Justin's Political Corner

(KMOV) — We regret to announce that Larry Conners is no longer a KMOV news reporter. Larry was a valued member of KMOV for a long time, and we will miss him.

For KMOV, there is no higher cause than unbiased, objective news reporting. It is what our viewers expect and it is what we work very hard to deliver. We can accept no less. Larry is certainly entitled to his opinion, but taking a personal political position on one of the Station’s Facebook pages creates an appearance of bias that is inconsistent with important journalistic standards. Larry’s departure has nothing to do with the particular position he took, but it does have to do with our belief that his actions made it impossible for him to report for KMOV on certain political matters going forward without at least an appearance of bias. Bringing you accurate and unbiased reporting is the reason we exist.

Mark Pimentel
KMOV TV President & GM
markpimentel@kmov.com

So glad that Larry Conners is gone from the station. Maybe he can join TheBlaze, National FNC, or KFTK, where his lies will work well.

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) May 22, 2013

h/t: KMOV.com

(cross-posted from Daily Kos)

Much news is being generated by allegations that the Internal Revenue Service recently has targeted conservative groups.

Now KMOV-TV (Channel 4) anchorman Larry Connerswonders if he is being targeted by the IRS because of tough questions he asked President Barack Obama during an interview in April 2012. 

Monday night, Conners posted his concerns on Facebook.The post begins:

“Shortly after I did my April 2012 interview with President Obama, my wife, friends and some viewers suggested that I might need to watch out for the IRS.

“I don’t accept ‘conspiracy theories,’ but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me.”

In conclusion, Conners wrote:

“What I don’t like to even consider … is that because of the Obama interview … the IRS put a target on me.

Can I prove it? At this time, no. But it is a fact that since that April 2012 interview … the IRS has been pressuring me.”

It’s WAY past time for KMOV to fire GOP shill Larry Conners! He’s the main reason why I prefer 2/11 or 5 to 4 for the news. 

h/t:  STLtoday.com

Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with none other than FOX 2 & KPLR 11’s “Miracle Girl” April Simpson. Many of our readers may remember April’s diagnosis in 2010 of a brain tumor, and her courageous battle at the time. Two years later, her view of life and the importance of family and friends is more apparent than ever. April has endured much over the last few years, but in true form, the Farm Girl from Arkansas has mustered up a lot of grit and determination to make her life exactly what she set out for it to be. With her head held high, she has forged on to become the lead anchor on KPLR 11’s News at 4 p.m. April graciously carved out some time in her day to sit down and chat with me about her life, her family and her hopes and dreams for the future.

Q: Can you tell the readers of Lipstik Magazine a little about yourself?

A: Of course. I’m 33, single and I grew up on a farm in southern Arkansas, where I was raised with my three sisters. I also have a half brother. I attended the University of Arkansas (Yep, I’m a Razorback) and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Broadcast Journalism. I also continued my education and attained my Master of Arts in Communication Management. I started my career in television in Monroe Louisiana, for a year. I continued on in Shreveport Louisiana for another year and then decided to move to St. Louis in 2003 to take on a position with FOX 2.

Q: Since you arrived in St. Louis 9 years ago, how has your career progressed? 

A: For about 6-7 years, I was the Sunday morning anchor and at the same time I was the night shift Reporter for the station. Let’s just say that those hours will catch up with you after a while, but I loved every minute of it. I then progressed to be anchor/reporter for the 11 a.m. show and eventually have become an anchor on the FOX 2 Show in the morning with Tim Ezell and head anchor on KPLR 11 News at 4 p.m. I have truly been blessed to have had the opportunity to work in St. Louis and have met some incredible people along the way. Everyone at this station is so nice and so great to be around, I really consider St. Louis home.

Q: Well, I can tell by the way that you are talking about FOX 2/KPLR 11, that you really enjoy your job. You must have a special bond with some of your coworkers, right?

A: Definitely! I have had a long lasting friendship with one of the greatest guys in the world, John Gadson, who we sadly lost earlier this year. He was my mentor and my friend on this journey we call LIFE. John was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2008, and then was diagnosed with ALS this past year. I was with John through his own diagnosis and treatment and was shocked when I too received the same diagnosis. We were both like, are you serious? Sadly, John died from ALS only weeks after being diagnosed earlier this year. Even more devastating was the fact that I couldn’t attend his funeral because I had hip replacement surgery the day before his funeral. He was truly my best friend since I arrived in St. Louis and I will never forget him or his smile.

