WAGAR, FOX4 FORCED TO 'DISCLOSE' CONFLICT It rarely ever happens in television, but veteran reporter Linda Wagar and WDAF-TV FOX4 have been forced to "Disclose" that its source for a story--Trozzolo Communications---had a major conflict of interest and should not have been used to criticize an ad (below) being run in the bruising Congressional campaign between incumbent Sam Graves and former KCMO Mayor Kay Barnes. FOX4 deserves criticism for using Trozzolo without researching its clients. However, Trozzolo also deserves its fair share of blame for putting Wagar and the station in this embarrassing predicament by not revealing its conflict of interest. "Fox 4 and Linda Wagar have big-time egg on their face and were caught in some pretty shoddy reporting yesterday," said KCMO-710 morning show talk show host Chris Stigall. Stigall once worked as an aid for Graves and feels the local media is not reporting on the race fairly. Wagar, who joined the station in 1999, has been recognized with three Emmy awards for investigative and general news reporting. In addition, she has several awards from the Missouri Broadcasters Association for best documentary, best news series and best feature story. She is married to Kansas City Star reporter Kit Wagar. 05-21-2008
Linda Wagar, FOX4
(FOX4 STORY) Sam Graves' Ad On Kay Barnes Called Homophobic, Racist Homophobic, racist and just plain silly. Those are the words being used to describe a television ad being run by Missouri Congressman Sam Graves. It's the first TV ad Graves has used in his campaign against former Kansas City mayor Kay Barnes. The ad isn't even airing in the Kansas City market and if you see it, you'll understand why. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi hosted a California fundraiser celebrating what the ad called Barnes' "San Francisco-style" values on the background of a man and two women dancing. The ad says that former Barnes is promoting the values of west coast liberals, which according to the ad are gay marriage, abortion and amnesty for illegal immigrants. "That ad is bordering on so many things. Things that I'm not sure you are supposed to say on television," Angelo Trozzolo of Trozzolo Communications said.* (See disclosure) "It's bordering on racism. It's bordering on sexism perhaps or at least it could be perceived that way." But Trozzolo said what surprises him most is that's it's so negative, so early. "He has to be running scared," Trozzolo said. The Barnes campaign hasn't wasted any time responding, releasing their own ad attacking Graves for a bad economy and high gas prices. "He went negative first and it opens her up to go negative back and she did it in a way that is not offensive," Trozzolo said. On the other hand, he said the Graves ad is so offensive that he thinks it could actually hurt him. The Graves campaign makes no apologies for the ad, noting, "The same week Kay Barnes was in San Francisco for a fundraiser, the California Supreme Court issues the most sweeping liberal, activist, pro-gay marriage ruling in the nation."
Copyright 2008 by bottomlinecom.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. EMAIL
