TV reporter confronts gay activist that she felt disrespected Reagan-WOW!

[wndycty]

Defending Reagan, Forgetting Her Job
http://chicagoreader.com/hottype/index.html
-snip-
Garcia continued writing: "I mourn the president the way he mourned these men, women and children -- with silence. May God forgive him, I can't. Rick Garcia." Then he went on his way.

Staley says, "I thought I'd sign right below him. I wanted to read what he wrote first. Oh my gosh! He totally defamed Ronald Reagan about his having no stand on the AIDS situation and HIV and all that. It was very cruel. It was inappropriate, and it made no sense whatsoever that he would do that. I was very incensed. I loved Ronald Reagan!"

It's not something she wants to discuss in any detail, but she says that over the years her grandparents, parents, and husband have given Reagan "a lot of support." She fully shares their devotion. "I turned the page," she says. "I said, 'I'm not signing on that page.' I wrote my thing, and the photographer wrote his thing. As we were getting ready to leave we saw a security guard walking up, and the photographer mentioned it to him. He said, 'Some guy wrote something defamatory.' You know, you don't write hate messages in a public book."

Just then, Garcia happened to walk back into the rotunda. He saw a guard, a TV reporter, and a cameraman gathered at the memory book. He heard the guard say, "Was it the guy with two kids?" and the reporter respond, "No. It's signed 'Rick Garcia.'" He headed toward them.
-snip-

Meet:Julie Staley


Julie Staley is the First News at Five anchor here at WICS-TV.

She comes to NewsChannel 20 from St. Louis, MO where she was the morning anchor at KDNL-TV.
-snip-

She was crowned Miss Majorette of Illinois in 1993 after fifteen years as an accomplished competitive baton twirler. She is a member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Springfield and enjoys singing and volunteering for church and community efforts.

Julie is married to Mark Staley, great-grandson of the Chicago Bears original owner, A.E. Staley.
-end-

http://www.wics.com/news/bios/heil.shtml

ON EDIT: I just noticed this is a SINCLAIR station

[ithacan]

1. Julie Staley is a brownshirt, a shock trooper for the extreme right

this is EXACTLY the kind of person who is a foot soldier for extremists and authoritarians who want to take over this country.

Julie Stacey is doing her part to crush dissent, to terrorize anyone who does not toe the right wing line, to silence the truth about Reagan and all the other right wing extremists and the damage they've done to this country.

She should be ashamed of herself.

[smirkymonkey]

2. Oooooh! Well, if she's an accomplished baton twirler

it would be hard to dismiss her point of view!

What a stupid f**ing Stepford hag.

[blackcat77]

3. Interesting....

She certainly does have the right to her beliefs, but when she's on the job as a reporter, she also has the responsibility to maintain objectivity and to not become bigger than the story she's trying to document. Clearly she failed in both respects here. And if a liberal reporter had confronted a Freeper, I'd say the same thing.

[bluestateguy]

4. Looks like your typical media whole

[Sandpiper]

5. I had no idea it was the job of news reporters

To defend the honor of Ronald Reagan.

[playahata1]

13. They gave up all pretense of objectivity years ago.

Not that I was any hot stuff as a reporter, but I am glad I got out of (print) journalism when I did.

[calimary]

20. Hey, guess what? It's NOT. The job is to be OBJECTIVE.

Like Sgt. Friday used to say on "Dragnet," JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM.

Geraldo Rivera was one of the original sinners in that regard, putting himself and his opinions into a story. And, gee whiz, look where he is now.

[xchrom]

6. aids, el salvador, guatemala, homeless people, etc

damn sure are a lot of reasons to dislike reagan.

[Taverner]

7. I sent a letter to the station

About Julie Staley's unprofessional behavior.

I think we all should :)

[calimary]

17. Good!

KICK!

[MattPSU]

8. Her maiden name is "Heil?"

seems appropriate somehow!

[Warren DeMontague]

10. jinx!

[AntiCoup2K4]

24. If the name fits, wear it. And it would seem she does

SIEG JULIA!!

[newyawker99]

25. Hi MattPSU!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Nice Middle Name

"I signed the book as Julia Heil Staley, someone who loved Ronald Reagan."

How appropriate.

