FIRED WUTC REPORTER FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST UNIVERSITY

Jacqui Helbert

Jacqui Helbert, the WUTC, Chattanooga, reporter who was fired for her reporting on Tennessee’s “bathroom bill, is suing the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) over her termination. According to reports by Nashville Scene [link], the  lawsuit was filed March 30^th  in Hamilton County Circuit Court.

Helbert is asking for reinstatement, an apology, compensation for lost wages and up to $1 million in damages for the emotional distress from the retaliatory firing. The university and two employees are named as defendants.

We first reported [link] on Helbert last Wednesday (3/29). Here are the facts of the case:

On Tuesday, March 7th, Helbert traveled to the state capitol in Nashville to cover a field trip by students from a Chattanooga-area high school.  The students, members of the Cleveland High Gay-Straight Alliance Club, made the trip to voice concerns over Tennessee’s bathroom bill. The proposed legislation is similar to a controversial law enacted in North Carolina.

Helbert accompanied the students to a meeting with State Senator Mike Bell, (R-Riceville). Bell is the sponsor of Tennessee’s bathroom bill and is a well-known Culture Warrior.  When Bell was asked why he proposed the legislation and he replied, in part:

State Senator Mike Bell

"Did ya’ll see the news where there a transgender person arrested in Oregon this past summer. He was a teen. He demanded to be placed in female prison. After three months they had to take him out because he was having sex with all the female prisoners.

How do you define it [gender identity]? Is it how I feel on Monday. Or do I feel different on Tuesday. Wednesday I might feel like a dog. It doesn’t matter what I present myself as. It’s in my DNA. It’s science."

Helbert recorded the meeting and included Bell’s remarks in her story for WUTC. After the story aired on March 9th, the news went viral across the state and caused quite a stir. 

State Senator Todd Gardenhire

State Senator Bell received global criticism for his remarks. Bell then got other pro-“bathroom bill” legislators involved, including State Senator Todd Gardenhire who represents Chattanooga in the legislature.

The lawsuit alleges Gardenhire conveyed Bell’s displeasure to UTC officials. A couple of weeks later, Helbert was fired. The university said she violated ethics guidelines.

Helbert disagrees. She believes her firing was retaliation for her reporting.  She told local media:

“Clearly I believe I was fired for reporting a story of important public interest that did not sit well with lawmakers.”

You can listen to Helbert’s report here.

WAS HELBERT’S FIRING TIED TO STATE FUNDING FOR THE UNIVERSITY?

In the lawsuit, Helbert alleges that the embarrassed legislators had threatened to pull funding from the station and the university if Helbert was not fired. The filing states:

“After the termination, Ms. Helbert returned to WUTC where she again spoke to [news director Mike] Miller and [WUTC staffer Mary Ollie] Newman. They appeared stunned. Mr. Miller stated the termination was done purely for fear of funding cuts (retaliation/blackmail) by UTC not for any stated integrity of journalistic standards.”

FLAP COSTS WUTC FINANCIAL SUPPORT & CREDIBILITY

According to posts on a popular public radio discussion list, the incident has already been costly for WUTC. One post said:

We’ve gotten a glut of angry phone calls and emails from listeners cancelling their sustaining membership, and the incident has damaged the station's credibility as an independent news outlet.

We've postponed our pledge drive, which was scheduled for April 17.

The credibility of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is also being questioned. A Nashville Scene reader posted this comment:

From this article I can see no wrong doing on Helbert's part. It seems that both our state reps did indeed threaten to pull funding, though one put his threat in code.

It is not a reporter's duty to protect the feelings of public officials. In fact, it is the media's duty to expose those officials' overreaching whether the officials like it or not. It is the university's duty to protect it's students from those overreaching officials. If they don't want controversy, why do they have a radio station? Or science programs? Or a religion department?

PRPD WELCOMES THREE NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Jody Evans, CEO of the Public Radio Program Directors Association (PRPD), announced three new members have been appointed to the organization’s Board of Directors. They are Kristen Muller of KPCC, Jacqueline Cincotta of WNYC and Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media.

Also, Hawk Mendenhall is now Chair of the board.

The appointments fill board seats being vacated by Bill Anderson of KCUR, Michael Arnold of Wisconsin Public Radio and Tamar Charney of NPR. Charney had been chair of the board.

Other members continuing their service on the board are: John Hoban (KJZZ), Bill Lueth (KDFC), Matt Abramovitz (WQXR), Ben Adler (KXJZ), Lynne Clendenin (KOPB), Kerri Hoffman (PRX) and Todd Mundt (NPR/WBUR).

Here is more about each of the three new board members:

Kristen Muller, Head of Content Innovation

Southern California Radio, Los Angeles

Kristen Muller

Muller oversees content on the broadcast and digital platforms of KPCC. She is in charge of innovation strategy and project.

Previously she was Senior Managing Editor for KPCC News and producer of Take Two and the Madeleine Brand Show. Before she joined KPCC, Muller spent over a decade with CBS News as a producer for the CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes.

In 2016, Muller was a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University where she examined journalism in the age of the mega-platforms. Her work focuses on entrepreneurship, digital innovation and management strategies.

Jacqueline Cincotta

Jacqueline Cincotta, Program Director

WNYC, New York

Cincotta has worked at WNYC since 2002 and has been PD since May 2012. Prior to joining WNYC, she worked for several New York advertising and marketing companies, specializing in digital business solutions and graphic design.

