Matt,
Upon review of your application, the credentialling committee has declined your request for credentials.
Neva Rae Fox
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Comments:
Thursday, September 2, 2010
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TEC Denies Media Credentials for Matt Kennedy
Tuesday, July 7, 2009 • 7:58 pm
Matt has been credentialed at General Convention in Columbus, the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the Portland meeting of the Executive Council, and the House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans in 2007.
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What it shows is how inept the TEC press people really are. A good PR flack would see to it that the SF’ers get credentialled and that they get help. That is a staffer, or at least a volunteer stays with them, gets them everything they need (batteries, coffee, kleenex) and monitors what they do. Were it me, I’d have recruited Lisa Fox or some other party loyalist to stick to ‘em like glue. |
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Do all members of the press who wish to cover this General Convention have to be Episcopalian? Did they check the church affiliation of all the other folks who wished to get credentials? If the L.A. Times Religion writer (if there is such a thing) were to petition for credentials, would he/she have to be Episcopalian to be granted them? How “inclusive” can you get? |
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More and more the MALICE in TEC is emerging with every step they take away from faith, away from truth, away morality, away from fairness, etc. They don’t trust in God to do His will in them, because they don’t WANT God’s will to be done, they want theirs… their way, whatever it takes, including dishonor. They have manipulated law, canons, priests, bishops, whoever and whatever gets in their way. They tried to manipulate the Daughters of the King, running over Lutherans, Roman Catholics, and Anglicans from other provinces in their desire to “get” US Anglicans who were formerly part of TEC and who are now in the Anglican Church in America. Now they are after the PRESS, in vengeance! For the same purpose! They have totally lost all reason! |
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Matt’s live-blogging of the 2006 GC was a watershed moment. Matt simply transcribed what was being said—with almost no commentary because there simply wasn’t time. Unvarnished truth. For the first time, many people got a real look at what happens within GC. |
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I have just sent a message to the folks at Get Religion to the effect that they need to cover this story—pronto. The only way to deal with this kind of arrogant swaggering is to expose it on as many fronts as possible, as quickly as possible. Send links (with a brief explanation) to all of your local media! All the explanation has to do is announce the fact of the refusal of credentials, link to this story, and then say something like this (please don’t copy word for word, for obvious reasons, since you will be linking here—use your own words):
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Matt+, |
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Also, while we’re on the subject, has Mark Harris outed the secret names of the “credentialling” committee? Is “credentialling” even a word in the English language. Isn’t it a “credentials” committee? (assuming it is not just Ms. Fox herself, but she wanted to sound like she is not personally responsible?) |
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Hmmm. Note that even Fr. Phil Ashey, who was notoriously denied seating as a delegate in Kingston, Jamaica at the ACC meeting, got in. But Matt didn’t. The sheer pettiness of our foes is often all too obvious. They don’t even bother to try to hide it anymore. “All’s fair in love and war,” you know. Even (or maybe especially) in a church civil war. David Handy+ |
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RE: “Matt has been credentialed at General Convention in Columbus, the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the Portland meeting of the Executive Council, and the House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans in 2007.” Heh. He’s clearly not qualified to be media credentialed. It was only just at this very meeting that they realized that. |
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tjmcmahon (#32), Neva Rae Fox was getting in a little over her head by referring to a “credentialling committee” (not to be confused with the GC 2009 Credentials Committee, who each day determines the status of voting deputies and their alternates). The press credentials to GC 2009 are issued by the “Media Operations Office” in Anaheim. Their official Guidelines for credentials, published in advance of this incident, are here. They include the following:
So it would have been impossible for Matt+ to satisfy their “guidelines” in any event. And Greg and Sarah had better watch out that in reporting what happens on the floor, they cannot be accused of any “advocacy-oriented activity” (hello—are we in 2009, or 1984?) As is so typical of our Worthy Opponents, the names of the staff of the so-called “Media Operations Office”, i.e., the ones who actually denied Matt+ his credentials, are not published (except that Neva Rae Fox is obviously part of the Office). The best I can do is link to the home page of General Convention Media Team. By clicking on the Roster, you find that it includes the following names:
So, given Neva Rae Fox, Jim Naughton, Herb Gunn and Bonnie Anderson, what did you expect? By the way, if you click on their “Mandate” link, this is what you get: ” “
