New data: Complete exclusion of Palestinian, Israeli, and Middle East/North African panelists at WAMC’s 'The Roundtable'

Producers claimed to seek pro-Palestine perspectives, but rejected Palestinian and Israeli-American sources able to express such views, according to emails and statements from involved parties.

Image generated by DALL-E (I would love to work with a human political cartoonist. If you are one, please contact me!)

There have been 205 episodes of WAMC’s weekday news panel program The Roundtable since the start of the Israel-Gaza war—none of which included a single Palestinian, Israeli, or Middle East/North African (MENA) panelist, new data shows. In the same period, according to emails published below, Roundtable producers themselves acknowledged—but did not act to correct—the program’s failure to include pro-Palestinian voices to balance pro-Israel sentiments expressed regularly on the program.

Ethnic Exclusion of Palestinians, Israelis, and Middle Eastern/North Africans

Fifty individuals appeared on the Roundtable as panelists during the 205 episodes from 10/09/2023 to 8/30/2024 (Table 1, below). Some appeared only once; some appeared on dozens of episodes. With approximately 3-4 panelists per episode, there were a total of 686 “seats” that a Palestinian, Israeli, or other Middle East panelist could have filled. Discussion of the Israel-Palestine crisis occurred almost daily, yet none of the panelists seated at the Roundtable had roots in the region that absorbed so much attention across hundreds of consecutive episodes. Roundtable episodes spanned coverage of Hamas’s 10/7 attack on Israel, Israel’s attacks on Gaza, the International Court of Justice declaring Israel’s attacks to constitute genocide, and massive student protests, and polls showing majority domestic disapproval of Israeli military actions in Gaza. Even as events increased the newsworthiness of Palestinian, Israeli, and MENA perspectives, people from these directly affected groups were denied any representation on the signature WAMC morning news program for almost a year – and counting.

I emailed Roundtable producer Sarah LaDuke and host Joe Donahue a week prior to publishing this post to inform them of my findings and inquire about their panelist recruitment efforts and policies. They did not respond. Given the numerous MENA people in the business, civic, religious, and higher education institutions of the WAMC listening area, it strains belief that Roundtable producers could not recruit even one such panelist. Could a policy of discrimination be responsible for The Roundtable’s troubling pattern of ethnic exclusion?

Political Exclusion of Pro-Palestinian Guests

Similar questions about patterns of ethnic and political exclusion are raised by emails (appended below) and statements provided to me by Albany area sources. In those emails Roundtable producers validate concerns about the exclusion of pro-Palestinian voices, only to then perpetuate that exclusion.

In a 2/28/24 email with the subject line “Will you please play fair?,” Dr. Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos, a regular Roundtable listener and participant with the Hudson Valley chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace¹ (a US human rights organization known for protests against the Israeli occupation and war on Palestinians) reached out to Roundtable producer Sarah LaDuke with the following concern:

“You had an apologist for Israeli on today (John [Faso, former Republican Congressperson from NY-19]). You then did not respond to listeners’ dismay at the lack of pushback. Why not invite a guest panelist who can speak to the Palestinian narrative?? This is sorely needed!”

LaDuke replied, “Do you know anyone? We have been looking.” Sotiropoulos promptly provided contact information for three candidates who were willing to participate on The Roundtable if invited: a Palestinian affiliated with the Mid-Hudson Islamic Community (a coalition of members of three mosques in the Hudson Valley) and two members of Jewish Voice for Peace, one Israeli-American.

LaDuke’s actions thereafter raise doubts about the seriousness of her stated interest in finding a panelist to speak to the Palestinian narrative. Over the next week and a half, LaDuke failed to reach out to any of the contacts Sotiropoulos provided. In response to several prompts from Sotiropoulos emphasizing the urgency of the matter, LaDuke explained the delay, first, as due to illness and, later, as pending a need to consult Joe Donahue, the Roundtable host. The email exchange ended on 3/11/24, when LaDuke stated “I’m emailing with” Sotiropoulos’s Palestinian contact “to find a date that works.” But that contact told Sotiropoulous several weeks later that he did not recall ever being contacted by LaDuke or anyone at WAMC. None of Sotiropoulous’s contacts ever appeared on The Roundtable, and all three confirmed to me as of 9/2 that they never heard from LaDuke. John Faso, on the other hand, appeared another 7 times after Sotiropoulos raised her concerns about unfairness.

LaDuke’s statement that Roundtable producers “have been looking” for pro-Palestine perspectives is a tacit acknowledgement of the absence of that perspective from the show. In this light, her subsequent actions suggest, at best, a lack of concern about that absence or, at worst, an editorial choice to sustain it. Similarly, the data-documented pattern of ethnic discrimination against people from Palestine and the Middle East/North Africa region could reflect unconscious ethnic bias or an implicit policy. My own recent emails to LaDuke and Donahue gave them an opportunity to clarify these questions and they chose not to respond. 

WAMC should include Middle Eastern/North African panelists and representatives of the Palestinian narrative on The Roundtable not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is a step towards fulfilling the station’s own “Community Representation Policy,” as required for federal funding by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As WAMC’s policy states,

“The overall goal of WAMC is to provide programming as varied as the human experience. Our mission is to serve the public by preparing and presenting non-profit and non-commercial educational, instructional, and cultural radio and live programs that celebrate the diversity of our broadcast and live audience.”

