Did KABC’s Doug McIntyre Cross the Red Line?

For the record, I also enjoy KPCC’s Larry Mantle. These two gentlemen are not afraid to ask challenging questions of their guests and do not hesitate to follow-up when the answers miss the point. 

Therefore, it is very disappointing when a guest appears to receive special treatment. 

Such is the case whenever McIntyre interviews City Controller and mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel. 

Could it have anything to do with his business relationship with Greuel’s husband, or with Greuel herself? 

Almost anyone who has followed local politics knows the connection between them, but I would dare say the vast majority of his listeners and readers have been in the dark – and may still be. It was not until recently that McIntyre very openly and clearly disclosed it in both the Daily News and on KABC. 

He claims he has mentioned it on his show, but this is an election year and he needs to be mindful of reminding his audience during his interviews with the mayoral candidates. 

I’ve questioned his kid glove treatment of Wendy before.   

Disclosure only goes so far. A journalist promising a candidate a public favor crosses the line in any event.

But that’s what happened on Monday morning, May 6th, when McIntyre interviewed Greuel.

Greuel whined about not receiving an answer from her opponent Eric Garcetti concerning Measure B (the controversial solar initiative her friends in the IBEW backed in 2009).

She claimed Garcetti blocked a hearing on the measure prior to the election and asked McIntyre if he would ask her opponent why he may have done so. Garcetti is scheduled to appear on his show before too long. Doug agreed to do so in a heartbeat.

So is he now Greuel’s surrogate for John Shallman?

Why didn’t McIntyre question Greuel about her support of Measure B and the cash her campaign received from the IBEW when she ran for controller the same year?

Here’s what he said in his Daily News column of 11/10/2009:

Nearly every elected official endorsed Measure B without knowing what it would cost to the nearest billion. People who should have known better, like council members Wendy Greuel and Greig Smith, cheered it on. Eventually, Smith feebly backpedaled, saying had he known the real costs he wouldn’t have voted to put Measure B on the ballot. That’s leadership. 

That, my friends, is the closest McIntyre has ever come to publicly criticizing Greuel. You would think he would have recalled such a rare instance during last Monday’s interview. 

Will he act on Greuel’s request and question Garcetti? Will he allow Garcetti the same privilege, although it would be too little, too late given that the election is just around the corner? 

The ball is in Doug’s court.

(Paul Hatfield is a CPA and serves as Treasurer for the Neighborhood Council Valley Village.  He blogs at Village to Village, contributes to CityWatch and can be reached at: [email protected]) –cw

CityWatch

Vol 11 Issue 38

Pub: May 10, 2013