Affordable housing expert slighted by KPBS?

Tom Karlo, general manager for San Diego's public broadcasting network KPBS, stands by his staff's decision to rescind an invitation for affordable-housing advocate Richard Lawrence to appear on the station's Midday Edition program on August 19 after producers discovered Lawrence's support of and affiliation with local attorney and lead counsel for San Diegans for Open Government, Cory Briggs.

Because of a lawsuit?

San Diegans for Open Government is currently suing KPBS as well as their affiliate iNewsource over what the lawsuit claims to be a sweetheart deal between the public station and the nonprofit news source. The lawsuit was filed months into iNewsource's year-long investigation into Briggs, his marriage, and many of the lawsuits he filed on behalf of San Diegans for Open Government.

KPBS' invitation

As first reported by the San Diego Free Press, Lawrence was contacted on August 17 by KPBS producer Megan Burke with an invite to appear on the station to discuss San Diego's shortage of affordable housing.

Lawrence, a retired minister and civil rights activist who marched in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, serves on the city's Affordable Housing Task Force; he also co-chairs the Affordable Housing Coalition. Lawrence was integral in lobbying city officials to recognize the need for more affordable housing units in San Diego.

In August 2003, the city council designated the shortage as a "state of emergency." That designation was recently renewed for the 288th time since 2003. Because of his work, city councilmembers declared November 10, 2013, as “Richard Lawrence Day" in San Diego.

Lawrence was more than willing to appear on Midday Edition.

"I can talk about affordable housing until the cows come home," said Lawrence during a August 24 interview.

The welcome mat from KPBS was pulled out from under him, said Lawrence, shortly after conducting a pre-broadcast interview with Burke. During the interview, he "mentioned that he was a bold supporter of Cory Briggs and an officer in San Diegans for Open Government."

According to a press release released by Lawrence the following day, a few hours later Burke called him back to inform him he was no longer needed on the panel.

"Later that same day a call came from Ms. Burke saying that KPBS has decided [my] participation was not necessary and constituted a 'conflict of interest' because SanDOG has a lawsuit pending against NPR's local station."

"It felt like retribution," said Lawrence. "Affordable housing has no connection whatsoever to [San Diegans for Open Government's] lawsuit. It's not me that is suing the station. It's just ridiculous. Is there some policy in place at KPBS, a publicly funded radio/TV station, that disqualifies people who support certain causes or people from appearing on unrelated programming? If so, I'd like to see it."

Murtaza Baxamusa, housing advocate and director of planning and development for the San Diego Building Trades Family Housing Corporation, filled in for Lawrence on the August 19 program.

KPBS' response

KPBS general manager Tom Karlo says there is not a formal policy in place, other than to avoid any conflicts of interest.

"There is no policy regarding guests who appear on our news programs," Karlo wrote in a August 25 email. "We maintain our editorial independence and can change or modify our segments or coverage depending on the news cycle or how the story develops.

"Mr. Lawrence is a boardmember of San Diegans for Open Government — an entity that is suing KPBS’ business partner iNewsource and [San Diego State University Research Foundation] and [California State University].

"We haven’t banned anybody. But as a journalistic organization we felt we had to disclose the lawsuit in the interview and it would have distracted from the topic of affordable housing."

Links to Reader’s coverage of iNewsource investigation:

April 23, 2015

June 2, 2015