August 01, 2013 01:13 PM UTC

Chieftain Unethical? Yup.

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• by: kwtree

The Pueblo Chieftain today, in an editorial titled, “Unethical? Nope,”  finally answered Progress Now's charge of  unethical conduct, based on Chieftain board members  signing recall petitions. Chieftain claims that their actions were ethical. They also claim

“While Sen. Giron apparently believes she’s been treated poorly by The Chieftain, we maintain our news coverage of her has been fair and balanced."

Wrong on both counts.

The PC executives signing of the recall petitions is ethically problematic, for the reasons Jason Salzman  and Colorado Pols reported earlier.  Basically, a news organization needs to be transparent about its biases and opinions, rather than claiming not to be biased. The Chieftain has been promoting, not just reporting on, the recall efforts, since the recall began circulating petitions in April 2013.

The Chieftain is biased because:

1. The Chieftain has consistently supported the recall effort. Of 20 articles on the recall topic, 12 are pro-recall or anti Giron. The bias is evident in quotes from recall proponents, the actual petition language being posted on the Chieftain site, and an absence of opportunity for Giron to respond. 
2. Giron’s opponent in the recall election, George Rivera, has all 20 Chieftain links posted on his site. He certainly believes that the Chieftain is in his corner, as well he should.
3. The Chieftain has posted two youtube videos of Mr. Rivera speaking to the public. Shockingly, the Chieftain has posted  no video of Senator Giron speaking to her constituents.
4. Even in the Local News/Community briefings departments, the Chieftain has shown preference to recall and to Mr. Rivera’s events, posting them with commentary and implied endorsements. Senator Giron’s July 3 event, however, was not posted. A field organizer for "Pueblo United for Angela" said that all public event notices are sent to the Chieftain, as well as other local media outlets.
5. The biased news coverage continues, as evidenced by the Chieftain’s coverage of Mr. Rivera’s invitation to Senator Giron to debate. Giron’s response was that she would consider a moderated debate:

6. “This is not two candidates running against each other and at this time and I see no need to debate him. But if a neutral party puts together a forum, I will consider it.

7. Both the Chieftain and the local Republican Party chair instantly leapt on this, crowing, “Giron Refuses to Debate”. On July 30, the Roper article said: “Rivera wants Giron to agree to a debate, which she has declined to do.” The Republican party gleefully started a new meme:
8. Colorado Republican Party Chairman Ryan Call jumped into the local recall fight Monday, saying Giron was "hiding from voters by not debating Rivera."
9. Then there was the nasty email Chieftain General Manager sent to Senator Giron, stating that he disagreed with the gun legislation, which is his prerogative, but then implying that the Chieftain would work against the legislation, which is not a news organization prerogative. He ended the email with his job title, and underneath, "And Gun Owner". That was certainly an ethical abuse of his position, and unprofessional, as well. Stafford has never apologized to Giron for the email; all of his public discussion has been to justify it.

Most Pueblo residents understand that the Chieftain is biased. This may partly account for the Chieftain's decline in circulation, along with the trend among younger readers to get news digitally. Mr. Stafford, the Chieftain’s new General Manager, is an expert in “turning it around”, according to his Linked In profile. Mr. Stafford will need to turn the Chieftain around to be a genuinely balanced news organization, as well as one that has a digital presence, in order to appeal to the new generation of Pueblo readers.

In full disclosure, I do volunteer for the Giron campaign.