2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumNews Anchor Fired For Accusing IRS Of Targeting Him After Obama Interview
News Anchor Fired For Accusing IRS Of Targeting Him After Obama Interview
Larry Conners, a news anchor for St. Louis station KMOV, was fired after publicly claiming that the IRS targeted him after a somewhat contentious interview with President Obama during the 2012 election. According to The Huffington Post, Conners attempted to walk back his statement, but he was nonetheless let go from KMOV, with a public statement citing Conners appearance of bias that is inconsistent with important journalistic standards.
In the midst of the continuing investigations into the IRS targeting tea party groups during the 2012 election, Conners jumped into the mix with an allegation of his own.
On May 13th, Conners posted the following on Facebook.
I dont accept conspiracy theories, but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me. Can I prove it? At this time, no. But it is a fact that since that April 2012 interview the IRS has been pressuring me.
Mere days later, Conners publicly retracted his statement on the air, but it was not sufficient enough, and his firing was announced in a statement published to KMOVs website.
-snip-
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/news-anchor-fired-for-accusing-irs-of-targeting-him-after-obama-interview/
kairos12
(12,862 posts)FLyellowdog
(4,276 posts)but Faux will probably fix it for him by giving him his own show. I'm still glad he got fired.
Cha
(297,285 posts)got fired from his job instead.
busterbrown
(8,515 posts)Its nuts!
pacalo
(24,721 posts)http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/kmovs-larry-conners-irs-issues-began-before-2012-interview-with-president-obama_b90485
In regard to the Obama interview on which he's blaming his IRS problems, Connors was no more impressive than a Fixed News hatchet man. His bias was obvious. I've never seen Bush treated that way by a U.S. reporter. We had to rely on news from foreign sources half the time to know what was really going on.
LiberalFighter
(50,943 posts)pacalo
(24,721 posts)tblue
(16,350 posts)and anybody else who claims to be a social welfare organization claiming tax-exempt status. All of them. Prove it. The real problem is that the story got spun in one direction only, and nobody pushed back. And they still haven't. I think there probably is justification for extra scrutiny and caution. The Tea Party has hardly conducted itself with concern for anybody's welfare except their corporate masters'. You spit on a black congressman and you want me to grant you what? Tax exemption? Don't make me laugh.
But as for this dude, too bad. I'm just glad there's one news org with a touch of integrity.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)There is even a reward. Here's the link for any members who have knowledge of their groups activity and were wondering what to do about it.
http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/How-Do-You-Report-Suspected-Tax-Fraud-Activity%3F
WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)BlueDemKev
(3,003 posts)I'm not saying this isn't a serious matter, but when assholes like this start falsely claiming to be victims they deserve to be publicly humiliated.
Life Long Dem
(8,582 posts)I'm seeing a lot of that lately.