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A note to those folks who are getting puffed up over whether only Episcopalians need apply: Press credentials are issued to many members of the press, as well as people who don’t fall within the category of traditional press. At GC 2006, the newsroom included representatives of the Associated Press, the Dallas Morning News, the Washington Times, USA Today, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and at least three other daily newspapers, as well as the Guardian (UK), all of whom were reporters who cover religion full-time. Their denominational affiliation or lack of it was irrelevant. Credentials were also issued to members of the denominational press, who also make at least part of their living covering religion. And they were issued to people whose day jobs have nothing to do with the press but who blog actively about the EC or the Anglican Communion, and who were all or nearly all were members of the EC or the Church of England at the time. In short, not everyone who asks for or even gets press credentials is technically the press. And the denial of credentials for Matt should not prevent him from blogging live. He just won’t have access to the press room or the designated press corrals in the various meeting rooms. |
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[10] mousestalker
[47] driver8
This only seems to be true if there is someone to hold them to account for their actions. I am not sure who that would be. The MSM won’t care about this. It will float below their radar screen, and they don’t like bloggers anyways. We will know, but TEC doesn’t care about us. So what’s the downside for TEC? How will TECs reputation suffer? Who will be offended by TECs action that TEC actually cares about? I just don’t see it. TECs decision seems coldly rational. It perceives Matt Kennedy as an enemy. There is no cost to treating him like an enemy, and no benefit for being gracious. carl |
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Carl, TEC wouldn’t know “gracious” if it bit them on the butt. The word isn’t anywhere in their vocabulary. I’ve know pagans who were gracious, but not this bunch. Other words they have dropped, or changed the meaning of include, but are not limited to: fair, trusting, friendly, honest, worthy, devoted, truthful, respectful, cooperative, forthright, candid, open, reliable, sincere, etc. All these noble words have all been replaced by “me, me, me”. TEC would do well to remember the words in Glations 6:7 - Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. |
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I think that one of the things that’s relevant here is that Matt has proven himself to be a very important blogger. SFIF sometimes gets more traffic than the site of The Episcopal Church taken as a whole (if we go by Alexa, which isn’t horrifically accurate), and that includes the little outfit Neva Rae Fox is part of, The Episcopal News Service & Episcopal Life. |
John 3:19-21 |
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GB nailed it with
Fox is simply a toady for TEC. This whole thing is a preview of what’s going to happen in Anaheim. Across the board TEC is already saying
Idiots. (TEC, that is.)
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C’mon folks, I think it is clear that Matt+ was denied credentials on the grounds that, under the PB’s definition in her speech last night, he is a heretic. I’m sure they will throw Greg and Sarah out on the street too, if they catch them reading St. Paul or NT Wright or one of the other heretical authors. |
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Curmudgeon’s latest post, which is rich indeed, gets around to this issue— |
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Peter, that would be cool, a newly updated table - but keep the old one as well, it will be interesting to see how the situation evolves. Good to see how things are now that GC is in full swing. And thanks so much for doing that - I’d checked Alexa stats before and knew about a few of the blogs, but nothing like the comprehensive list you have there. It really shows that your TEC loyalist people are barely reading. |
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Seriously, why does Matt+ not do what +VGR did at Lambeth. Hold up at a place outside the convention hall and whine about how you’ve been excluded, preach sermons against TEC’s exclusionary policies, meet outside (with press coverage, of course) the convention hall with people who are inside the convention hall, and hold daily press conferences about TEC’s refusal to allow you to be present. Worked for +Vickie. |
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I just spent the first day at GenCon helping to set up a vendor booth before returning home. After wandering around and observing, I would suggest the following to Matt if he wants to get in. Based on careful observation, I have discerned that the majority of folks at GenCon are: I would recommend the first group. So here’s what Matt needs to do. First, find out the worst barbershop in the LA area and go there, and announce in advance that you won’t leave a tip. Hopefully that will result in a bad haircut. Then go purchase a pair of high-water pants and some funny looking glasses. Then stop by the Integrity, RCRC, Chicago Consultation and All Saints, Pasadena booths, and load up on buttons and signs. Be sure to clip them all over yourself. This way, Matt would fit right in. Then try to get accredited, and I am sure you will have no problem. |
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“Clued out elederly folks”?!! I suppose that means that you think they are not cognizant of what’s really going on in the TEC. However, you could have phrased it more felicitously. Some of the most wonderful saints in the church I have worked with were elderly. They gave themselves devotedly in service to the church for years. And BTW, most people not retired can’t afford to take time off from work or don’t want to take vacation time for GC. I applaud those who make the sacrifices to do so. I am not a Senior Citizen yet but I’ll stand up for them because God willing I will be one too before too long. There is no sin in being over 55 or even over 65. |
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Au contraire, #98, the credentialed media at this GC include Susan Russell, a lifelong Californian and L.A. Dodgers fan [that should be Brooklyn Dodgers in exile, but I digress] _and_ Elizabeth Kaeton, a native New Englander and ardent Boston Red Sox fan. |
Can Matt+ appeal this?
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Can’t have the truth come out!