Tags
H1B, H1B visas, Im-Politic, immigrants, Immigration, media bias, Mercury News, Norman Matloff, Ro Khanna, Silicon Valley, technology companies, technology workers, Voice of America, wages
There’s been no shortage of controversy stirred up by the H1B visa program that brings immigrants to the United States to take jobs allegedly requiring special talents – mostly in technology companies. So when what could well have been the first public debate ever that centers on this subject is held that included a researcher on the visas (who has charged that they overwhelmingly go to foreign workers who simply lower wages for companies who want to replace more expensive Americans) and a politician who’s been strongly in favor, you’d think a major newspaper would find that pretty newsworthy.
In the case of the Mercury News, however, you’d be wrong. And much worse, it looks like the San Francisco Bay area daily is keeping a video of the event under wraps because it makes the politician – whose views closely mirror the paper’s pro-H1B editorial stance – look absolutely terrible.
Here’s the skinny on the event. Precisely because there’s no recording available, I’m relying on this account from participant Norman Matloff, a computer science professor at the University of California, Davis, a leading national authority on immigration issues and the H1B program in particular, and a strong critic of the latter. Joining Matloff on a panel convened at the newly opened offices of the Voice of America’s Silicon Valley bureau were freshman Silicon Valley Congressman Ro Khanna and Kamran Elahian, who Matloff describes as “an immigrant tech entrepreneur.”
According to Matloff, most of the H1B exchanges took place between him and Khanna, who has been characterized in the press as “the favorite of the tech industry since he tried to first overtake incumbent Mike Honda in the 2014 election” in large part because of his defense of the domestic tech industry’s H1B practices.
As Matloff describes it, Khanna – who has also been described in the national media as a rising Democratic party star and champion of pragmatic fixes for economically besieged middle class Americans – was stunningly ignorant about recent H1B-related news developments. More troubling: Khanna sunk to thinly disguised personal (and completely unjustified) attacks on Matloff and several times seem to have flown off the handle when presented with evidence that clashed with his preconceived ideas.
I’d say “Don’t take my (or Matloff’s) word for it; see for yourself” – but I can’t. The debate was filmed by the Mercury News, but in response to a query from Matloff about whether the video would be posted, a reporter he knew at the paper told him that
“it looks like the video was essentially scrapped as a standalone report, but there’s apparently a possibility that parts of it will be used in coverage of Rep. Khanna. Not sure the reason(s) for this, but I know videos of such events are often just used in bits and pieces…”
As Matloff noted in an email to me, “Certainly it would have cost the Merc nothing to put the video on the Web, quite easily and simply.” And it’s hard to disagree with his judgment that the paper “would be performing a major public service by placing the video online (in full, of course).”
So it’s necessary to take seriously Matloff when he speculated, in that same email to me: “I can certainly see the Merc wanting to protect Rep. Khanna. They had endorsed Khanna, and generally feel their loyalty is to the tech industry. Their coverage of H-1B has been fair, but their editorial position has always been pro-H-1B.”
Matloff’s views are hardly dispositive – though I have always found him to be scrupulously honest. What could not be clearer, however, is that the Mercury News could reenforce its claims to objectivity by posting the video. With every passing day that it fails, the case for questioning its motives can only grow.
Free the H1B Interview/Debate Video to the Public, like a responsible news agency. As Americans, do we not have the right to know?
Thanks for the comment, Carole, and glad to see you here! As you can see from today’s post, we’ve made some progress, and I’ll keep following the issue. Here’s hoping you become a regular. And lots more material like this on my Twitter feed: @AlanTonelson.
I am not on Twittter, nor Facebook. Is there a number or an email address to contact someone at this newspaper?
Thanks for the feedback, Norma, and to its credit, the Mercury News has a very extensive contacts page: http://www.mercurynews.com/contact-us/ I’d recommend contacting publisher Sharon Ryan by email, Managing Editor/Digital Randall Keith, and Executive Editor Neil Chase. If you scroll down, you’ll see the info for them all. BTW, nothing makes more of an impression than a (brief, to-the-point, and respectful) phone call! And I hope you’ll become a regular here and on my Twitter feed (@AlanTonelson), because I cover immigration-related issues regularly on both!
Free the H1B Interview/Debate Video to the Public, like a responsible news agency would !!!
Thanks so much for the feedback, and I couldn’t agree more! Take a look at today’s post and the progress it reports, and let’s hope the Mercury News takes a hint. I’ll be following this and many other immigration issues (among others) closely, so I hope you’ll become a regular – as well as follow me on Twitter at @AlanTonelson.
Release the video now!
Amen! Check out the blog today for a progress report, and I hope you’ll become a regular on RealityChek and want to follow me on Twitter, where today’s story unfolded: @AlanTonelson.
All of the H visas should be abolished. Considering that real wages and salaries have been stagnant since the 70s, any talk of a labor shortage is an outright lie.
Thanks for checking out the post and I’m a strong H1B opponent, too. I cover this and other immigration-related issues on a fairly regular basis, so I hope you’ll want to become a regular – as well as on Twitter at @AlanTonelson.
You are welcome, keep up the good work.
What’s the point of having a debate if the video, audio, and/or transcript are not made public? Can you imagine if one of the Presidential Debates had not been televised but had been held simply for the viewing of those in attendance?
It may be better in the future for debate participants to refuse to attend any debate unless the release of any video and/or audio is spelled out beforehand. Not only do they risk wasting their time but it puts them at a disadvantage if the video is only released if the powers that be conclude that they lost the debate. In any case, I agree with your call. Free the Mercury News H1B Debate Video!
Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment, and these are excellent points! As you may have seen, we might be a little closer today in freeing the video. And I hope you’ll become a regular here and on Twitter – @AlanTonelson.
Thank You,
Virgil
Keep America At Work
H-1B Hunting Licenses
American Made Software
Greatly appreciated! And today, we might have come a bit closer to getting that tape released, as I’ve just reported.