Greensboro votes to fund P. R. B. S. while cutting city services

GREENSBORO, NC -- It was sadly ironic that, on a night when Greensboro city council approved a plan to cut city services, they voted to give $35,000 to WFMY for a "marketing initiative." (Story)

Greensboro too often grasps at shortcuts. Rather than doing things, we think we can just manage appearances. To seem, rather than to be is the motto we live by. It's a shame and a fat check to a local TV station for what councilwoman Nancy Hoffman called a great opportunity to "brand" the area is a sign that we remain a city lacking ideas and motivated by desperation. In this case, the desperation is compounded by sloppy thinking.

Even if $35,000 of "branding" has the possibility to net some return on investment, it is not going to happen by marketing on a local TV station to the people who already live here. (Forget too the issue of a news organization accepting money from a government it should cover objectively, that's not something I'd expect to cause a blip on WFMY's ethics radar.)

I could see, maybe, some benefit of marketing the city to people and businesses elsewhere, but how in the world does Greensboro benefit from promoting a brand to itself?

In voting to cut city services, councilman Zack Matheny said it would help the city run more like a business. Where was that business sense on this waste of money to WFMY that passed by a vote of 9 to 0?

P. R. B. S. is what this is and council fell for it in a night of mixed up priorities.

Summer reruns: Prepare for stories of mobs and riots

GREENSBORO, NC -- School is out, and around here we know what that means. It's time for local TV stations to rev up their scare machines and crank out wildly distorted fear mongering stories of marauding teenagers.

Cub "reporters," recently graduated with degrees in Personal Branding and minors in Hair and Makeup for the Camera, will find some downtown fight or incident of disorder and breathlessly exaggerate it beyond any resemblance to the facts. Dutiful anchors will read what's on the teleprompter, revealing the perfect amount of panic from behind their facades of sage concern while failing to recognize the mendacity of the words they are burping forth. If we're lucky, local politicians may even seize upon the fakery, deny the clear protestations of the police that the media have it wrong, and fan the flames to pursue some public policy for which they would otherwise have no support.

The bar is set pretty low, though, so it will be tough to beat previous years' winners.

WFMY, 2011: A Month of Violent Flash Mobs

In the summer of 2011, WFMY took a single assault and an overturned flowerpot and turned them into an entire month of "police [battling] large flash-mob beatings and vandalism." This whopper, refuted by police, lead the City of Greensboro to stop communicating with WFMY and to demand a meeting with station management to express their displeasure with WFMY "creating storylines." The story fanned all sorts of racist reaction to the detriment of our community.

WFMY never publicly corrected their story or apologized..

WGHP, 2013: 400-Teen Street Brawl

In the summer of 2013, WGHP reported a "massive brawl" downtown involving "400 teens." They even showed surveillance camera video of what they said was the fight. It never happened though, and the video, while showing crowds of people, some running and agitated, did not show a single punch, kick or any people fighting—much less 400 people—but WGHP played the video over and over, instructing viewers to see in the grainy and out of focus footage something that did not exist. This whopper, picked up by the Drudge Report and other media across the country, was also refuted by police, who described, and records document, a series of small and unrelated fights over a seven-hour period on a Saturday night, resulting in eleven arrests. Police accounts did not stop then-mayor and downtown resident Robbie Perkins from repeating the falsehood in an effort to rally support for a downtown youth curfew. The story also inspired  racist reactions to the detriment of our community.

Like WFMY before them, WGHP never publicly corrected their story or apologized (nor did Perkins who subsequently was voted out of office).

WFMY's swing and a miss at a fat one over the plate

GREENSBORO, NC -- WFMY reported today of the City of Greensboro's "Better Buildings" program, a program which was to spend federal funds to improve energy efficiency:

 "[T]hey have spent about $4.6 million of the $5 million which includes $1,933,203 for energy improvements on homes."

You left us hanging, WFMY. If only $1,933,203 has been spent to improve energy efficiency from a program that administers a grant to improve energy efficiency, what was the other $2.7 million spent on?

