CHARLESTON CHAMBER FILES COMPLAINT WITH FCC OVER COVERAGE

CHARLESTON -- The Charleston Chamber of Commerce has sent a written complaint to the Federal Communications Commission over a Cape Girardeau television station's news coverage of a near riot on Oct. 23.

In that incident, police fired shots into the air to disperse a crowd of 200 people that had gathered after rumors spread that a black man had been hanged in his cell by police.

Authorities said the inmate, Elmer Johnson, had committed suicide.

Several windows were broken during the protest and shots were fired toward the police station.

But in an Oct. 28 letter to the FCC, Chamber of Commerce President Tom Story said KFVS-TV broadcast a series of "irresponsible and inflammatory news reports that have helped to create a potentially dangerous level of fear and racial tension" in Charleston.

Charleston officials aren't the only ones to complain about KFVS' news coverage in recent months.

On Aug. 19, Dexter Police Chief Rick Walker complained of KFVS' coverage of bomb threats made to several establishments, including nursing homes. The threats proved to be unfounded as no bombs were found.

Walker accused the station of fanning citizen fears. "In my opinion, they took a story that actually wasn't a story and sensationalized it."

But Howard Meagle, KFVS general manager, defended the station's news coverage. Meagle said the station doesn't sensationalize news events.

"By their nature, pictures tell the truth immediately," he said.

Neither the chief of police in Dexter nor anyone with the Charleston Chamber of Commerce have telephoned KFVS officials about their grievances, News Director Mike Beecher said.

In Charleston, civic leaders and city officials have criticized the TV station for describing the recent disturbance as a riot.

But Meagle takes issue with such criticism.

"Our people responded to a report from the Highway Patrol and the police, and they were all describing it as a riot condition," he said.

"There was a problem that occurred, a man died, and we covered it as any other journalistic organization would do, fairly and accurately," Meagle said.

An FCC spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the federal agency generally doesn't intervene in complaints about how a station covered a particular news event.

Charleston civic leaders and city officials charged that the coverage bordered on sensationalism.

The written complaint objected to reporters' references to racial tensions in Charleston.

"Like every community in this nation, Charleston has racial problems, but it also has a long history of black and white people working together to integrate the schools and to resolve problems with very few incidents of violence."

Story said the TV station showed footage of the disturbance over and over again in the days following the incident.

The complaint signed by Story also questioned the broadcast of what it termed "disgruntled views" of black residents, including one man who is awaiting trial on drug and assault charges.

That individual said there would be "more trouble" and that people should stay close to their houses, but the TV reporter made no effort to determine what was meant by that threat, the complaint noted.

"The viewer was left with the impression that another `riot" is imminent, which only can serve to heighten unfounded fears and tensions in our community," Story said.