Monday, June 29, 2009
News Profile: Matthew Cardinale, editor of Atlanta Progressive News
Posted by Candace Wheeler on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 4:58 PM
The plight of the working class, the homeless and the otherwise disenfranchised are the focus of Matthew Cardinale’s online ‘zine Atlanta Progressive News. Cardinale, a liberal-progressive activist, has weathered such setbacks as a violent stabbing on Ponce de Leon Avenue, the loss of his professorship at Georgia State University and the all-consuming power of Georgia’s conservative right.
Tell me why you decided to create Atlanta Progressive News.
There is a gap in the ecosystem of information. If we want people to become involved, then we must provide them the information they need to become participants. I saw news services beginning to do this, and I wrote for a few them and saw that they could be successful. So I created Atlanta Progressive News to serve in a similar function.
What do you believe is the most important issue facing Atlanta today?
Affordable housing is the most important, because so much else falls from housing. If you don’t have housing, you can’t have anything else. There is a lack of affordable housing in Atlanta. The demolition of public housing is creating a worse housing situation. People don’t understand that moving those who live in public housing into the rental market is a terrible idea. Were all struggling. People should be in support of housing as a right. You shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not you can afford housing.
A few years ago, you wrote about an incident in which you were stabbed. Why did you decide to do that?
I wrote about it the morning after, when I was in the hospital. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, and I just wanted people to know, like, “Hey the editor has been stabbed, so stay tuned.
Why do you think you were terminated from Georgia State University over something as seemingly harmless as having an intersex person speak to your class?
I was actually very surprised that this was such a problem. When you’re an academic, you want to teach the truth. Society has to re-examine the definition of sex. We have to change some of our definitions. I really didn’t think it would be a problem to discuss people who were intersex. Later, I learned the department was questioned by Republican legislators who wanted to know why they were funding programs such as oral sex and queer theory. They wanted me to silence these issues that I thought were important, and I wasn’t going to do that.
Is it difficult to express a liberal-progressive viewpoint in a state that is highly conservative?
First of all, yes, Georgia is very conservative. Even Atlanta is conservative compared to a progressive standard. So a lot of times we come up against the centrist stance. The AJC isn’t objective. They are the newsletter of the bourgeoisie and real-estate developers. We don’t pretend to be objective, but at the same time we're reporting what’s happening.
Name one thing you would change about Atlanta if you could.
I’m going to take it back to class consciousness. If people weren’t trying to pretend to have made it, they would see the greater commonalities among each other. I think a lot of people are falling into that trap.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Comments (27)
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Although it appears on the surface that Cardinale does good work, he continues to misrepresent the reasons he was not asked to continue teaching after his internship as a Graduate Student Instructor expired. He was not a professor. Now he is linking his so-called "termination" to what happened with the GA legislature, when the former occurred long before the latter? Wow. CL should be more careful with reporting. Check out the numerous comments on Intersex News for alternative perspectives: http://intersexnews.blogspot.com/2009/02/former-gsu-lecturer-i-was-fired-for.html#comments .
In response to your comment "Teaching The Truth?" Matthew was refering to the incident with Republican legislators taking place after his termination. His comment was that he believed that affected the decision of his termination because the Professors in his department knew what they would be facing down the road and didnt feel they could stand behind his teaching of intersex in his class.I apologize if that seemed unclear.
Ok, so Cardinale must think those professors were psychic. And that the only way they could stave off an attack from the right was to "fire" him? Even while others continued to teach about intersex issues? Interesting. Check out this story further, Candace. I appreciate your follow-up, but think he's duping you.
Oh look, an anonymous troll; how reassuring. If this is one of the Stombler grad student cheerleaders, this commenter really has no knowledge of the circumstances of my termination. If anyone is interested, I have extensive documentation to support my claims (exhibits running through the letter K). I am happy to make them available. Now, the question posed by CL in the interview was, why in my opinion do I think I was terminated because of my curriculum decisions? And I do think that Stombler--who has been sued in the past by parents concerned about her sexuality and society curriculum practices--was very sensitive to the political backdrop to teaching in Georgia. I think the legislature affair made that political context very apparent. I think Creative Loafing intern Candance Wheeler did a great job trying to condense a 40 minute interview into 400 words. But no, I wasn't trying to imply my termination was a direct response to the legislature (that would be chronologically incorrect), but that the legislature was another example of the political context Stombler was operating within as a Teaching Director at GSU. Also, I wanted to take the time to thank Creative Loafing Atlanta for publishing this feature about my progressive news service. It means a lot to me.
This is Mindy Stombler. I was recently alerted that my name had appeared in the comments section of this blog posting. I can not comment on Matthew's allegations about the Department, as he is protected by F.E.R.P.A. which is a student privacy protection. If Matthew would like to waive his FERPA rights with the University's legal department, I would be delighted to comment and offer another side to his story. But I CAN comment on the following. I have no idea why Matthew is claiming that I have been sued by parents. I have never been sued in my life (by parents, students, or anyone else). I have no idea why he is making this stuff up? I also have never changed curriculum, assignments, etc. based on their controversial nature (whether concerns come from conservative students, parents, or lawmakers). Matthew has never been in my classroom and knows nothing of my teaching. Saying I was sued or pretending to know what or how I teach is just plain crazy. I'm assuming that since this is blogging and commenting that this is the reason there has been no fact checking. It is still rather disappointing to see it in "print."