[indepat]

19. Sounds like Ms. Heil Staley adored the Gipper maybe second only to the

fabulously objective Peggy Noonan.

[playahata1]

11. Local newscasters are among the WORST offenders in the dissemination

of RW views. They are like this woman -- nothing but cheerleaders for Bushco. The anchors are always injecting their (RW) opinions in their little chatty moment after they cut away from the story. Local news is just another little god in the machine before whom I refuse to bow.

Could it be that, since it is "local" news, they feel they must be "sensitive" to the needs and feelings of the (conservative) community from whom they hope to get the highest possible ratings?

[Cat Atomic]

12. I see a job at Fox News in this woman's future.

[calimary]

14. Contact info:

An NBC Affiliate

ABOUT US

First Broadcast: September 30, 1953
First Telecast: World Series Baseball Classic
Owner: Sinclair Broadcast Group
Network Affiliation: NBC
Tower Height: 1,440 Feet Above Ground
Studios: 2680 East Cook Street
Springfield, IL 62707

Phone Numbers:
217-753-5620 -or- 800-263-9720
News Direct Line: 217-753-5656

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Business: 217-753-8177
Engineering: 217-522-6720
News: 217-753-5681
Programming: 217-522-6720
Promotions: 217-522-6720
Traffic: 217-753-5679
Sales: 217-241-0426

Champaign Station:
250 South Country Fair Drive
Champaign, IL 61821
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

General Manager: Jack Connors

General Sales Manager: Johnny Faith

Local Sales Manager: Steve Cramblit

News Director: Susan Finzen

Business Manager: Jeff Schlindwein

Production Manager: Mark Dempster

Promotions Manager: Mark Wilson

Chief Engineer: John Wamsley

Operations Manager: Jim Waldeck

National Sales Manager: Cindy Larsen

Traffic Manager: Gina Frawley

Human Resource Manager: Alaina Marx




E-MAIL ADDRESSES

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[wndycty]

15. kick

:kick:

[calimary]

16. Here's the email I just sent - to news AND to programming:

Gentlepeople:

I ran across an item in the Chicago Reader (Hot Type) and was dismayed to read about the way your anchor, Julie Staley, reacted to a fellow at the Reagan exhibit. He was exercising his right to free speech, and was doing so in a far more contemplative, INFORMED, and discreet manner than your station's representative did.

Evidently, Ms. Staley isn't old enough to remember the Reagan Administration. I am. I still have family in and around Chicago and other parts of Illinois, but I've lived in California for decades, and remember Reagan's days not just as president but as governor here. EVEN TODAY, you can still have to walk carefully through Santa Monica so you don't step on one of the homeless here - many of whom were first turned out on the street because of callous Reagan budget cuts.

Thousands of AIDS sufferers died, their affliction neglected, primarily because Reagan, with the bully-pulpit he occupied for so many years, and his easy access to the media (plus the BEST medical minds in the country, if not the world), refused to address the crisis. He refused EVEN TO SPEAK about AIDS until 1987. How much time, fundraising opportunities, high-level endorsements, consciousness-raising, AND lives, were all lost because of Reagan's refusal, and lack of leadership on this issue? Elizabeth Glazer, her daughter Ariel, and many others, including a few friends and colleagues of mine, are dead because of that neglect, leaving family members and loved ones behind whose grief for them is EVERY BIT as legitimate as the grief the Reagan family now suffers.

Mr. Garcia's objections were far more eloquently, and thoughtfully, even politely, expressed than were those of many other Reagan opponents. Certainly he acquitted himself much more respectfully in public than Ms. Staley did. And, by the way, she WAS representing her station, even though she claims to have reacted as a private citizen. Once your face is on TV, and you seek thus to enhance your reputation and your public persona, your claims to being a private citizen are affected, and minimized. I wonder if Ms. Staley would go as easily on other celebrities who speak their minds in forums other than where they earn their livelihood, if she didn't like their comments either.

Ms. Staley, if you fancy yourself a news and information broker, you should at least do some research, and know your American history. When I was still a journalist myself (now retired), I tried at all times to leaven my off-mike and off-camera opinions with more sensitivity, not to mention a knowledge and grasp of the facts. You supposedly inform people for a living. There is no excuse for you to be ill-informed. Your ignorance and intolerance reflects poorly on you, AND on your station, whether you like it or not.

