Did KSTP See The Sign, Or Miss The Point?

Entrance to the KSTP studios on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

KSTP (ABC 5) has been a pioneering Twin Cities news station since going on the air in 1948.  There were even times when they had the top-rated newscast in the market.  This is not one of those times.

Recently "5 Eyewitness News" (as KSTP likes to call themselves) aired a report in which they showed a picture of Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges posing with an African American canvasser named Navell Gordon during a "get out the vote" drive, in which they gestured at each other in a manner that some might take to mean they were using gang signals.

KSTP did not identify Gordon in the report, but they did mention that he had a criminal past.  According to the Star Tribune, the man was charged with drug and firearm possession, but said he was trying to straighten out his life.

The KSTP report indicated that certain law enforcement officials--namely a police union president that the Strib said was having a running beef with the mayor--believed that the finger pointing gesture Hodges and Gordon used were also being used by a north Minneapolis gang.

Mayor Hodges bears some of the responsibility for this controversy.  No matter how innocent they say the gestures were, posing with a man with a criminal record looks bad on TV  In the future, she might want to rethink how she's portrayed in photo-ops.

This incident has been all over social media, mainly taking KSTP to task for bad reporting, racial stereotyping, and willingness to believe cops with a grudge.  The station's current reputation as a Fox News wannabe (they're an ABC affiliate) stems from owner Stanley Hubbard's reported contributions to conservative political candidates and organizations, which sometimes influences news coverage.  Hodges, by the way, is a Democrat.

If KSTP and other media outlets can prove that Hodges has gang connections, then she should resign as mayor.  If they can't, then they should issue a retraction and an on-the-air apology.  (Which begs the question:  Why are the other Twin Cities TV stations silent on this issue?  This isn't just KSTP's problem.)

As it is, KSTP is standing by its reporting.  If the finger gestures are as innocent as everyone seems to believe, then the whole story is something about nothing.  And everything that's wrong with 21st century journalism.

UPDATE (11/18):  KSTP continues to take heat for its report on the finger-pointing, even as they continue to defend it.  A local health insurance provider named U Care has dropped its advertising from the station.  Hubbard got into it with some protesters during a speaking engagement at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, refusing to back down and apologize as his station is being ridiculed from coast to coast.

In all the finger-pointing about the finger pointing, one thing gets lost.  What's going to happen the next time there's a gang-related shooting somewhere in Minneapolis, and either a police officer or an innocent bystander gets killed?  Are they gonna blame this on the mayor, too? Or KSTP?  If that happens, then the comedians can leave the room.