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TV station’s story violated commonly accepted journalistic ethics

What happens when journalists don’t make the minimal effort to get a story right?

In the case of a former Medford, OR residential property owner, there’s no need to speculate – an amateurish TV news story indirectly led to him paying thousands of dollars to clear his name as well as that of the corporation of which he is president.

The story also inspired several people on Facebook to attack his company and even make threats to his physical safety.

In Nov. 2013, KDVR NewsWatch 12, located in Medford, broadcast a news story that slandered and libeled Kevin Curtin, president of Real Property Group Inc. (RPG), as well as his corporation. NewsWatch 12’s staff seemed to go out of its way to paint Curtin as some sort of character out of a Charles Dickens’ novel, letting little children freeze in a poorly heated home.

One big problem – almost nothing that NewsWatch 12 broadcast was actually true.

RPG has ample documentation – including evidence unwittingly provided by its fiercest critic, a Medford community service officer – to prove both the Medford Police Department and Newswatch 12 repeatedly lied about RPG and Curtin.

But no one at the station that broadcast the blatantly false story apparently has lost sleep over what it did. NewsWatch 12 has never bothered to apologize for its poor work and both men involved in smearing RPG and Curtin are still employed as broadcast journalists.

RPG, however, is not satisfied with NewsWatch 12’s flippant attitude toward the truth and is demanding an on-air apology from the station for its story, which played a major role in damaging RPG’s reputation, compelling it to close up its residential rental business in Medford.

Background

What led up to the news story? It all began on May 23, 2013, when Scott Niezen, a Medford community service officer charged with code enforcement, issued eight citations to RPG regarding a home the company was leasing to Chelsea Taimane Carpenter, and her children, at 2762 Crater Lake Ave.

RPG notes that prior to contacting the city, Carpenter had never called nor wrote letters to RPG asking for any repairs related to her complaints. When contacted on her Facebook page, Carpenter acknowledged being contacted by RPG for this story, but did not respond to further requests for comment.

The woman’s male partner, Kentrell Collins, also lived there, even though he was not on the lease. Curtin says Collins claimed he did not live there, but his company’s own investigation revealed Collins was receiving mail at the residence.

RPG also obtained documentation from the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles indicating he used 2762 Crater Lake as his home address. RPG also learned that Collins was listed as a tenant in a Medford Police Department report.

Collins did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Niezen goes to war

After visiting the Crater Lake home in May, Niezen did not give RPG the requisite 30 days to fix the alleged code violations before being cited, but demanded immediate compliance, which Curtin says was a departure from Medford Police Department policy. Niezen went one step further, attacking Curtin in writing in a May 23, 2013, police report:

“Being as how Mr. Curtin has been an ongoing problem for (code enforcement) I elected to cite him immediately for the violations.”

There’s just one problem with this statement, Curtin says – he can’t understand why he was an “ongoing” problem.

“To this date, I don’t know why he considered me this, as I had only dealt with him once before and recalled our encounter as cordial,” Curtin says. “So, a city employee libeled me in an official city document and never told me why.”

Curtin also points out that as Niezen built his case, he didn’t even bother filling out a number of the citations he made, and, as his harassment of RPG continued, Niezen relied on the tenant telling him about certain alleged code violations, over the phone, rather than inspecting the property himself, a violation of the most elemental standards of code enforcement.

Despite Curtin’s bewilderment at why Niezen cited his company without properly documenting the reasons, and also why he specifically named him as an “ongoing problem,” RPG nonetheless took several steps to resolve Niezen’s citations. By mid-June of 2013 RPG thought the issues had been resolved. But then one day in November Curtin flipped on the TV to watch the report that would change his life forever, as well as the reputation of his company.

Enter NewsWatch 12

Without first notifying RPG, Carpenter made more complaints to the city about her rental, and Niezen came back to inspect on Nov. 11. This time, however, the officer brought a reporter from the TV station KDVR NewsWatch 12.

As of early April 2019, readers could still see the report on YouTube, but it appeared to have been removed by mid-April, possibly in response to inquiries from RPG to Newswatch 12 about why the station never did a follow-up on its initial story.

The one and only report KDVR broadcast about this case painted Curtin as a heartless landlord who was going to allow the tenant and her children to suffer from a cold winter because RPG had not fixed her heating – even though RPG’s visit the next day to her home determined the heat was actually working.

When reading through this, keep in mind that Niezen never performed the standard re-inspection he was supposed to within 30 days of the May 23 inspection, and waited almost half a year before returning to the Crater Lake residence.

Anatomy of a smear

“The Medford city attorney’s office is accusing a local landlord of forcing families – some with toddlers – to go without heat during the winter …” Anchor Brian Morton solemnly intones in the Nov. 11, 2013 broadcast, before adding that RPG has a “history with code enforcement,” without ever explaining what that history is.

Morton also identifies RPG as “Center Point based” when it’s actually located in Lake Oswego.

