd be videotaping. I know both participants and tape them often. Do you mind if email Leonie and Shael and ask them if I can tape? I'll forward any response on to you, of course!
Lindsey Christ
Education Reporter
NY1 News
75 Ninth Avenue
Lchrist@ny1news.com
212-379-3388


From: Guida, Nancy <Nancy.Guida@nyls.edu>
To: Christ, Lindsey
Sent: Tue Sep 14 19:28:34 2010
Subject: RE: No Child Left Behind Event
Are you filming or taking stills? We don’t do any videotaping without permission from the participants, which we don’t have, so we can allow video taping. Still should be fine though.

Nancy Guida/VP, Marketing and Communications/New York Law School/185 West Broadway/New York, NY 10013-2921/212.431.2325

Find us on facebook and twitter.

From: Christ, Lindsey [mailto:lindsey.christ@ny1news.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 7:26 PM
To: Guida, Nancy
Subject: Re: No Child Left Behind Event

Hi Nancy! Thanks for emailing. I wasn't planning on bringing a crew - just the small camera I bring everywhere with me. What kind of waivers would you need? Can I just ask Leonie and Shael? They're both used to being filmed by me.

Lindsey Christ
Education Reporter
NY1 News
75 Ninth Avenue
Lchrist@ny1news.com
212-379-3388


From: Guida, Nancy <Nancy.Guida@nyls.edu>
To: Christ, Lindsey
Sent: Tue Sep 14 19:07:48 2010
Subject: No Child Left Behind Event
Dear Lindsey,

Thank you for your rsvp. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow. I wanted to let you know that we do not have waivers allowing filming of the event. I wasn’t sure if you were planning on bringing a camera crew and wanted to let you know that we cannot have it taped.

Best,
Nancy

Nancy Guida/VP, Marketing and Communications/New York Law School/185 West Broadway/New York, NY 10013-2921/212.431.2325

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I saw Ms. Leonie Haimson once in debating action and was an instant "fan." She is truly a warrior for our children and I admire her passion and tireless effort. I've been looking for articles on past debates she's had and was led here by the Ed Notes Online series of posts about the (pretty astounding) events at/surrounding this debate and I feel moved to comment on it even though it took place years ago.

If the DOE did pressure NYLS to block taping of the event (as it appears), that is really despicable. The fact that this took place at a school is particularly distasteful given that a school is supposed to be a place of information, discourse, and critical thinking.

On top of that, the treatment of Ms. Haimson (an invited guest of the school, no less) and you, as her friend and guest, was appalling. While the staff may have not had a choice but to follow orders regarding the taping ban, they way they chose to interact with everyone was very poor. The unprofessional Ms. Nancy Guida failed PR 101: misleading a reporter (Lindsey Christ at NY1 does fine work in my opinion), creating a public scene at the event and threatening you, and being so belligerent with Ms. Haimson afterward.

Is this the state of debate in higher education? Ms. Haimson has an uphill battle in spreading her wisdom and I wish her the best.