CORRECTION: Well, that was embarrassing. I was not careful. I missed the fact that the News & Record's Dick Barron had reported that Hooper is leaving WFMY to take the position at the Chamber. My apologies for the oversight and thanks to Dick for bringing the error to my attention. I leave the original post below as a testament to my fallibility.
GREENSBORO, NC -- WFMY general manager Deborah Hooper has been tapped to head the local Chamber of Commerce. Say what? The Chamber of Commerce accepts public funds, engages in political advocacy and attempts to influence government policy decisions, the very kinds of activities that properly deserve media scrutiny. For the manager of WFMY to head such an organization is to kiss goodbye any remaining notion, however already minuscule, that WFMY is a serious watchdog of public interest.
I have to hand it to the Chamber though, it was smart to get a media organization in its pocket.
Roch:
ReplyDeleteShe's leaving the TV station to take the paid position as president. That was Rob Clapper's role as well.
According to my story: "Hooper said she had one thing in mind when considering whether to leave the TV business: community service."
Dick Barron
News & Record
Roch, I'm not sure I agree with you on this. She's not a volunteer leader; she took the top paid job at the Chamber. Obviously she'll be giving up her WFMY job, and yes she'll be bringing her connections with her, but if anything I'd think that her former employees might enjoy the opportunity to put her on the hot seat, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dick. And yes, Jon, you are right, my concerns were based on my erroneous reading of the facts. I've added a correction to the original post.
ReplyDeleteDid she have a conflict of interest in serving on the board of the Greensboro Partnership?
ReplyDeleteIf the answer is yes, then Robin Saul and and few others are in conflict at present.
Good point, George. Saul would not speak up publicly in favor of Greensboro's efforts to recruit Google's fiber optic internet access to Greensboro for fear of an appearance of conflict. That seems laughable in light of his membership on the board of the Greensboro Partnership.
ReplyDelete