Or perhaps you're experimenting with some of that "compassionate conservative" stuff we keep hearing so much about?

Sincerely,

(me)

[oldcoot]

28. She looks old enough to remember Reagan

but she acts like a twelve-year-old. Calling someone a "loser" because you disagree with his/her opinion is very immature.

I like your letter and hope that you get a reasonable response.

[terrya]

18. Rick Garcia is a good man. Julie Staley is a twat.

She oblivously has never read any history of the Reagan Adminstration and its blase reaction to the AIDS epidemic...that is, until 1987.

Julie Staley doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about. Par for the course for a right winger.

[wndycty]

21. Tru dat!

:kick:

[terrya]

23. Gay and lesbians in Illinois owe a big debt of gratitude to Rick Garcia.

Rick Garcia fan here. :-)

[greekspeak]

22. How EVER do we handle this librul media?

All us con-survtives need to find some way to shut up these sorts of librul lies. Libruls in the media are dustroyin the foundation our grate nation was builded on. (sarcasm and bad grammar off)

Isn't Limpballs looking for a new wife these days? This charmer should make him happy.

[ikojo]

26. Springfield Illinois is Republican ville

I know because I grew up there. Thankfully I escaped in 1987...to St Louis, while not perfect it is WAY better than Springfield, IL.

Springfield is very much Bush country.

I don't understand why they love Bush. There aren't really many living wage jobs in that area. You either work for the state, one of the hospitals or in the service sector (Wal-Mart, the mall, or the many other retail establishments going up along Route 4).

Channel 20 SUCKS as a TV station. The news is amateurish at best. A high school media department could do better.

[Hailtothechimp]

29. I'm with you on the Springfield thing.

I grew up there in the 70s and 80s, and escaped the first chance I could. What a shithole place. Chicago is only 4 hours away by car, but it's light years away culturally. Just the way I like it.

All the farmland has become urban sprawl. They keep expanding further and further away from the Lincoln sites, which with the state government is their bread and butter. Oh, and I forgot about the state fair! Yee haw.

[ikojo]

30. I hate, loath and despise Springfield, IL SO much that

I have told my siblings that should I die before any of them, I am to be buried in St Louis. I don't even want my REMAINS in that crap hole piece of real estate.

0h yeah, the State Fair...breeding ground for mullets! My nephew, who has the misfortune of living in that sink hole, went mullet hunting at the State Fair a few years ago and did not lack for finds. One of his pics was featured on mulletsgalore.com.

I see that your avatar is the Cubs. I, too, am a Cubs fan. I wonder if that has anything to do with not liking the crap hole known as Lincoln Land? Wise enough to be a Cubs fan and smart enough to leave Springfield ASAP!

Funny that the area is known as Lincoln Land considering the level of animosity between the white citizens and black citizens of the area. Thus the urban sprawl that has gobbled up farmland south and west. Historically Springfield has not known positive race relations. There was a huge race riot in the town in 1908, http://courses.atlas.uiuc.edu/SOC/SOC396JPH/c0/raceriots.htm#1908again

[Hailtothechimp]

31. Funny how that race riot gets overlooked.

I became a Cubs fan in part because Springfield is Cardinals territory, and in part because of Jack Brickhouse calling the games on WGN every day. On some level, I probably live here now because of the Cubs.

[CheshireCat]

27. WTF!

She actually felt the need to inform a security guard about his comments?

Unbelievable!

How could this "reporter" think that openly expressing disgust for Ronald Reagan made Mr. Garcia someone who needed to be watched by security?

We're in a parallel universe - that's it!

[donhakman]

32. I Hate Hate Speech

"Mourning in silence" and "may God forgive him" is clearly hate speech that deserves arrest and interrogation. Just think if Reagan were alive, those comments are a direct threat on his life. Just because Ron is dead does not diminish the threat to his eternal life.

Rick Garcia should go to a Federal prison where he can not damage the most Glorious President in history with his hate.

Besides Rick Garcia sounds gay and would love prison.

signed...
Betty Lou Sweetcheeks
(runner up of the greater Dallas 2001 baton twirling championship)