The report then moves to Reporter Justin Bourke standing across the street from the Crater Lake home. He states that the “entire home” at Crater Lake property is heated by a “single space heater” and that “code enforcement says that morally this is the worst case of landlord neglect they’ve ever seen.”

Worst case? Nowhere in Bourke’s report does he state how long Niezen has been employed by Medford, which might give a clue as to how well versed he was in the city’s rental property issues, nor exactly what made this “the worst case of landlord neglect they’ve ever seen.” It’s not clear if Bourke checked out any other cases of “landlord neglect” for comparison, or is parroting what he’s been told by the authorities. He then moves on to essentially try – as well as convict – RPG and Curtin in public by insinuation rather than substantiation.

What happens next amounts to “outright lying,” Curtin says.  

For example, one segment of the report shows a man shaking a kitchen sink faucet, causing it to wobble. Niezen told NewsWatch 12 that RPG had ignored previous citations, including that for the sink.

However, Niezen’s own notes, dated June 25, 2013, state that the sink had been fixed. So, who made the faucet wobbly after June 25?

Not to mention the report also shows a bowl under the sink’s pipe, implying the pipe was leaking. However, an RPG inspection the very next day showed the bowl was dry and actually contained dirt, so it clearly had not been emptied in a while. This begs the question, what exactly was Bourke’s intent in showing the pipe?

The report also contains a segment in which whoever was operating the camera filmed one of the tenant’s toddlers moving toward an exposed electrical outlet. Niezen’s own report indicates he was unaware of the outlet until that day, and no one ever informed Curtin prior to the broadcast. Niezen even writes in his report that “Kentrell Collins showed me (the outlet) that was behind a chair that his infant daughter located.” So interestingly, the child, not the adults, discovered the outlet, according to Niezen.

In effect, Curtin says, both the news team and Niezen endangered a child’s life in order to claim that RPG had neglected to fix the outlet. In fact, the news report was the first time RPG had even heard of the problem, he says.

Kentrell Collins, children’s savior

Collins provides the story its most grotesque and irresponsible moment when the little girl is seen running toward an exposed electrical outlet. Collins’ arm is seen pulling the child away from the outlet right before the child almost touches it.

The fact that the outlet was actually covered by a piece of plywood prior to the filming of the report AND was located behind a large chair is never stated. One of the men involved in this story apparently moved the chair so the outlet could be accessed, but that doesn’t stop Bourke from making this ridiculous statement: “While Tai Carpenter works, her boyfriend Kentrell watches the children, keeping them safe from the exposed electrical outlets.”

Curtin strongly maintains that the outlet was actually broken by one of the folks living in the home. He notes his company has photographs of the outlet intact from the time Carpenter moved into the house.

The tenant also apparently placed a piece of plywood over the outlet after it was broken and then hid the outlet behind a large chair.

Yet, according to Bourke, the heroic boyfriend Collins is all that stands in the way of Carpenter’s small children getting electrocuted on a daily basis by exposed outlets in the house.

If only all this were true – Curtin has repeatedly stated he wasn’t even aware of the exposed outlet until the story aired. So, Carpenter and Collins effectively endangered two children on a daily basis by allowing them to live in a house with exposed outlets – how else is one to conclude otherwise from this report?

The report also shows an exposed light switch, but Curtin notes that switch was properly covered when the tenants moved in, and believes the cover was removed when the tenant painted the home’s interior. He adds that Niezen apparently never bothered to personally inspect the home after his May 23 visit, and even admits as much in a Sept. 27 letter.

“I spoke with the resident at 2762 Crater Lake Hwy. (sic) recently,” Niezen wrote in a letter to an RPG attorney. “She informed me that the violations at the property have not been resolved … Specifically the following issues need to be resolved: Forced air/heat is inoperative … Electrical circuit in supplying the living room is faulty. Multiple plumbing leaks.”

RPG conducted its own inspection Nov. 12, the day after the TV report aired, and found the heat worked, there were no plumbing leaks and the circuitry worked as well. The allegedly dangerous exposed wires the TV broadcast showed? Actually, they were not “live,” not carrying electrical current, and were either an old phone line or were once part of an alarm or possibly a doorbell.

Curtin says that while Justin Bourke claims, in the report, that the station “reached out multiple times during the day” to him as well as his attorney, in reality all he ever got was one voicemail from the station vaguely describing the fact it was pursuing a story. And that’s it. That’s all the effort Justin Bourke made to get a fair and balanced story.

Anyone watching the report could be forgiven for assuming RPG was nothing more than a fly by night operation that cared little for its tenants, even though the reality was RPG owned multiple residential properties in Medford at the time that housed dozens of citizens.

Elementary ethics

The NewsWatch 12 story about Real Property Group is a case study in how NOT to be an ethical journalist, but it’s important to know why. Here is a list of the principles published by the Society of Professional Journalists, on its Web site, spj.org. Readers should note some of these principles have been edited for length, as well as relevance to this story:

Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

The code goes on to state specific guidelines for any journalist seeking to be ethical.

– Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.

