UPDATE: (DEC. 17)
The DFL SCC will review the proposed resolution to rescind KSTP's media credentials at its next meeting on Feb. 7.
Party Affairs Director David Weinlick said the resolution was placed on the committee agenda by a vote of the committee, but the vote should not be construed as support. "This isn't a vote in favor or against," he said.
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The DFL chair of Senate District 65 has a few choice words for KSTP, the television news station that aired a controversial story on Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and her decision to go door-knocking with a felon.
In fact, SD 65 Chair Megan Thomas is looking to yank the news station's media credentials and ban KSTP from all DFL events statewide.
The goal of the North Minneapolis door-knocking campaign was to promote prisoner re-entry into society, but the Minneapolis police union and a KSTP reporter raised questions about whether the mayor was somehow promoting a violent street gang by flashing her index finger in a pointer sign, which was captured by photo. On social media, the hash tag #Pointergate was born.
Since the KSTP story aired, journalists, politicians and even nationally-televised comedian Jon Stewart have called on KSTP to retract it, calling it shoddy, agenda-driven reporting. The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement on Nov. 19.
There's even a Pointergate.org website.
KSTP's owner Stanley Hubbard strongly defended the news story in a recent public appearance, and the station shows little interest in backtracking. They've interviewed cops, retired cops and national experts on gangs to prove their *point*.
Thomas is now calling for KSTP to lose its media credentials at DFL events. The party's State Central Committee meets Saturday, and she's informed them she'll be bringing the following resolution forward:
"Be it resolved that KSTP News does not receive credentials for any DFL event until such time that they apologize for their misleading and racist report that has become known as #pointergate."
Megan Thomas
Chair, SD 65
No word yet on whether the resolution will pass. The DFL's State Central Committee is the party's governing body between State Conventions, which are held every two years. The SCC meets three or four times yearly.
Senate District 65 runs north-south from Maryland Avenue down to the northern edges of West St. Paul, and Snelling Avenue west east to Childs Road.
The post Senate District 65 DFL Chair to KSTP: I'll ban you for #Pointergate! appeared first on City Hall Scoop.
