Thursday, February 26, 2015

Joplin officials send disapproving message to KOAM reporter's bosses

E-mails obtained by KOAM through a Sunshine Law request show that city officials were not at all pleased with reporter Jordan Aubey's coverage of the $5 million dollar loan from Springfield-based trucking company Prime to former Joplin master developer Wallace-Bajjali.

After Aubey's first report indicated that the city of Joplin may owe money to Prime, public information officer Lynn Onstot sent a February 10 e-mail to Aubey's newsroom bosses, News director Kristi Spencer and news assignment editor Stephanie Marsh, complaining about the veteran reporter's coverage:

Kristi and Stephanie,

City Manager Sam Anselm asked that I forward this to you so you are aware of the occurrence.

I was not present during the interview, however the story that ran did not relate to the original premise of Jordan's request about seeking Prime as a potential developer for Joplin. The story did run was inaccurate and misleading, as Sam's clarification states below. In light of this, and prior incidents similar to this, Sam noted that he will begin recording the interviews he conducts with Jordan.

The city works hard to provide accurate and timely information to the public via news media, as well as other resources, so we appreciate your willingness to help us achieve this goal as we move forward.

Anselm approved the Onstot message to Aubey's bosses, writing "Sounds good," after she sent it to the city manager for his approval.

Aubey's original story had mentioned that Prime could come after the City of Joplin for what it was owed, something which both Anselm and Mayor Michael Seibert told KOAM and the Joplin Globe, which has played a wait-and-see what Jordan Aubey comes up with and then knock it down approach, was not going to happen.

In Aubey's second report on the Joplin/Prime situation, Prime's attorney, Richard Walters, indicated that a lawsuit was indeed a possibility. City officials are in overdrive trying to make sure that does not happen.

The city's approach now appears to be to wait it out until Aubey and KOAM stop running stories or the public loses interest.

In an e-mail, dated February 9, Anselm says simply, "This, too, shall pass."

In his latest report, Aubey reveals that the city has already paid Prime $1 million.
KOAM TV 7

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am guessing that KODE and KSN have not aired any stories about this matter.... I quit watching them after it became so obvious they were controlled by the city and school puppeteers.
Keep up the good work Jordan Aubey!!

Anonymous said...

Classic "control the message". Jordan needs hazard duty pay to challenge anybody connected with the WBJ crowd.

Come on guys, it's called public service for a reason. The public wants to know what goes on with our taxes.

Anonymous said...

Aubey's original story had mentioned that Prime could come after the City of Joplin for what it was owed, something which both Anselm and Mayor Michael Seibert told KOAM and the Joplin Globe, which has played a wait-and-see what Jordan Aubey comes up with and then knock it down approach, was not going to happen.


This sentence hurts my brain.

Anonymous said...

"Joplin officials send disapproving message to KOAM reporter's bosses"


Well they would, wouldn't they?

Anonymous said...

"This, too, shall pass."

What is a sales pitch used by those selling suppositories?

Anonymous said...

Well God forbid a reporter from trying to get to the TRUTH of a matter, regardless of who it may embarrass. Funny thing is the council was " not surprised" when the designated master developer went belly-up ! Sounds like some folks have some explaining to do to the taxpayer's who will ultimately pick up the bill for poor decisions, or irresponsibility of their elected officals. Don't foget, taxpayer's always vote !

Anonymous said...

Mine too!!! Didn't even make sense!!

Anonymous said...

Keep going Jordan! We need your kind and appreciate your work. There is definitely something fishy when the mayor says we don't owe that because we fired WJ so we don't have to pay it. On that note....we owe on a house and 2 cars and might get divorced so we won't owe on them anymore. Lol Don't talk about the law Mr Mayor when you do not know what you are talking about.

Anonymous said...

Globe readers? Here's what it means- Seibert, Anselm, and The Globe said one thing. Jordan Aubey found out the thing they said wasn't true. The trio has been utilizing a wait and see approach, meaning "let's see what Jordan finds out and then we'll deal with it, but until then keep your mouth shut". Clearly, Jordan is sharper than they thought. Get it?

Anonymous said...

He needs to be careful. Look what happened to the auditor. Poor thing. I have been praying for his soul. Speaking out against the wrong people can throw you six feet under. My goodness. Its all very sad.

Anonymous said...

Jordan does need to be careful. This corrupted run city might send some thugs after him.

Anonymous said...

Just want to say Jordan Aubey was doing a reporter's job. Other than Mr. Turner, Jordan appears to be the only one providing any news coverage. Mr. Aubey is too good for this area and I'm sure will be snapped up by a larger market soon. KOAM has done a admirable job. KODE/KSN, however, is nothing more than a promotional/advertising/weather outlet. They didn't even bother to run a crawl about the state auditor. As to the Prime story, because of what happened to the Joplin, city officials need to be more transparent than ever. Sadly that is not going to happen either through deceit or their complete and utter incompetence and stupidity.

Kenen Martinez said...

7:23

Clowns?

While I don't personally agree with Turner on every single point, he's done a fine job of investigative reporting and Jordan Aubey is doing well also.

It's not "clownish" to question he city leaders not to look deeper to see what may be hiding beneath the smooth, sleek veneer. That is how we wound up with Wallace Bajjali, Jan Blaise of the Neosho Fame and countless others. Skepticism, is wise and questioning motivations is as well.

So why do you think we are "clowning" around?

Anonymous said...

Jordan is a class act.

Anonymous said...

Where did this million dollars come from? That's a pretty good chunk of change.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, it'll pass. About like a kidney stone passes. Feeling the pain yet?

Anonymous said...

Please don't be insulting 5:03. We clearly know what it means, however, the grammatical errors alone would give an English professor a headache. As for the Globe, the only thing it's good for is starting a fire. Of course Jordan is smarter than Anshelm and Seibert, that's not hard.

Charles Tarr said...

Small towns have a pecking order and they completely freak out when their reality changes when the “status quo” is threatened. As a construction worker and a Christian Ive gone to help out at disasters and quite often the story line of “small town pulling itself up by the bootstraps, is a complete farce, as the rich of the town try to undermine the flow of aid to the poor of the community. While distributing goods donated from outside of a town’s community, a “mover and shaker” told me not to give a blanket to a man covered in burns, because he lost his home in a fire, not the flood for which the items were donated. Meanwhile the media is promoting the fake crap manufactured by small town America. Where did all the jobs go? Fake science deemed it too dangerous and then flooded the country with illegals and narcotics. Satan is the God of this world and youre not a good Christian if youre not being persecuted. Good job.