March 2015

Media General (owner of KELO-TV) evade my inquiry

l3wis March 3, 2015 20Comments

As you know, way back in December I posted about how the Mayor and his best buddy Jay went to a Green Bay game together;

I was also shown photos of the mayor attending a Greenbay game at Lambeau with the general manager of KELO-TV, Jay Huizenga. I guess it didn’t shock me too much

As you know, by reading the post, Jay said he doesn’t comment on his ‘personal life’. So I decided to ask his employer about his activities. This is the email I sent to Media General (December 30, 2014);

Courtney Guertin,

I have some concerns about one of your properties/news organizations.

KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, SD.

I have been a resident of Sioux Falls since 1991 moving here to attend technical school, I grew up in rural South Dakota and have watched KELO since I have been a child. I also follow state and city politics very keenly. I am very familiar with many local journalists and elected officials.

 Recently I was shown photos (I believe acquired from Facebook) of the General Manager of KELO, Jay Huizenga attending an NFL game at Lambeau field (Greenbay) with the mayor of our city, Mike Huether. There were also photos of the mayor attending the KELO-TV employee Christmas party and announcing at the party that it was ‘Jay Huizenga Day’ in Sioux Falls in celebration of Jay’s birthday.

Mr. Huether is an elected official and acts as a full-time city manager, he is not ceremonial, and acts under a strong mayor form of government and home rule charter. Recently he has been proud of getting a new Events Center in Sioux Falls built, KELO-TV is one of the naming sponsors.

Out of fairness, I asked (emailed) Mr. Huizenga why a GM of a news organization would attend a very public event like an NFL game with an elected official and invite him to the Christmas party. I questioned the journalistic integrity of such decisions.

Jay did respond to my email, telling me, “I don’t comment on my personal life.”

I’m not sure what Media General’s policies are on relationships between journalists/news managers and elected officials, but Jay seems to be implying he is ‘personal’ friends with the mayor, and since he is, it is OKAY to attend these events with him. This kind of relationship concerns me because it puts into question the purpose of the 4th Estate, and it’s duty to perform those duties with the highest ethical standards. I think journalists and news managers should avoid those kind of situations and not encourage them so there is no ‘appearance’ of conflicts of interest.

I thought you should be aware of the situation AND await your prompt response.

Thank You,

Scott L. Ehrisman

Courtney responds to me (January 7, 2015):

Scott,

I apologize for the delay in responding, I was out of the country. I will look into this with our Operations Mgmt Team.

Best regards,

I have not heard from them since, I even sent this email (February 11, 2015):

Courtney, do you have any updates about this?

Thanks

Scott