The data and emails I presented in this post show that The Roundtable is not fulfilling that promise, much as my previous post showed that WAMC’s staff and board similarly fail to reflect the diversity of its listening area. WAMC’s listening area includes states among those with the highest populations of persons identifying as Middle Eastern or North African in the 2020 Census: New York (305K) and Massachusetts (114K).² Given the state-governmental importance of capital district news, the station bears some duty to that larger New York MENA community. Even just looking at demographics within WAMC’s specific broadcast area, we still find likely tens of thousands of Middle East/North African people spanning from Worcester to Berkshire counties in Massachusetts,³ with hundreds more in the Albany, New York area.⁴ If WAMC and The Roundtable seek to avoid being seen as enforcing an ethnically and political biased editorial policy, they need to expand The Roundtable guest list to include Palestinian and other MENA people as well as those leading historic and popular movements to change US-Israel policy.

Table 1. All panelist on The Roundtable, 10/9/23-8/30/24, with names and MENA heritage. Total panelists = 50

Email exchange between WAMC’s The Roundtable producer Sarah LaDuke and listeners advocating for balanced political inclusion on the show

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Date: Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 12:08 PM
Subject: RE: Will you please play fair?
To: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>

Carol,

I’m emailing with Abdallah Qotate [Palestinian source] to find a date that works.

Best,

Sarah LaDuke

Producer - The Roundtable and The Book Show

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

318 Central Ave. Albany NY 12206

Twitter: @WAMCRoundtable @The_Book_Show

Instagram: @wamcradio

she/her

From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2024 12:03 PM
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Subject: Fwd: Will you please play fair?

Good Monday morning, Sarah,

Please let me know if you have been able to contact the recommended individuals representing Jewish Voice for Peace and the Mid-Hudson Islamic Community. Or, let me know if the station does not wish to hear other voices at this critical juncture.

Thank you,

Carol S.

From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Date: Fri, Mar 8, 2024 at 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>

Hello Sarah on Friday afternoon,

Just left a voicemail --- wondering if you've contacted any of the individuals I was able to recommend. As of Tuesday evening, none had heard from you. Please let me know what I can do to help make this happen as soon as possible, given current events in the Middle East 

Carol S.

Landline [phone redacted]

Mobile. [phone redacted]

On Mon, Mar 4, 2024, 3:47 PM Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]> wrote:

Thank you, Sarah, and foremost I hope you're feeling much better!

On Mon, Mar 4, 2024 at 3:12 PM Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org> wrote:

Hi Carol,

I was out sick last week and am doing the inevitable race to catch up today. I need to talk to Joe about your suggested guests. We are working on it.

Best,

Sarah LaDuke

Producer - The Roundtable and The Book Show

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

318 Central Ave. Albany NY 12206

Twitter: @WAMCRoundtable @The_Book_Show

Instagram: @wamcradio

she/her

From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Sent: Monday, March 4, 2024 3:08 PM
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?

Greetings Sarah on Monday March 4th,

  I just now left a message on your voicemail, to inquire as to whether you've been able to reach out to any of the recommended individuals who can speak to the issues at hand from the perspective of Palestinian justice. The matter is beyond timely, it is urgent, and I hope it is at or near the top of your priorities to provide listeners a countering voice to that of John Fasso last week.

Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Sincerely,

Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos

mobile    [phone redacted]

landline  [phone redacted]

On Thu, Feb 29, 2024, 3:53 PM Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]> wrote:

Hello again Sarah,

I've received confirmation on the third person prepared to present the contrasting narrative to the one voiced by John Faso and other Israeli apologists for whom WAMC has given air time. Below are all three:

1) Abdallah Qotate of the Mid-Hudson Islamic Community       email [email redacted]             tel [phone redacted]

2) Dara Silverman of Jewish Voice for Peace-Hudson Valley   email [email redacted]  tel (917) 327-6528

3) Keren Carmeli, Israeli-American and prominent in Jewish Voice for Peace  email [email redacted] tel [phone redacted]

On Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 1:49 PM Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]> wrote:

Hello Sarah,

Two people I highly recommend and who have agreed to be contacted. I am waiting to hear back from a third. It would be terrific. i.e., most impactful, if Abdallah Qotate and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.could both be invited. Thank you and I'll be in touch with the name & contact info of the third individual, who has spoken widely and is, I believe, Israeli-American. I promised to get back within a day, so I'm sending the two below forthwith, with the hope that you can move forward on this important issue.

Thank you, Carol S.

1) Abdallah Qotate of the Mid-Hudson Islamic Community       email [email redacted]             tel [phone redacted]

2) Dara Silverman of Jewish Voice for Peace-Hudson Valley   email [email redacted]  tel [phone redacted]

On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 11:32 AM Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]> wrote:

Thank you, Sarah, I will definitely get back to you within a day!

Carol

On Wed, Feb 28, 2024, 10:44 AM Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org> wrote:

Hello Carol,

Do you know anyone? We have been looking. 

Best,

Sarah

From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2024 10:42 AM
To: Panel <Panel@wamc.org>
Subject: Will you please play fair?

You had an apologist for Israeli on today (John). You then did not respond to listeners' dismay at the lack of pushback. 

Why not invite a guest panelist who can speak to the Palestinian narrative?? This is sorely needed!

Carol Sotiropoulos 

Notes

1. Full disclosure, I am a paying member of JVP although I am yet to participate in any JVP protests.

2. Rachel Marks, Paul Jacobs, and Alli Coritz (2023, September 21). ‘Lebanese, Iranian and Egyptian Populations Represented Nearly Half of the MENA Population in 2020 Census’, Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-dhc-a-mena-population.html

3. According to 2010-14 American Community Survey data. http://www.usa.com/rank/massachusetts-state--arab-as-first-ancestry-population-percentage--city-rank.htm

4. U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3, Matrices P18, P19, P21, P22, P24, P36, P37, P39, P42, PCT8, PCT16, PCT17, and PCT19, https://www.infoplease.com/us/census/new-york/albany/social-statistics