I'm Part of the Problem, Too

This email came from a Spectrum News employee after we posted this story.

Email:

Your post today on Charter/Spectrum News couldn’t be more accurate. 

I recently took a position in the Wisconsin newsroom. It is - without question - the whitest newsroom I’ve ever worked at in my 15 years in the industry. We have one person of color on the air and every single person behind the scenes (from tech director to the news director) is white. Pretty sad given we’re based in majority-Black Milwaukee. 

As for the convention nonsense - they went hard on RNC because our Milwaukee newsroom was across the street from the convention hall. It was CHEAP to cover, because National just poached Wisconsin’s staff for the week. We had 3x the coverage we did for the DNC…which is strange, because Chicago is awfully close to Milwaukee??

We take the same “both sides” journalism stance as News Nation. Which is to say…right-leaning. 

We cover Trump with kid gloves. The entire reason Spectrum News exists is so Charter can cozy up to (oftentimes) Republican politicians and encourage them to support public funding for broadband internet expansion. I’m not kidding. 

Each state with a spectrum newsroom has a “government affairs” team which lobbies politicians in their respective state legislatures…this group of lobbyists ALSO helps book political guests for Spectrum’s “In Focus” Sunday shows. This is never disclosed to the viewer. 

Don’t get me wrong - I’m part of the problem, too. Spectrum pays incredibly well. I would say (roughly) 35-40% more than their counterparts in the DMA. It’s hard to walk away from stability, even as you watch your employer ignore Black talent and gives money to a guy who wants to destroy our profession (and then some). Hell, the WH basically gave our DC team a spot in the WH briefing room because we were so nice to Trump during the election. 

Finally - check out Bay News 9 anchor Holly Gregory in Florida. She boasts of knowing Trump well and has never had a bad thing to say about the man. Democrats on the hand…well, let’s just say that’s a little different. And she’s on the national panel for every large, breaking political story.

Thanks for calling us out. The suits hate FTV, so hopefully your post gets under their skin.