America’s
ugly political scene is on full display in San Diego where an altercation about the behavior of
President Donald Trump has led to a lawsuit against KPBS, San Diego State
University (SDSU) and a KPBS employee.
KNSD-TV,
San Diego’s NBC affiliate, reported earlier this week [link] that Peter Benke,
son of appellate court judge Patricia Benke, filed the lawsuit in San Diego
Superior Court on September 4, 2019.
The suit alleges that the defendants
caused harm to Benke because of negligent hiring practices, assault and
battery.
 |
| Peter Benke |
The
lawsuit stems from an incident that happened on September 6, 2018, at KPBS. On
that day, Benke’s father Don Benke, an employee at KPBS, got into a heated
argument with SDSU communications professor Peter Anderson. Witness told KNSD
that the argument began when Don Benke told Anderson that KPBS should not speak
negatively about Trump.
Anderson
reportedly responded to Benke by saying: "This
isn't Nazi Germany."
Then
Don Benke went home and told his son, Peter Benke, about the incident.
Peter
Benke then went to KPBS to defend his father’s honor. He confronted Professor Anderson
and another argument began.
 |
| Kevin Shrader |
After
a few minutes of insults, a fight broke out between Peter Benke and Kevin
Shrader, KPBS Senior Engineering Manager. Shrader was in the room had heard the
argument.
SDSU
campus police arrived and cited both men for battery. No criminal charges were
filed.
On
October 1, 2018, Shrader filed for a restraining order against the Benke
family, including judge Patricia Benke. In the filing Shrader said he feared
for his safety after the incident.
According
to a story published just after the incident in the San Diego Union Tribune [link]
Schrader said in his restraining order petition:
“This person [Peter
Benke] attacked me and I want to protect my family. He is the son of a coworker
who attacked me at work.”
Last week Benke
filed a civil lawsuit, alleging several employees at KPBS assaulted him. KNSD
reported that in the lawsuit Peter Benke admitted to going to KPBS to speak
with his father’s co-workers. The lawsuit said that Benke’s reason for going to
KPBS was to give KPBS employees “a history lesson.”
Benke’s
suit said that Shrader walked towards him and Benke spat at Shrader. Then Benke
alleges that Shrader became enraged and forcibly struck Benke with both hands
on his upper chest.
The
fight continued at the gate outside KPBS. Benke alleges that Shrader and
another KPBS employee assaulted him by putting Benke in a headlock. Benke said
that he was forced to the sidewalk and he hit his head on the concrete surface.
KPBS
has declined to comment on Benke’s lawsuit, citing pending litigation.
PONTRAC SAYS iHEARTRADIO
IS NOW AMERICA’S LEADING PODCAST PUBLISHER
According
to Podtrac Analytics, iHeartRadio replaced NPR as the top podcast publisher in
their August rankings.
iHeart
celebrated with a rush of press releases declaring We Are Number One. iHeart has been working for this moment since
they acquired the Stuff cluster of podcasts in 2018.
At the time, the addition
of Stuff doubled iHeart’s Monthly Audience instantly.
Cynics
say that iHeart became number one the old fashioned way: They bought it. But iHeart is just one of several for-profit
companies that are changing the pecking order in the podcasting biz.
Compared
to Podtrac’s estimates in August, 2018, all of the podcast publishers are doing
very, very well. Another for-profit company, Barstool Sports, had the biggest one-year
gain, up 65%.
Noncommercial,
public radio publishers also are seeing substantial growth. NPR was up 53%
compared to August. 2018. PRX was up 50% during the same period.
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