Liberal Media Bias of the Day

Emmy Award-winning TV anchor/reporter Doug McKelway worked for WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, for nearly nine years. No more. Last week, he was fired--seemingly for being insufficiently liberal.

As reported in Friday's Washington Post:

McKelway was placed on indefinite suspension in late July after his run-in with ABC7's news director and general manager, Bill Lord. In a letter to McKelway this week, the station said it was terminating his contract immediately, citing insubordination and misconduct.

Amid the ongoing BP oil spill in July, McKelway covered a Capitol Hill demonstration by environmental groups protesting the influence of oil-industry contributions to members of Congress.

In his piece, McKelway said the sparsely attended event attracted protesters "largely representing far-left environmental groups." He went on to say the protest "may be a risky strategy because the one man who has more campaign contributions from BP than anybody else in history is now sitting in the Oval Office, President Barack Obama, who accepted $77,051 in campaign contributions from BP."

After a brief taped segment updating efforts to cap the BP well, McKelway added that the Senate was unlikely to pass "cap-and-trade" legislation this year, because "the Democrats are looking at the potential for huge losses in Congress come the midterm elections. And the last thing they want to do is propose a huge escalation in your electric bill, your utility bill, before then."

Lord took exception to McKelway's reporting and asked to meet with him, according to several station sources who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matter. A shouting match between the two men ensued, leading to McKelway's suspension, sources said.

McKelway's reporting was factually correct. But accuracy is no defense to non-conformity, says Paul Chesser at the American Spectator:

WJLA news director Bill Lord cited "insubordination" and "misconduct" in McKelway's firing. Maybe that was the case, if McKelway's response crossed the line, but the fact is he was called into the boss's office for the type of reporting the formerly mainstream media does all the time.

WJLA, by the way, is owned by Allbritton Communications, which also owns the liberal Politico website (and newspaper). As GayPatriot says, "Pravda is alive and well in our nation’s capital."

(via Berman Post)