Emails: WFMY scripted Greensboro Police 'interview'; submitted for police approval

GREENSBORO, NC -- Emails recently obtained by this blogger show a local TV station submitting a script to a Greensboro police officer in advance of an upcoming live interview about door-to-door solicitors and the script getting forwarded to the police public affairs liaison for approval. The email, from WFMY anchor Tanya Rivera, includes what she calls a "working script" for the police officer's review. It includes Rivera's questions and suggested answers for the officer. "Anything you say is in the <…>," Rivera writes.

Although the anchor says the scripted answers are "examples" and "placeholders," the script reveals that, rather than probing the police for information, the anchor had already formed an opinion of the subject and was suggesting answers to the police officer that would conform to her narrative.

Excerpt (emphasis added):

Tanya: and usually... if it's in one neighborhood...it makes the rounds. 

<your answer: example-- right. so while it just happened in the north part of the city-- these people don't stay in one place. they move around, trying to get the most victims possible. they use everything from magazine sales to ****. and just because they have a nice sounding or charity sounding name...don't let that fool you.>

The email was subsequently forwarded to the Police Department's public affairs liaison for approval:

"I need your approval of this script Tanya Rivera of News 2 has prepared for an interview this evening."

Here are the emails in their entirety:

---

From: Uehlein, Pat C
To: Danielsen, Susan
Subject: FW: WFMY script for Wednesday 5:30pm
Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 8:41:34 AM

Susan,
I need your approval of this script Tanya Rivera of News 2 has prepared for an interview this evening
with Officer Eric Rasecke.

Pat

P. C. Uehlein, Sergeant
Western Community Resource Team
Greensboro Police Department
City of Greensboro
Phone: (336) 412-3910; Fax: (336) 373-4663
PO Box 3136, Greensboro, NC 27402-3136
www.greensboro-nc.gov

---

From: Rivera, Tanya [mailto:trivera@wfmy.gannett.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 7:02 PM
To: Rasecke, Eric H
Subject: WFMY script for Wednesday 5:30pm

Hey Eric—thanks again for being available for a live interview tomorrow. The newscast is at
5:30pm…please be here by 5:15pm and you will be done by 5:45pm. Here is the working
script. Anything you say is in the <…> You can see I put in examples…these are just
placeholders. Please email me back your answers so we can make sure we are on the right
track. I’m thinking of adding one or two tidbits of the code enforcement information at the end of
your interview and then putting the other code enforcement info in the web story. Would you
please pick out the number 1 or 1&2 points you think viewers need to know & then email me the
entire list.

Thanks again! –tanya

Tanya: On this neighborhood alert email--it says.. contact police if a solicitor shows up at your
door...
chances are... the solicitors won't show up in the this neighborhood again...but they could
show up in yours.

{***TANYA & GUEST***}
Officer Eric Rasecke with the Greensboro Police Department has seen his share of door-to-door
calls.

<your answer: example-- door-to-door scams happen in every neighborhood-- and it doesn't
seem there is a season without them.>

Tanya: and usually... if it's in one neighborhood...it makes the rounds.

<your answer: example-- right. so while it just happened in the north part of the city-- these
people don't stay in one place. they move around, trying to get the most victims possible. they
use everything from magazine sales to ****. and just because they have a nice sounding or
charity sounding name...don't let that fool you.>

Tanya : i imagine tracking down the people going door to door isn't all that easy unless a
neighbor calls you right then and there.

<your answer: example -- most of the time people call 20 minutes later when they get to thinking
about it. its usually too late. etc>

Tanya : and getting your money back from these people....

<your answer: example -- it's just as hard.....etc >

Tanya: the one thing we can count on...is if it's making the rounds in one neighborhood...there is
a good chance this could be in your neighborhood next.

(possible points 1 or 2 of the code enforcement—what every solicitor should have on their
person when they come to your door…..)

{full screen}

Tanya Rivera
2 Wants To Know
Office 336.379.5685
Twitter: @TanyaRiveraOn2

Statue of WFMY reporter to be erected at Guilford Battleground Park

GREENSBORO, NC -- In a fascinating testament to the good things that can come from ignoring mistakes, the National Park Service has decided to honor a WFMY reporter with a statue in the Guilford Battleground Military Park.

