Gov.'s deputy complains about News 13

(KRQE) - To our news viewers:

The office of Governor Bill Richardson is taking strong exception to a story that aired Tuesday night on News 13 at 10. In that report, News 13's Dave Bohman told you that, after a press conference about jobs coming to Belen, the Governor left abruptly and ignored our attempt to question him about a grand jury investigation that's now underway. ( See the report and video of Richardson leaving the press conference ). On Wednesday, his deputy chief of staff, Gibert Gallegos, sent us an e-mail complaining about that report and about our conduct at the press conference. The full text of the resulting e-mail exchange is below. It's very self-explanatory.

In the not-too-distant future, News 13 will publish a statement of the professional values that we intend to live by. That's a work in progress. It is very likely that you will see the following two values contained in that document: our intent to hold the powerful accountable, and our intent to hold ourselves accountable to you, our viewers. In that spirit, we offer the full text of our e-mail exchange with Mr. Gallegos below. And we invite you to let us know your opinions about how you think we're doing on our Contact Us page . We will read every e-mail, and respond personally to many of them. We look forward to hearing from you.

Forrest Carr
News Director
KRQE/KASA
13 Broadcast Plaza SW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
(505) 764-5296
forrest.carr@krqe.com

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From: Gallegos, Gilbert, GOV [mailto:Gilbert.Gallegos@state.nm.us]
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 11:28 AM
To: Forrest Carr
Cc: Paul Burt; Dave Bohman
Subject: Complaint about story

Mr. Carr,

I want to register a complaint about Dave Bohman's story and the deceitful tactics he used at the Governor's news conference yesterday.

First, I realize you want to promote your station and your reporters. But it was dishonest to portray the story the way you did. After taking several questions about the subject of the news conference, the Governor chose to end it. As he left, two reporters -- not Dave Bohman -- shouted out questions on another issue. Dave had a hand-held microphone, and he may have spoken into that. But he did not make an effort to get the Governor's attention following the news conference, contrary to your news report.

In any case, the Governor chose not to answer questions other than those related to the news conference. When Dave and another reporter requested a one-on-one interview with the Governor, I told both reporters that the Governor would not comment on the issue. I said that I released a statement in August on this issue, and that nothing has changed since I first released that statement. I told them I was happy to provide that statement to them. They agreed. When I returned and handed the statement to both reporters, Dave asked me why nobody would go on camera to address this issue. I noticed that he was hiding the hand-held microphone, so rather than answer his question, I turned and walked away. Obviously, I did not know that his colleague, who acted like he was putting his camera away, actually had it rolling on me. It's your prerogative to use that footage and call it news. But it is unprofessional and dishonest.

Several media outlets reported that the Governor refused to answer questions about this issue. That's fine. But they were not dishonest about their news gathering.

Gilbert Gallegos
Deputy Chief of Staff
Office of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
(office) 505-476-2217
(mobile) 505-[redacted]
gilbert.gallegos@state.nm.us

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From: Forrest Carr [mailto:Forrest.Carr@krqe.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 11:59 AM
To: Gallegos, Gilbert, GOV
Cc: Paul Burt; Dave Bohman; Bill Anderson; Dick Knipfing; Iain Munro
Subject: RE: Complaint about story

Dear Mr. Gallegos:

Based on what you are telling me here, I don't see any proof or even a hint of anything deceptive. You imply in one sentence that the Governor didn't hear Dave's question. If that were true and it were simply a matter of the Governor not hearing the question, then it would be easy to make amends, apologize, and give him another opportunity to speak with us and address this issue. But then you immediately follow up with a statement that the Governor deliberately chose not to answer questions of the nature Mr. Bohman was trying to ask. And you further follow up by saying that the Governor will not be granting one on one interviews on this subject, either. Ipso facto, the Governor is ignoring interview questions on this issue, exactly as we reported. I don't see that any retraction, correction or apology is necessary. If I'm missing something, I'd be happy to discuss this further.

