AP MISINTERPRETS CITY COUNCIL BILL AS REAL

Berkeley's national reputation as a bastion for crazy ideas
materialized last night when the Associated Press wire service
reported a satire of the city in a straightlaced manner.

"BERKELEY, Calif. -- The town where heiress Patricia Hearst Shaw was
kidnapped 25 years ago should apologize for the suffering she endured
at the hands of her abductors, a city councilman says," read the AP
report, with the headline, "Berkeley City Councilman proposes official
apology to Patricia Hearst."

The article focused on a proposal by Councilmember Kriss Worthington
to have the city of Berkeley "acknowledge and apologize" to the
kidnapping victim.

The only problem, however, is that the entire bill, which is actually
going before the City Council April 27, was written as a farce to
promote a new performance group called the "mock City Council" --
something that the AP apparently did not pick up on.

The proposal was announced during a press conference yesterday morning
to kick off the month-long Berkeley Festival of the Arts, which
includes the council parody.

"Technically it's a real bill," said Worthington, who in a staged act
was hit by a lemon chiffon pie after the announcement. "But it's not
going to pass -- be serious!"

The AP article reinforces the city's "Berzerkeley" image, and it
apparently shows that some of the city's normal legislation rivals
even the greatest jokes about this liberal city known for its foreign
policy and supporting Teletubby Tinky Winky.

"The line between satire and what some council members do is pretty
thin," said Councilmember Polly Armstrong. "It would be easy to get
them confused."

But an editor from the AP's San Francisco bureau said last night that
the report clearly emphasized the parody because it said in the second
paragraph that the council member announced the proposal "to a good
degree of laughter."

But Worthington, who was concerned that the AP reporter conducted the
interview in too serious of a manner for the lightheartedness of the
topic, said the article was too literal and did not explicitly explain
the humor. And that could prove unfavorable for a wire service whose
stories are usually cut down to two to three paragraphs by newspaper
editors nationwide.

"I think the context is missing," Worthington said, referring to the
article's omission that the announcement was made during a press
conference announcing the mock City Council -- an event that included
other absurd ideas such as requiring the city's police force to wear
uniforms made of hemp.

He added that the article's mention of the proposal being greeted with
"laughter" could mean a number of things, including that he was being
laughed at, not being laughed with.

Worthington said the idea of having a mock City Council is a
lighthearted attempt to make fun of Berkeley's progressive tradition.

"We're not maliciously maligning the Berzerkeley image," he said.
"We're sort of poking fun at self righteousness and
pretentiousness.

Worthington said "the longest running comedy show in Berkeley is on
Tuesday night," when the Berkeley City Council convenes.