FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Do you remember my March 27, 2013 op-ed in the Charleston Gazette in which I wrote this: “There are reasons you dont get the news on local TV. Station owners and managers forbid their news departments from stepping on toes and ruffling feathers, out of fear that such stories might insult local advertisers or offend politicians on whose toes reporters might stomp. And investigative or original reporting is costly, meaning real reporters must be hired to do real reporting, a job that requires lots of time and money that the stations have no time for.” If you do not remember, the management at WCHS-TV in Charleston does. How do I know? Sources close to the so-called news department at the station tell me that management laid down the law – No story about me or my campaign for Congress is to be aired on any newscast, period! “Not after what he [Rabel] said in his op-ed,” said the station’s manager, according to the sources. The manager, the sources say, directed the news director not to mention, under any circumstances, the launching of my campaign on Friday, July 25, 2014 on Kayford Mountain, Raleigh County, overlooking a horrific mountain top removal strip mine. What is more, my bid for Congress is to be ignored, completely, by the television station. So what, you might ask. Here’s what. Let us disregard, for the moment, the apparent spite, revenge and petty vindictiveness by management. More important is the outright violation of journalistic principles that a television station is supposed to be dedicated to when holding itself out as an objective dispenser of news. Fairness and accuracy are the bedrock of any news organization. Deliberate disregard of legitimate news by WCHS-TV to satisfy its anger over my opinion is clearly a breach of many codes of ethics to which it should adhere to keep its license to broadcast. After all, a broadcast entity’s right to use the public’s airwaves to make a profit is predicated on the broadcaster’s promise to serve the public interest. In this case, WCHS-TV is clearly not keeping its promise. By refusing to exercise its equitable purpose not just as a source of entertainment but a fountain of unbiased information, WCHS-TV risks its reputation and may be culpable in a transparent conflict of interest. Ignoring me is beneficial, in the final analysis, to my political opponents in the general campaign leading up to the election in November. Although the television station probably cannot achieve the high standards of The New York Times, quoting from the Time’s handbook on ethics might be instructive. “The goal of The New York Times is to cover the news as impartially as possible — “without fear or favor,” in the words of Adolph Ochs, our patriarch — and to treat readers, news sources, advertisers and others fairly and openly, and to be seen to be doing so. The reputation of The Times rests upon such perceptions, and so do the professional reputations of its staff members. Thus The Times and members of its news department and editorial page staff share an interest in avoiding conflicts of interest or an appearance of a conflict.” WCHS-TV is not treating me “fairly and openly…without fear of favor.” Consequently, I must repeat words from my op-ed the management at WCHS-TV finds so offensive: “Someone once said that owning a local TV station is like having a license to steal. But the real license to broadcast calls for the people to be informed. People, isn’t it time to revoke the license?”
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 00:44:14 +0000
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