Re: Comments by Stombler. It is very unfortunate Stombler has used this forum to make false statements. Of course I have been in Stombler's classroom! Twice- in Spring Semester 2008 (Teaching class- got an A-) and Summer Semester 2008 (teaching internship/colloquium- got a P on Pass/Fail). My academic transcript will show the inaccuracy of her statement on this blog. Morevoer, Stombler did state to me and other students during the Spring 2008 course that previously a parent had sued over her curriculum practices. That is what Stombler shared with her students. Although, frankly, with all the apparently false and inconsistent statements Stombler has made to me in the past, I really don't believe anything she says at this point.
I would like to add I believe the statements by Stombler constitute libel, and are highly unprofessional for a University lecturer. First, as I just stated, it is untrue I have "never been in [her] classroom." Second, she writes she doesn't know why I was "making this stuff up," implying she can prove I made it up as opposed to it being simply what I remember. In my experience, Stombler has a bad practice of libelously attributing intent where it cannot be proven. Thirdly, she writes, "pretending to know what or how I teach is just plain crazy." Of course, I do know a lot about how Stombler teaches because I took two courses with her that were both focused on teaching, in which she discussed her own teaching practices in depth. Calling me crazy is certainly defamatory and again unprofessional.
How could Dr. Stombler have been sued by a parent? That makes no sense. College students are adults. Their parents have no legal standing. This whole unfortunate situation with Mr. Cardinale smacks of a personal vendetta against one of the University's most respected (and award winning) teachers. And finally, Mr. Cardinale is unable to explain why many many other graduate students have in the past and continue to teach these so called "controversial subjects." If this were a cultural climate within the department, it would stand to reason that they would restrict all of us from teaching such material. It is totally reasonable for a Director of Instruction to restrict the teaching methods of inexperienced teachers who think they know everything but haven't actually been in a classroom for any significant length of time. Mr. Cardinale wants to think of this as discrimination, and that he was singled out, but the facts don't bear that out. Of course, I'm sure he will dismiss these comments (as he has every other critique) as simply "Stombler's Cheerleaders." Anyone who disagrees with him is, of course, a troll.
prove yourself, MC. waive your ferpa so we can judge all sides of the story. and show us your student evaluations, maybe they can be in exhibit L. ha.
One commenter raised the question of "why many many other graduate students have in the past and continue to teach these so called 'controversial subjects.'” I would refer you back to the Intersex News website (referenced above) where I posted comments several months ago. Here's a snippet: #### Again, I am glad to learn that other lecturers are being allowed to teach about intersex issues in their classrooms. I hate to repeat myself--because all of this is in the published complaint--but I was not allowed to do so. The crux of the problem is this: -It would be unethical to teach a definition of sex that doesn't note that sex is socially constructed. -Students cannot be expected to grasp the social construction sex in a five minute discussion. -I brought in a guest speaker which took an additional 40 minutes on the sex and gender day (including discussion) to ensure the students were comfortable with the idea of the social construction of sex. -Stombler said she didn't want to me to have done that and she was angry I didn't follow her advice and she said "the Department won't support you" if I want to do it again in the future. Those are the facts. I can understand that some members of the Stombler clique have a difficult time grasping that someone who agrees that sex is a social construction wouldn't let me teach it in my course, but, as the song goes, that's just the way it is. #### Let me add that the other graduate students for the most part stated on Intersex News that they were teaching advanced sexuality and society courses, not Intro courses. Some even defended Stombler's policy. And the one graduate student who did say they taught it in Intro cautioned that they would not have spent the time that I did. None brought in a guest speaker in an Intro class like I did. Let me add, if a reporter with Creative Loafing or any other organization wants to review my documentation, please contact me and I will email and fax everything over.
MC is talking in circles. Either the department has a policy of not allowing discussion of intersexuality in intro/uppper level courses because they are concerned about the political climate (which is what he stated above) or Matthew, and Matthew alone, was chastised on his particular teaching methods teaching this topic. Clearly, given that most, if not all, graduate students teach about intersexuality in both intro AND upper level courses, there is no departmental gag rule on the topic. Does it not stand to reason, then, that the Director of Instruction took issue with Matthew's methods (NOT his content)? Matthew was in a teaching internship (NOT a professorship, or even as an instructor), and content, and methods, and evaluations are ALL part of the internship process. If he was removed from teaching after the internship experience, yet others were allowed to continue teaching the very topics he says he was terminated for teaching about, it seems to me that a logical conclusion might be there is something else going on here. And given that he has been unwilling to accept any critique of his version of events without name-calling ("trolls, clique, cheerleaders, etc.) demonstrates to me an unwillingness to critique his own teaching methods (which is a CRUCIAL aspect of the teaching internship and the teaching profession in general). The fact that he continues to issue press releases and give interviews about this topic again, smacks of a personal vendetta. Of course, I am not privvy to ALL the details about Matthew's actual claim beyond what he states in his self-aggrandizing press releases. I am just using logic and experience to analyze how this situation looks from the outside. Why not waive your FERPA, Matt? You claim to be a journalist - tell us the whole story!