Luckily for me, I have another friend who I have grown to love like a brother over the years, and I am sure that your readers won’t be too surprised when I share with them who it is. Tim Ezell has made my life so wonderful over the years that we have worked together, that I truly consider him my brother. This man has made my life complete in so many ways. He laughs with me, he cries with me and he is always there when I need someone to lean on. Everyone sees the “wild and crazy guy” on-air, but I am blessed with the other side of Tim, the caring and loving side. I truly feel blessed to have had both of these men in my life. 

Q: Would you mind sharing a few more details about what happened next?

A: Besides taking the steroids, it was decided to do a procedure to attempt to fuse the tumor together, to make it easier to remove. After the procedure, I lost my ability to speak and my right side was paralyzed Needless to say, this part of it was just a little scary. They had prepared my parents and siblings for the worst case scenario. You know all the positive things like, “she may be in a medical comma”, “she may not remember who you are”, and of course, “she may not make it.” Then I went into surgery which lasted 12 hours to remove the tumor. I don’t think it all really hit home for my mother until the Chaplain came to sit with her. Then it was real. The doctors shared after the surgery that I died once on the table, and they revived me, but the most astonishing thing for the anesthesiologists, nurses and my mother and father, was that after I woke up, I knew everyone! I was kind of shocked when I woke up and my mother asked if I knew who she was, and I answered her “Well of course I know who you are mom.” All of a sudden the nurses were literally dancing in the recovery room. My dad was literally dancing in the hall. It was like something you see in a movie or something. Everyone was so relieved that I had made it and that I knew who they were - well suffice to say it was a very surreal scene that day at SLU. I was only in ICU for two days. The doctor asked me once I was moved to a regular room not to look in the mirror for at least three days. Sometimes I wonder if doctors understand women at all; of course, I had to look to see what I looked like. We women are so vain, it was bad enough that they had to shave my hair before surgery and they made me remove my weave, and now you are telling me not to look at myself! I must admit I was a little startled by what I saw, but I began to heal nicely and within 3 months, by the grace of God, I was back to work at FOX 2/KPLR.

Q: Your tumor was benign right? Did you have to undergo any treatment after surgery?

A: The tumor itself was benign, but it was a Grade 3 Meningioma - which translates to - it may reoccur at any time at any place in your body. So I had to undergo radiation for an entire month to the brain as a precautionary measure to eliminate it from reoccurring.

Q: Watching you on-air, you seem as poised and put together as ever. Have you had any other issues that have arisen since the surgery?

A: Just a few. I have never regained sight back in my left eye, because the tumor stretched the optic nerve. I also cannot smell, have lost 20% of my hearing and I have a problem with my equilibrium, which I am learning to cope with. I had hip surgery this year, since the steroids that I was on deteriorated my hip socket, so I had to have it replaced.

This is going to make me sound really vain, but I must share with your readers that losing my hair in the radiation process was the roughest part for me. I totally can relate to all those women going through chemotherapy and radiation. I was against wearing a wig 100% in the beginning. But, just like a lot of things in life, I grew to finally love how easy they were, when I didn’t have any other choice but to wear one. It just goes to show you, you don’t know, till you know - if you know what I mean.

Q: I am amazed that the entire time we have been talking; you have come up with a positive for every situation that has happened to you over the last two years. What has been the most amazing part of this journey for you?

A: The love, compassion and closeness that has evolved with my family, friends and even fans of the station. This experience has literally touched everyone and every aspect of my life. My own father was so moved by the will of God to keep me on this earth, that he has become a Minister. The outpouring of support from colleagues here at the station and at our national affiliates is just unreal. From Wendy Williams contacting me and offering to send me one of her incredible wigs, to Regis and Kelly, Steve Spagnuolo & Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson sending me Get-Well wishes along the way - who expects to hear from these people, definitely not me.