Two weeks ago WFMY reporter Michael Radostits posted an erroneous story to the station's website in which he identified General Nathanael Greene as the victor over the British Redcoats at the Revolutionary War Battle of Guilford Courthouse in contradiction to actual events. Radostits wrote:

"On Saturday, people came out to celebrate General Greene's 271st birthday at Guilford Courthouse National Battlefield in Greensboro. It's the same sight [sic] where Greene earned his victory over the British."

Although it had been previously heretofore known that Greene actually lost the battle, the National Parks Service has decided to honor Radostits with a statue in the park for singlehandedly changing history. Park spokesperson Martha Lighthorse explained:

"We contacted WFMY about the error. We called them, facebooked them, tweeted them and texted them, but the story remained uncorrected. We tried to get creative and sent a General Greene impersonator to the station, but they mistook him for a Good Morning Show guest and he ended up featured on a segment about back-to-school fashion."

Lighthorse described a subsequent meeting with park staff:

"We started thinking, this may not be so bad. After all, Greene already has the largest statue in the park and it really does sound more exciting to say that Greensboro was named after a winner instead of a loser, so we thought, what the hey? Let's do this thing and honor Michael for making history better."

The Park Service announced yesterday that they will erect a statue of Radostits in the park. A press release explained:

"With history no longer subject to facts, we felt free to take some liberties with the design of the statue and had it fashioned in the "Modern Colonial Greek" style. (Pictured below).

The press release went on to explain:

We will celebrate the erecting of the Radostits monument with a reenactment of the battle of Guilford Courthouse, with General Greene's army joined by a battalion of Jedi Knights as they take on the Redcoats and the WWE All Stars on horse-drawn chariots. The battle will conclude with Radostits himself riding to the rescue in an authentic replica of a solar-powered M4 Sherman Tank."

Radostits could not be reached for comment, but he Tweeted:

omg! icymi #guilfordpark 2 erect (LOL) fab statue of @radostits cuz i da man. deets on fb. YW #greensboro #generalgreen #corporalklinger #majornelson #mrhand

Socially connected and wrong

GREENSBORO, NC -- WFMY has recently taken to promoting themselves as "the source for the socially connected." The source for what, they don't say, but if I had to guess, it would be error-prone information.

It's one thing if the station wants to carve out a nice little sugary space of vapid small talk for themselves—car dealerships seem to think it's the perfect demographic—but please, then, stay away from stories that might involve the conveyance of actual facts. You're not the ones to tell us.

On their website today, WFMY reports of yesterday's celebration of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene:

"On Saturday, people came out to celebrate General Greene's 271st birthday at Guilford Courthouse National Battlefield in Greensboro.  It's the same sight [sic] where Greene earned his victory over the British."

Greene did not win the battle. The British won and took the courthouse. In fact, Greene is perhaps the war's most celebrated loser. That's one of the things that made this battle, and Greene as a military tactician, so remarkable. Outnumbered and poorly equipped, Greene had his Southern army and the Virginia Regulars who joined him in defending the Guilford Courthouse take defensive positions in wooded areas where the usual advantage of British General Charles Cornwallis' tight and disciplined formations was diminished. The British ended up paying a high price in casualties for their victory.

With heavy losses and dwindling supplies, the British were in no condition to continue to fight so far from their supply lines. Three days after the battle, Cornwallis withdrew his troops to Wilmington.

I tried emailing the WFMY news desk about the error, but the message bounced as that mailbox is full.

Not smarter than a fifth grader

GREENSBORO, NC -- From WFMY reporting on power bill charges:

"She said the deposit amount is equal to two-twelfths of the bill."

I missed something important

GREENSBORO, NC -- Earlier this week, I wrote a post faulting some unsubstantiated and incorrect information in a report News & Record reporter Joe Gamm wrote about the fights that occurred downtown last weekend.

I missed something important though. In a sea of hyperbole and what appears more and more to be fabricated stories of hundreds of teens brawling downtown—as reported by WGHP and WFMY (and unchallenged by Mayor Robbie Perkins)—Gamm got the central fact of the size and scope of the fights correct. Gamm did not hyperventilate the story beyond or in contradiction to available evidence and into the type of falsehoods reported by WGHP and WFMY of hundreds of teens fighting in a massive brawl. Gamm correctly reported, "a series of small fights" for which 11 people were arrested.