Haha! This is great! It's so "As The Grad Student Turns"! Who will he sue next? What new allegations are just a keyboard click away? Can it all be explained by Stombler's evil twin who only targets Cardinale? Don't keep me in suspense!
very entertaining. let me try to summarize: 2 people don't like each other. bullshit ensues. that seems to be covering all the main points. anything else? now can we move on to the next article on soulja boy, PLEASE?!
Oh, I love this: "The AJC isn’t objective. They are the newsletter of the bourgeoisie and real-estate developers." Judging by the dearth of real-estate ads in the AJC, Mr. APN editor ought to reconsider his assessment of our daily newspaper.
As long as APN doesn't claim to practice journalism, I support them 100 percent.
When the NYT won't call a coup a coup, fretting over whether APN practises journalism seems an odd priority. (But go for it, MrT!) APN's interviews with our would-be mayors have been a lot longer on substance than anything else I can recall reading. The interviews' sections on affordable housing are a bit irrelevant, because the city has little role in that and less cash for it. But otherwise it's been useful work, if only in revealing the total lack of candlepower and/or candor of candidates.
Atlanta Progressive News certainly does practice journalism. In just under four years, we've published almost 500 original news articles, all fact-based, often providing news that is not available anywhere else. The point I was making in the interview is that no media outlet is objective and we're no exception. The AJC is the corporate paper. CL is an "alternative" newsweekly (which implies a perspective). Even trying to be objective involves the observer constructing their idea of what the story is, what the "sides" are, and how they should be balanced. The corporate media typically tries to strike a balance between the center-left position and the ultra-right/corporate position. A very limited part of the spectrum of ideas--particularly, omitting the voice of working families and their advocates; or anything left of the centrist Democratic Party--is included in the so-called balance.
This thread is lame. Hey, did anyone see Anderson Cooper's Bubbles the Chimp 'interview' last night on CNN?
The "journalist" won't tell us the whole story! Very interesting. He gets to make claims all over the internet but is protected by "privacy rights" from the whole picture coming out. Very interesting indeed.
Oh, now we're hearing crickets from MC. He can come on to comment on responses to this article but conveniently doesn't address the FERPA rights or releasing his evaluations. That tells me everything I need to know about this fable he is spinning.
"anything left of the centrist Democratic Party" "centrist Democratic Party" that's some funny shit right there....
It seems obvious to me, apart from the regular CL commenters, the same 1 or 2 Stombler-bots keep coming on here and commenting under different anonymous screen-names. You can even see the similar language across posts. So far no reporters have contacted me for my evidence, including my evaluations. I've offered twice on this blog. If a serious reporter wanted to write a balanced story, I would consider waiving my FERPA for them. But no I'm not going to keep coming on here a week after publication, responding to the same one or two anonymous commenters' grasping at straws, when the truth is already on my side.
Again with the name calling! Stombler-bots. That's a good one. I thought APN was a reporting service - can't they do a story that includes ALL the evidence? Waive the FERPA!
I have been following this thread to see how Cardinale would proceed. In addition to the catty name-calling, he now dismisses every critic as being just 1 or 2 people--as if he has forensic letter-writing interpretation skills. While I'm sure the illusion of few skeptics assuages his narcissism, everyone else with an ounce of sanity and intelligence can see that he has plenty of critics, on different aspects of his story. Anyone can also tell that these critics are not "grasping at straws." Rather, these critics have valid points that call his credibility into question. He's sounding more and more desperate and frenetic with his accusations. And how ironic that he charges Stombler with libel, when he can write at length about her all over APN and elsewhere. Though, I admit it was amusing to see him get so mad and throw that hissy fit on here! I sincerely hope he waives his FERPA. However, I don't think this will ever happen. He knows what the other sides have against him and wouldn't dare risk that information getting out into the public. And "Again," I don't think APN can do the story. Since Cardinale is the founder, editor, and frequent writer of that "news service," there is a clear conflict of interest. As the posts on Intersex News already addressed, it was already a conflict of interest for Cardinale to write a journalistic story about himself in the 3rd person and distribute it through the website he operated. I'd be more trustful if AJC wrote something. But Cardinale's opinion of AJC suggests that he would dismiss anything they wrote about him, too. Conveniently for Cardinale, then, we are left with only one side to his story. What a shame. The good news is that potential employers, colleagues, clients, allies, and admissions committees can Google Cardinale and get a handful. And maybe those future contacts will stay far, far away.
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