And the outpouring of support from our viewers has made me realize that we do touch people’s lives with what we do, and that they do care about us along the way. Knowing that so many of our viewers were keeping me in their thoughts and prayers, gave me the strength to keep my held high and to keep going. Even the management here at the station was 100% in support of me. They allowed me to change my schedule to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so that I am now on a regular schedule. These types of things don’t happen everywhere. The people in this area are truly amazing!!! 

h/t: BND.com

KTBS meteorologist Rhonda Lee was fired last month from her job at ABC’s Shreveport, Louisiana affiliate–a position she had held for almost a year. It was not for anything she said on-air, or in the newsroom. It was for responding to viewer comments online regarding her hair, comments such as these from a viewer identified as Emmitt Vascocu, written on the station’s Facebook page on Oct. 1:

“[T]he black lady that does the news is a very nice lady.the only thing is she needs to wear a wig or grow some more hair. im not sure if she is a cancer patient. but still its not something myself that i think looks good on tv. what about letting someone a male have waist long hair do the news.what about that(cq).”

Lee wears a close-cropped, natural hairstyle. “I’ve even had a news director once say that my hair was too aggressive for Sacramento, so I wasn’t even allowed to interview at that point… It’s been an interesting journey with my hair,” Lee told CNN in an interview Wednesday. It got more interesting after she replied to Vascocu via Facebook:

“Hello Emmitt–I am the ‘black lady’ to which you are referring. I’m sorry you don’t like my ethnic hair. And no I don’t have cancer. I’m a non-smoking, 5’3, 121 lbs, 25 mile a week running, 37.5 year old woman, and I’m in perfectly healthy physical condition.

“I am very proud of my African-American ancestry which includes my hair. For your edification: traditionally our hair doesn’t grow downward. It grows upward. Many Black women use strong straightening agents in order to achieve a more European grade of hair and that is their choice. However in my case I don’t find it necessary. I’m very proud of who I am and the standard of beauty I display. Women come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and levels of beauty. Showing little girls that being comfortable in the skin and HAIR God gave me is my contribution to society. Little girls (and boys for that matter) need to see that what you look like isn’t a reason to not achieve their goals.

“Conforming to one standard isn’t what being American is about and I hope you can embrace that.

“Thank you for your comment and have a great weekend and thank for watching.”

Vascocu later apologized to Lee and to KTBS’ station manager, George Sirven, theGrio reported.

As Mediaite noted yesterday, Lee also responded on Facebook to another viewer who complained that the children participating in an annual station Christmas shopping spree were all African-American. Both comments, though seemingly professional in nature, were deemed a violation of station rules.

Sirven issued a statement about Lee’s firing to MSNBC and on Facebook, saying Lee repeatedly violated the station’s written procedure. He wrote:

Typically[,] this station does not comment on personnel matters, but due to the publicity and interest about this issue, the station has included the following statement.

On November 28, 2012, KTBS dismissed two employees for repeated violation of the station’s written procedure. We can confirm that Rhonda Lee was one of the employees… The policy they violated provided a specific procedure for responding to viewer comments on the official KTBS Facebook page… Unfortunately, television personalities have long been subject to harsh criticism and negative viewer comments about their appearance and performance. If harsh viewer comments are posted on the station’s official website, there is a specific procedure to follow.

Ms. Rhonda Lee was let go for repeatedly violating that procedure and after being warned multiple times of the consequences if her behavior continued. Rhonda Lee was not dismissed for her appearance or defending her appearance.  She was fired for continuing to violate company procedure.

Sirven attached an image of an email allegedly sent to Lee and a number of other unidentified employees on Aug. 30 of this year, emphasizing that inaction was the best approach. “When we see complaints from viewers, it’s best not to respond at all,” the image of the email reads. “If you chose (sp) to respond to these complaints, there is only one proper response”: to provide the viewer with the contact information of an unidentified official at the station, and assure him or her that KTBS would be happy to address any concerns. But Lee alleges that she wasn’t afforded the same courtesy.

Additionally, she told CNN that she never knew the rule existed, and had yet to see the policy which she was told “isn’t written down”–a curious explanation, given the email justification KTBS is providing as evidence Lee was provided notice of the rule.

La Crosse, Wisconsin anchor Jennifer Livingston, who in October fended off a viewer’s criticism of her weight with a well-publicized on-air retort, responded to Poynter with a supportive email about Lee’s firing:

“I don’t think when you decide to become a journalist it means you have to put a piece of duct tape over your mouth regarding comments directed at you…

“If someone is going to post on a public site, there should be a reasonable expectation that those comments will be addressed. Of course, you need to do so in a respectful and thoughtful manner. I think we as journalists are still trying to pave the way with integrating social media into our daily workflow. No clear rules have been defined so every station is different.

Personally – I’d have written that person back in a heartbeat.”

h/t: MSNBC.com