In my focus on the mile-wide holes in the local media reports of the events (and Gamm's quick pass at previous downtown violence), I missed Gamm's simple but exceptional oasis of accuracy amid the sea of panicked untruths. He got the core facts right. As remarkable as it might seem, he deserves credit for that.

[This post originally had "Gamm did hyperventilate..." That is not what I mean to write. It has been corrected: "Gamm did not hyperventilate..."]

The damage done, thank you local media and Mr. Mayor

GREENSBORO, NC -- What has the local media's hyperbolic and inaccurate reporting of "hundred of kids brawling in downtown Greensboro" and the Mayor's refusal to correct the hyperbole wraught for Greensboro?

Here is a sampling from around the world:

Drudge report:  

400 teens in street brawl in Greensboro.

Altaris, Round Rock, TX:

Well that is great news to hear, since I'll be visiting my cousins there in 3 weeks. :(
Do I need to come ready to ---> ? 

JackMac, TX:

Google...Jerry Bledsoe and Greensboro Police controversy. Crooked department ...not trusted by other agencies. Officers involved in drugs and prostitution and more. Google it and read for yourself. Don't trust them to protect you. Prepare to defend yourself if you live there, is the word.

WTAM Radio, Cleveland, OH:

WATCH: Nearly 400 Teens Brawl In Greensboro; Time For Teen Curfew?

Anonymous, United Kingdom:

i wish i was in the usa airfocre fully loaded , i wouldnt have a problem fucking air striking everyone of the fucking animals

stupid fucking baboons

ABC News Politics Message Forum:

Judging by the video.....planet of the apes. 

Breitbart:

400 Teens Brawl in North Carolina

Daily Pundit:

One word missing:  400 Black teens in street brawl….

A kernel of corn: WFMY does journalism

GREENSBORO, NC -- Kudos to Benjamin Brisco at WFMY. His investigation into the results of Guilford County Schools installing cameras on school buses is the kind of fact-based, serious and relevant reporting we could use more of from WFMY.

City of Greensboro hoodwinks WFMY: 451 - 4 = 459

GREENSBORO, NC -- Poor WFMY, will they ever learn? The job of journalists/former cheerleaders is not to simply regurgitate the pronouncements of authorities. Even if they don't get how detrimental that is to a democracy — to present self-interested unchecked assertions of the government as having the stamp of approval of the "journalist"— you'd think the embarrassment factor would be enough to compel them not to be tools.

Regarding the proposed City of Greensboro budget, WFMY's Carrie Hodgin reported this:

"City Manager, Denise Turner Routh [sic], presented her first [sic] budget to City Council members Tuesday night. The proposed budget is $459 million. It comes with $4.3 million in cuts across the board."

Actually, there are some cuts and some increases and the proposed budget is, in empirical documented reality, nearly $8 million MORE than last year.

City of Greensboro 2012-13 adopted budget

The proposed $459 million budget does not represent a cut of $4.3 million, it reflects an INCREASE of nearly $8 million

I don't know what reason the City of Greensboro would have for misrepresenting the facts to the people of Greensboro but just as curious is why WFMY didn't vet the information for themselves before reporting it as fact.

Give me a D!

Give me a U!

Give me a P!

Give me an E.!

Give me an S!

(Hat tip: George Hartzman)

All in a day's work

GREENSBORO, NC -- Let us take a tour of a single day's worth of stories on WFMY's website.

A headline from a WFMY story:

"How Many Veterans Have Companies Hired Since The President Start An Initiative"

From a WFMY story:

"I was a little apprehensive when i first heard because not it's typical to hear an adult student talk about internships," Joanne Allen said about her non-traditional internship.

From a WFMY story:

"'Sometimes they throw dodge balls at my head in gym and these two guys at school are terrible with autistic,' said Williams' son, Cameron."

A headline from a WFMY story:

"Man Sets Neighbor's House On Fire For Unkempt Lawn, Police Said"

From a WFMY story:

"May sound simple to say use another sink, but there's a trickle down contamination affect that comes into play."

From a WFMY story:

"But Corporate CEO & Authority on Success Dan Steenerson says the first rule is to never be fake."