Nor do I see that an apology is necessary for having our camera rolling during Mr. Bohman's attempt to question you on this issue. I don't

see that your accusation of dishonesty is supported by the facts. The camera was not hidden, nor was the microphone. I assure you we were attempting no deception. You state yourself that you spotted both the camera and the microphone and walked away for that specific reason. That is your choice. However, I would remind you that you are a public official, and that this was a public event to which the media were invited. You may assume in the future that if our cameras and microphones are present, they will be in use. Our purpose is not to embarrass you. However, as a matter of philosophy, we believe public officials have a duty to speak publicly about the public's business. The level of access we get in pursuit of a response from those in power will be a feature of our reporting, as it was last night. And as a practical matter, what would have been the harm of answering Mr. Bohman's question? I believe our viewers would like to hear from the Governor, or at very least from his staff, face to face, that nothing inappropriate is going on or has gone on. A short, two-month-old written statement is a cold substitute for that.

We do want you to feel you were treated fairly, and it is important that we get the facts straight at all times. As news professionals, we have one thing in common with the officials we cover: we are beholden to the public. We believe in holding ourselves accountable to the public for our conduct, and to the people we cover. If you feel you were not treated fairly, we are open to follow-up reports to give you another opportunity to express your views on the subject of our reporting and/or our conduct and our treatment of you. If at any time we get the facts wrong and need to make a correction, retraction, or apology, we stand ready to do that. If you feel this story warrants any of the above, or if you'd like to discuss this further, please give me a call. My direct line is (505) 764-5296.

Sincerely,

Forrest Carr
News Director
KRQE/KASA
13 Broadcast Plaza SW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
(505) 764-5296

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From: Gallegos, Gilbert, GOV [mailto:Gilbert.Gallegos@state.nm.us]
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 12:25 PM
To: Forrest Carr
Cc: Paul Burt; Dave Bohman; Bill Anderson; Dick Knipfing; Iain Munro
Subject: RE: Complaint about story

I did not ask for a correction or an apology, nor would I expect one from you. I said quite clearly that you chose to treat the incident as news, which you are free to do.

I told Mr. Bohman that I did not want to say anything on camera and that I would provide him with a statement. He agreed, and when I returned, he attempted to hide the fact that he was running the camera and he attempted to hide the microphone. All perfectly legal. But it's dishonest and unprofessional. And given your defense of his actions, I will anticipate the same sort of tactics in the future from your station.

Gilbert Gallegos
Deputy Chief of Staff
Office of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
(office) 505-476-2217
(mobile) 505-[redacted]
gilbert.gallegos@state.nm.us

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From: Forrest Carr
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 12:51 PM
To: 'Gallegos, Gilbert, GOV'
Subject: RE: Complaint about story

Mr. Gallegos, if you took anything Mr. Bohman said as a agreement not to capture images of you on camera or as an agreement to stop asking you questions on camera, we regret the misunderstanding. Our reporting is always on the record unless we make a specific agreement to the contrary, and that includes use of camera and microphone, and any other forms of communication, such as this e-mail exchange. If you had a different impression yesterday, then we do apologize for any part we may have played in that miscommunication. However, I say it again: neither Mr. Bohman nor his photojournalist partner attempted to hide either the camera or the microphone. We only adopt such tactics under special conditions -- and if we had been attempting to hide the camera or microphone, I assure you, we would have been successful. Further, we would have revealed our use of a hidden camera to our news audience. But you yourself say that this alleged "attempt" was unsuccessful, and that you knew the camera and microphone were in use, that you were not deceived, and that you conducted yourself accordingly. In my view, your own statement contradicts your accusation.

As I think I made clear in my first response, the "tactics" you can count on News 13 to employ in the future will include persistence in asking public officials to publicly discuss the public's business, reporting on the level of response that we get from those in power, holding ourselves accountable to the public and to those we cover for our reporting and professional conduct, and offering follow-up coverage anytime anyone feels they have been treated unfairly or that we didn't get the facts straight. Regarding