Cincotta started her career in radio while she was a student at SUNY, Oneonta. After graduating she worked as an on-air host at Long Island commercial talk station WALK.

Cincotta still occasionally is on the air on WNYC, something she apparently loves. In 2011 she hosted an edition of WNYC’s Soundcheck about the impact of popular music on life at the “tender age” of 14. She shared her music confessions with Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode. You can listen to this delightful story here.

Fred Jacobs

Fred Jacobs, Founder, Jacobs Media

Detroit

Fred Jacobs launched Jacobs Media in 1983 after several years as PD at WRIF, an influential commercial Classic Rock station in Detroit. Some observers say that Jacobs “invented” the Classic Rock format. Folks interested in Jacobs’ work with Classic Rock should check out his blog here.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Jacobs Media expanded into research and consulting for noncom public radio stations, program producers and networks such as NPR and PRI.

Jacobs saw the evolving digital media landscape and in 2004 conducted the first Tech Survey. The Tech Survey  examines the ways audiences engage with new media like social media, streaming audio and video, smartphones and other mobile media. Jacobs has conducted over a dozen Tech Surveys for commercial clients and eight Public Radio Tech Surveys for the PRPD.

In 2008, Jacobs launched the mobile apps company jācapps. Jacobs and his associates established the first DASH Conference in 2013. DASH brings together radio folks and auto industry leaders to examine the “connected car” space.

Check out his company blog here.

KEN SAYS: Congratulations to the PRPD for choosing these three excellent new board members.  Each will bring important new perspectives and skills to the organization.

Fred Jacobs in the mid 1980s

I personally want to thank Fred Jacobs for his efforts to help public radio become more effective and sustainable. Fred knows how important public media is to our society and democracy.

It is true that Jacobs has made decent bucks from consulting noncom clients.  However, he has returned far more value to public media. 

He provides us wisdom and helps noncom folks focus on serving the greater good. This work makes me more confident about the future of public radio and public media. I don’t know Fred very well but I trust him – his aim is true. 

I first heard of Fred back in the 1970s when I was working in AOR radio. My friend Greg Ausham (who had worked with Jacobs and competed against him in Detroit) told me:

Fred Jacobs is the real deal. He has a further vision than most others in our biz. Fred intuitively knows where we are heading. You will hear more about this guy in the future. Plus, he knows every song ever recorded by Led Zeppelin.

PUBLIC MEDIA SHINES WITH “GRACIE AWARDS”

On Tuesday (3/28) the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF) announced the winners of the 42nd annual Gracie Awards.  The awards will be presented at the Gracie Awards Gala on Tuesday, June 6^th at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Local and student award winners will be recognized at the Gracie Awards Luncheon on June 27^th at Cipriani in New York City.

Information and a complete list of winners are available here.

At the June 6^th event, AWMF will recognize Samantha Bee, America Ferrera, Drew Barrymore, Mariska Hargitay and Savannah Guthrie.

Noncom public media organizations did very, very well in the “non luminary” categories such as radio news, podcasts and student awards. By my informal count, noncoms won 23 of the 39 (59%) categories. NPR entries led the noncoms with 6 awards. WNYC Studios won 3; American Public Media won 2 and station winners included KCRW, WFUV, WUNC's The State of Things and Vermont Public Radio.

Regarding entries from commercial media, Cumulus Media won four awards and iHeartMedia won three. The Gracie Awards recognize outstanding achievements across new and traditional media platforms.

BEST OF THE BEST: THREE NOTABLE WINNERS FROM PUBLIC MEDIA SHOPS

Karen Foshay, Reporter & Correspondent,

“KCRW Investigates: Burned”

Burned is a limited series of investigative reports heard on KCRW, Los Angeles and is available as podcasts [link]. 

In 2016 Foshay’s reported about the conditions and compensation of workers in the LA restaurant industry.

Foshay spoke with dozens of restaurant workers, labor lawyers, and government enforcers, and sifted through thousands of public records concerning Los Angeles-area restaurants. 

She learned that restaurant workers too often are abused and ripped-off. Here is a telling statement from her report:

Restaurant kitchens are full of knives, ovens, pots of boiling water.  But if someone gets hurt they might have to keep on working.

Do you seek absolutely “must hear” audio? Try this: Burned published a list of the top 20 restaurants with the highest number of judgments and decisions against them [link]. Perhaps you might reconsider having dinner tonight at Mandarin Cuisine in WEHO.

Leila Fadel, NPR International Correspondent, Cairo

News Feature: “Two Little Bombs”

Leila tells the story of a mother in Egypt who is raising two teenagers. 

The kids are dealing with conflicting messages: Rebellious western culture and Islamic fundamentalism. 

Here is one line from Fadel’s story:

She realized none of them [her kids] was coping well, so she was happy when four years ago, the oldest girls sought guidance from a religious group that proselytized from a tent in their impoverished neighborhood. 

Maybe faith could help them.

You can hear it here.

Rebecca Lewis, Fordham University

Podcast: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”

This piece is an amazing change of pace from the day-to-day concerns of the world. Lewis takes the listener on a joyous trip into the night sky. She travels to distant solar systems and avoids black holes as she ponders whether there is life “out there.”

Ultimately, she reflects on planet Earth fits into the great unknown. Dig this sample line:

Please just tell us that after almost 14 billion years, humans are not all there is. We're kind of a mess. Gotta rep planet Earth.

When you look at that night sky, it's hard not to think about what else is out there… So we blasted off among the stars to get some answers about what's going on and why young people care. Live long and prosper.

You can hear it here.