From a WFMY story:

"Adding a job  may sound simple, butto these business owner a lot is involved-salary, health care, insurance. For Miss Jenny's Pickles it's especially involved because they only have 6 employees. We asked how they will you make it work?."

From a WFMY story:

"Investigators said Williams had a prior felony conviction for Possession With Intent To Sell and Deliver Cocaine in 2002."

Plagiarism (again) at WFMY

GREENSBORO, NC -- What is it about WFMY that they just can't stop taking credit for other people's work? WXII doesn't seem to do it, WGHP seems perfectly capable of attributing sourced material to its original authors. WFMY, on the other hand, seems fine with stealing other people's work and passing it off as their own ( here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

Here is the latest, "Financial Advisor Steals Customer's (sic) Identities,"  a story identified as written by Cami Marshal of WFMY on May 14, 2013. Large portions of it are identical to passages from a story written by Chad Silber for 1011now.com on April 1, 2013 and another story by Jason Oliveira of KFSN-TV on April 2, 2013.

Here is WFMY's story, the highlighted portions are identical to the other earlier stories:
--------------------------------
Undated -- This is a story with a warning. You have to know who you give your personal information to. Thousands of people got duped by a financial advisor who abused his position.

Surveillance video caught Andrew Myers and his son shopping at a grocery store. That video helped postal inspectors link Myers to more than 57 cases of identity theft.

US Postal Inspector Douglas Biel said, "He stole clients information and identity profiles from both his customers and his fellow co-workers and then performed changes of addresses and opened various bank accounts in his name."

Myers worked for Northwestern Mutual, selling both investments and insurance, pocketing the money on the side. Biel said, "He was trying to live the high life. He was staying in very expensive hotels, he was flying call girls with him out to the Playboy mansion and feeding on other's people dime."

Judy Cohen said she didn't know Myers, but she was one of his victims. "You just can't believe a total stranger would target you and steal your identity."

Fortunately, Judy's bank promptly alerted her and her husband that someone was applying for charge cards in their names.
 
Cohen said, "They could have run up bills, we would have no clue that someone was out spending in our name. No one is safe. It could happen to me again. It could be happening right now."

Cohen said she and her husband now have credit monitoring services on all of their accounts and they check every bank statement carefully.

As for Andrew Myers, he is currently serving a two-year prison term and was ordered to pay back $35,000 in restitution.

Don't forget, we've made it easy for you to check your own credit report. Just head to the 2 Wants to Know section of digtriad.com. Fill out the spaces on the right hand side, click submit, and every four months we'll send you an email reminding you to check your credit report.

WFMY News 2/ Consumer Alerts 

More unsubstantiated fear mongering from WFMY's Geary

GREENSBORO, NC -- Shortly after arriving at WFMY in 2011, reporter Mark Geary made a big splash by "reporting" on wilding mobs in downtown Greensboro and by "reporting," I mean fabricating. Geary wrote:

"Every weekend in July, Greensboro police have battled large, flash-mob beatings and vandalism."

That was untrue—not just unsubstantiated, which it was, but refuted by police as wrong. A police spokesperson told the News & Record:

"[A]ny reports of “flash mob attacks” in Greensboro are 'absolutely inaccurate.'"

It even prompted the City of Greensboro to stop communication with WFMY until they had a meeting to express their displeasure with WFMY's propensity for "creating storylines." WFMY never corrected the story, however, and it incited a number of racist and hysterical reader reactions (since deleted by WFMY but excerpted here.)

Geary is at it once again, ginning up xenophobia and inflaming paranoia with more untruths. This time Geary is reporting that the two Iranian brothers arrested for growing pot and mushrooms in their home were also "using hazardous devices." From that nugget, it is a short hop to the paranoid suspicion of neighbors Geary promotes, leading him to advise such absurdities as to be most suspicions of neighbors who don't appear to be doing anything. Seriously. What are the signs you should be worried about a neighbor? According to Geary, one sign your neighbors may be up to no good is the appearance of complete normalcy. "No signs" are a signal to worry, says Geary. If neighbors appear suspicious, worry; and if they don't appear suspicious, worry too.

