Edwards tussles with UNC j-school

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on October 26, 2007 - 7:51am.
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A UNC-Chapel Hill professor says John Edwards' staff tried to kill a student's story.

On the journalism school's Talk Politics blog, retired political reporter Leroy Towns writes that the Edwards' campaign demanded a student journalist take down a video she had posted on YouTube about Edwards' campaign headquarters in Southern Village.

The segment had been produced for the school's Carolina Week television program, but student Carla Babb posted it online as an entry in an MTV contest.

Edwards staffers then tried to convince the professor to kill the story. He declined.

Towns writes the experience was instructive:

The Carolina Week staff learned the importance of standing their ground against a disgruntled source, even when that source is a candidate for president. PR students saw firsthand how a public relations mistake can turn a small non-story into a potential national story. Very instructive.

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Fred

Submitted by Anglico on October 26, 2007 - 6:08pm.

Surely you understand the word "source." Towns, a journalism professor, says that a candidate for president was a source in this story. Whether the campaign is amateur hour or not, that is simply not true.

Yes this is a story, a story that has apparently been fueled by a partisan faculty member.

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Towns

Submitted by Anglico on October 26, 2007 - 6:02pm.

Leroy Towns' career spans more than three decades as a political correspondent, press secretary and chief of staff for U.S. Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas. During his years with Sen. Roberts, Leroy served as Sen. Roberts chief advisor on political and legislative issues, managed eight successful U.S. Congressional campaigns and one successful U.S. Senate campaign, and served as the Senator’s designated staff on the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.

South Now.

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Re: Leroy... Isn't Leroy Towns a Republican Donor?

Submitted by poligirl on October 26, 2007 - 5:46pm.

check out his biography and then cross reference the FEC site. then consider the "not much info with accusation" hit-style journalism and I think it paints a bit of a picture...

just my 2 cents...

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Re: Leroy

Submitted by fredwomble on October 26, 2007 - 1:46pm.

Quote:
------------
There is NO evidence that a candidate for president had anything to do with this story whatsoever. None.
------------

His campaign staffers overreacted to what should be a complete non-story. Their threats merit the additional coverage it will now surely receive. As they are paid representatives of the Edwards campaign, it's immaterial whether the "candidate for president", John Edwards, had anything to do with their actions. Whether it's John Edwards or John Edwards' staffers, it's most certainly a story now. And yet another example of how the Edwards campaign is amateur hour.

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Thanks!

Submitted by Anglico on October 26, 2007 - 1:15pm.

Appreciate the update

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Re: Leroy

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on October 26, 2007 - 1:00pm.

Thanks for asking. We've put in multiple calls to the staffers in question and will report more as this story unfolds.

— RTB 

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Leroy

Submitted by Anglico on October 26, 2007 - 12:26pm.

should say who exactly who "demanded" that he take the video down. Did you bother to ask? Until we know who said what to whom, this story is just another example of sloppy reporting by the N&O and rumor-mongering by an over-the-hill professor.

More to the point, this is complete bull:

The Carolina Week staff learned the importance of standing their ground against a disgruntled source, even when that source is a candidate for president.

There is NO evidence that a candidate for president had anything to do with this story whatsoever. None.

The news-editorial side of the UNC J-School has been on a downward spiral for years. This is a new low.

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