WJCT, the lackluster PBS affiliate in Jacksonville, Florida, deprived its viewers of recorded three minute statements from Faye Armitage and incumbent John Mica in the race for the gerrymandered 7th Congressional District seat, running 225 miles from Ponte Vedra Beach through five counties to the Orlando suburbs.
WJCT scheduled its taping at the same time as PBS Affilliate WMFE in Orlando had a taped debate between Professor Armitage and Mr. Mica.
WJCT refused to reschedule the taping and refused to return phone messages from Professor Armitage In its broadcast and rebroadcast of the canned interviews, WJCT merely said that Professor Armitage and Mr. Mica were "not available." They were unavailable because WJCT ignored the laws of physics -- two busy candidates can't be in two PBS studios simultaneously, one in Orlando and one in Jacksonville.
Why didn't WJCT just air the WMFE debate? Taciturn WJCT isn't talking.
Instead, WJCT ran nothing. How indescribably inept and offensive. By leaving out the 7th District race, WJCT "tilts" and favors Mica, the 16-year incumbent, whose head-butting of an ABC news cameraman, chauvinistic support of President Bush and sponsorship of earmarks for his campaign contributors are rightly under fire (along with Mica's support of offshore oil drilling off Florida's coasts).
Remedy: WJCT must run the WHFE debate and carry links from its website, or its license renewal should be strictly scrutinized for lack of public service.`
WJCT has also apparently canceled its Jacksonville Week in Review Program after some nine years, improving in recent years after several years of being an all-white good-ole-boy affair.
Does WJCT get the booby prize among all PBS affiliates for incompetence?
Will PBS higherups act?
Stay tuned.
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