There is a problem however (beyond the promotion of hysterical paranoia over reason): Geary has, once again, fabricated his premise. Nobody has made the claim that the brothers were, as Geary wrote, "using hazardous devices." They haven't been charged with anything like that and nobody, other than Geary, has publicly made that claim. Geary doesn't attribute that claim to any source*, but truth be damned, he has some fear to stoke. Greensboro deserves better.

* In the most recent version of the story, Geary attributes that claim to "law enforcement."

WFMY back on Greensboro 101

Story excerpts and links from WFMY's Digtriad.com are back on Greensboro 101. Thanks to WFMY staff for helping to resolve the technical issues.

Speak English?

"Last year, more than 2,500 tickets citations were written in Greensboro. That's more than only other city in the Triad combined."
-- Morgan Hightower, WFMY

Digtriad temporarily suspended from Greensboro 101

News feeds from WFMY's Digtriad.com have been temporarily suspended from Greensboro 101 because they are "future dating" their posts. That is to say, they put a publication date on them of some time in the future which causes them to remain at the top of feed readers and sites like Greensboro 101 beyond their actual publication date and time.

I have contacted WFMY and asked them to please rectify this problem. I will restore them to Greensboro 101 when I receive confirmation that they have fixed the problem. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Rest assured that all of your other sources with properly working feeds will continue to be available.

Hookers agree, Greensboro not a great destination

GREENSBORO, NC -- In honor of our local news media, can we just go ahead and rename Greensboro Bumpkinville?

A website designed to arrange "travel" between "generous men" and "beautiful women" for whom the the johns, er, men, will pay the hookers, er, women, to travel to hookups announced that Greensboro is the least sexy city in America based on, they say, the frequency of hookups they arrange here. They might as well have announced "Greensboro least popular destination for sex trade." WFMY and the News & Record took the bait though and "reported" the story as if it had some significance and legitimacy deserving of attention.

Here's a ranking for you: The folks at WFMY and the News & Record who regurgitated the press release, er, reported the story, rank in professional sophistication somewhere between Gomer Pyle and granite.

We expect this from WFMY. Has the sinking N&R reached their level? Does anybody know if a date has been set yet for News & Record publisher Robin Saul's departure? Any word on whether he will be taking editor Grits Gauger with him?

[Update, 8:40 A.M.: Add Fox8 and the Triad Business Journal to the list of goobers who covered this.]

Silence of the lambs

GREENSBORO, NC -- Have any of the local media (News & Record, WFMY and WGHP) who breathlessly and mistakenly reported the released-in-2007 police chief/city manager transcript as newly-released this week made any corrections? Have any of them walked back their implications that this will either: a) add to the mystery or b) end the mystery?

Of course, what their readers and viewers are really owed is a correction of the same magnitude and the same reach as the original error, but have any even uttered a whisper of a correction?

Grits?
Clinkingbeard?
Koutsky?
Lehmert?
Flash mob?
Jones?
Mickens?
Rivera?

Anybody going to show us how the pros do it? Baaaa -aaaaa -- aaaaa.

[update: 11:42, corrected Jones' name.]

Local reporters' reading assignment

Dear local media people,

I have a request.

If you are going to report on the events and controversies surrounding the Greensboro Police Department under the command of former Chief David Wray, will you please read Jerry Bledsoe's series Cops in Black and White?

Please?

Yes, I know it's long and I know it was published by a competitor, but it is the ultimate guide to the issue and familiariity with it would keep you from such inaccurate things as:

Amanda Lehmert of the News & Record reporting that a transcript of the conversation where former City Manager Mitch Johnson locks the Cheif out of his office as newly released when it has been available for almost six years.

Brandon Jacobs of Fox8 News following Amanda's lead and describing the transcript as "newly-released."

Mark "Flash Mob" Geary (2:15 mark), describing the years-old transcript as a "new revelation" and saying it has Mitchel Johnson referring to the "Secret Police Unit" when locking Wray out of his office (heck, Geary could have just read the transcript carefully to see that wasn't so). Geary also insinuates that the RMA report has not been made public and otherwise generally mangles the facts.

Tanya Rivera describing (0:02 mark) "Greensboro's black book scandal" as "still a mystery." (To her, perhaps.)

Here are the first 25 parts of the Bledsoe series, you'll have to Google the rest, but please do.

Thanks,

Roch