Media Watch: Columbia Daily Tribune Omits Nixon Shakedown from Story
JEFFERSON CITY – In a grossly negligent act of journalism that will make Missourians question how far some in the media are willing to go to cover up the inappropriate behavior of Attorney General Jay Nixon, Terry Ganey’s story in Sunday’s Columbia Daily Tribune omitted critical information about an inappropriate political solicitation by Nixon to a Missouri developer.
The Missouri Republican Party has pointed out in the past outrageous contributions that Democrats received from developers but Ganey’s story focused on a letter that Springfield developer Sam Hamra wrote Governor Blunt expressing his displeasure that he had contributed to the governor but did not receive approval for development projects he wanted through the MHDC. No kidding. Governor Blunt doesn’t allow political contributions to affect his decisions on behalf of hard-working Missourians.
But here’s the kicker, in the letter Sam Hamra sent to the governor, Hamra described a phone call he had received from – you guessed it, Jay Nixon. Hamra’s letter stated: “Attorney General Jay Nixon called me for an appointment to come see me, ‘I see that Governor Blunt has disappointed you and now will you support me for Governor?’ I said to Jay, ‘I will let you know Friday.’"
Ganey clearly had the letter that detailed Nixon’s political shakedown, and what is obviously a promised quid pro quo (Nixon sits on the board of MHDC), but Ganey failed to mention this clearly relevant and disgusting behavior by Nixon in his “article.”
“I wish that I could say this was an isolated instance of biased reporting in our state but this type of journalistic negligence has become par for the course in too many big-city liberal papers,” said Jared Craighead, executive director. “Jay Nixon’s unethical behavior is nothing short of mind-boggling and it is hard to believe that some in the media believe they are doing their readers a service by cherry picking the facts in their news stories to protect politicians like Jay Nixon,” Craighead said.
The Missouri Republican Party is hopeful other journalists will report accurately on Nixon’s inappropriate solicitations and unsavory correspondence with Hamra.
