St. Louis Leader Calls Out Gray Station
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The St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) is challenging KMOV over a story the station aired featuring SLDC’s CEO, Neal Richardson.
The agency accuses the CBS affiliate of false and misleading coverage that "breaks the tenets of journalism." The dispute began after KMOV reported on Monday that state auditor was conducting a preliminary investigation into how SLDC awarded ARPA-funded grants. This program had already drawn negative attention following a report that some grant money intended for North City businesses appeared to be directed to entities not located in North City and not businesses.
KMOV aired a follow-up segment allegedly about SLDC's response to the audit. The segment featured a 35-second clip of Richardson saying that SLDC makes its investment decisions based on economic needs rather than politics. SLDC spokesman Deion Broxton revealed that the footage was actually taken from an unrelated interview KMOV conducted for a story about SLDC supporting a Black business during Black History Month. The clip, presented as a response to the auditor’s probe, was, in fact, a non-sequitur.
On Friday morning, Broxton issued a press release to local media outlets, the NAACP St. Louis, and the National Association of Black Journalists, demanding that KMOV issue a retraction. "It has been almost three days since the error occurred and KMOV has yet to issue a public retraction or give SLDC an indication of how it will respond," the statement said.
KMOV News Director Scott Diener said that the station would inform viewers that the clip of Richardson was not in response to the auditor’s probe but about SLDC’s general operations.
Diener added, "The sound bite was innocuous and has no bearing on the Missouri state auditor's probe."
The situation is further complicated by local dynamics: Broxton is a former KMOV reporter, and Richardson is engaged to one of KMOV’s news anchors, Samantha Jones.
