Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Big questions remain: will WLOS acknowledge this story by reporting on themselves, as so many other responsible media outlets do? As far as I could see at 6 tonight, they let another opportunity slip by.
The other question: Will Charu be prosecuted? Here’s the newspaper story again:
Federal prosecutors Friday reviewed a court transcript in which a WLOS-TV reporter (Cherub Charu) describes prodding a source to smoke marijuana for a news story and referred the case to the Buncombe County district attorney.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Edwards said he sent the case to Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore’s office “for them to handle in whatever manner they deem appropriate.”
Then there’s this from the court proceedings – it’s Edwards, the federal prosecutor, making his case to the judge:
Edwards told Howell at the hearing: “I don’t know where the intersection is between criminal law and the First Amendment, but I’d be surprised if the fact that you’re carrying a TV camera immunizes you from consequences for procuring or inducing the commission of a crime.”
The TV station’s attorney (the same attorney who represents the newspaper) said Charu hasn’t done anything wrong. But I have to agree with Edwards.
It’s against the law to aid or abet someone in the commission of a felony, the felony being the marijuana smoker’s probation violation. Don’t forget here – this guy was thrown back in the slammer over this.
So will Ron Moore, the Buncombe County district attorney, do anything with this? Moore, a guy who relies on a lazy media to stay off his back? Why would he risk wakening a sleeping tiger? We’re guessing it goes nowhere.
But it should. This is the perfect example of what’s wrong with the media today, especially TV news.
This situation only goes to show that news director Tom Loebig provides no leadership in the newsroom. Frank Kracher was the only person in the newsroom that would keep something like this off the air. Charu, her photographer, and Loebig should be held accountable in this situation. It’s an embarrassment to all the hard working people at the station.