– Provide context. Take special care not to misrepresent or oversimplify in promoting, previewing or summarizing a story.

– Gather, update and correct information throughout the life of a news story.

– Identify sources clearly. The public is entitled to as much information as possible to judge the reliability and motivations of sources.

– Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing.

– Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.

– Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information. Clearly label illustrations and re-enactments.

Journalists should:

– Balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness.

– Consider the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of publication. Provide updated and more complete information as appropriate.

– Acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently. Explain corrections and clarifications carefully and clearly.

In the next part of our story, we dissect the many times NewsWatch 12 violated this Code of Ethics.

Facts are curious things

First off, the story (video copies of the newscast can be made available to interested parties) begins with Morton telling viewers, “The Medford city attorney’s office is accusing a local landlord of forcing families – some with toddlers – to go without heat during the winter …” Not only is this just plain wrong, it’s also confusing – Niezen is not a Medford city attorney, so to whom is Morton referring?

Is Morton saying the city attorney’s office issued an official statement accusing RPG and Curtin of what would amount to a serious crime? If so, where’s the document stating this, or taped interview with a city attorney?

And an inspection the very next day by RPG revealed the heat was working, so the story was a load of baloney from the get-go. In fact, at no point in the story does Bourke or Niezen test the home’s heating system, taking Carpenter at her word that it doesn’t work.

Morton also uses the phrase “families, some with toddlers,” when the story clearly deals with one family – Carpenter’s.

In fact, despite the ominous introduction provided by Morton, throughout Bourke’s report there is no indication RPG is being cited for any other property or any other family’s issues. So right off the bat, Morton has indulged in falsely characterizing Curtin as a heartless landlord AND claimed he was compelling some mysterious number of families with wee ones to shiver through the Oregon winter.

And that’s not even taking into account the most obvious question the story should raise – why would the City of Medford, which has a “history” with RPG, knowingly allow small children to suffer through a cold winter and not immediately provide them some form of shelter?

And if Bourke was so convinced Carpenter’s family was going to suffer through the winter, why did he never do any follow-up to see if they were okay?

But the solemn Morton sitting on his news anchor throne merely prepares the fake rhetorical cake for Bourke’s irresponsible libelous icing.

Standing across the street from the Crater Lake home, Bourke states that the “entire home” at Crater Lake property is heated by a “single space heater” and that “code enforcement says that morally this is the worst case of landlord neglect they’ve ever seen.”

First off, it’s not clear what Bourke means – the documented record of exchanges between RPG and Niezen would easily refute any claims RPG had actually neglected performing needed repairs at Crater Lake, so where is the proof that this “the worst case of landlord neglect they’ve ever seen”?

Did Bourke ask Niezen to provide any documents, any citations, any real proof of this contention? As the Code of Ethics states: “Verify information before releasing it.” Also, Bourke ignores a practical consideration – any residential property expert knows it’s not a good idea to allow a house with a water system to remain unheated for too long. What in heaven’s name would then be the motive of RPG to allow one of its properties to sit unheated?

Not shy of going for the jugular, Bourke then really piles it on: “Wobbly faucets, faulty wiring and loose floors are scattered throughout around the house …” he claims.

Virtually everything Bourke states is based on a misreading of easily explained phenomena, from the fact the faucet didn’t wobble until after the tenant apparently damaged it; there was no faulty wiring; and the “loose floors” amounted to a small area of tiling that was loose beneath the kitchen sink.

Given the Bourke makes the house sound like a death trap – even though anyone watching the report would note it’s actually a fairly typical looking home with some minor repairs needed — he never asks why Carpenter would rent such an allegedly dangerous structure in the first place if she had two children? Nor does he ever seem to ask if any of the alleged damage took place due to the tenant’s actions, as opposed to RPG recklessly renting an unsafe home to Carpenter.

And again, let’s not forget the story’s strangest – and most dangerous moment – when a small child is seen running toward an exposed electrical outlet. If Carpenter and Collins were concerned about the children, why did they allow them to live in a house with “exposed outlets” – how else is one to conclude otherwise? And if the outlet in the story was so dangerous, why did Collins allow a child to run toward it?

Not to mention the SPJ Code of Ethics notes, reporters are obligated to point out when something in story is staged, as was clearly the case when Collins is seen grabbing the toddler running toward the outlet: Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information. Clearly label illustrations and re-enactments.

Just the facts, ma’am

In the report, Carpenter repeatedly lies about her dealings with Curtin and RPG, claiming she has attempted to reach her landlord by phone calls and letters about all these concerns. At no point in the story does she produce any phone records proving she had called RPG repeatedly, nor does she produce any proof of these “letters” she allegedly wrote.

Meanwhile, in official documents Curtin provides, he paints a very different picture of Carpenter’s dealings with RPG.

Curtin notes that Carpenter was a difficult tenant with whom to deal almost from the moment RPG rented the property to her, on Oct. 3, 2012.

“Early in the tenancy, (Carpenter) called the landlord and made multiple demands to have the carpeting replaced,” Curtin wrote then Medford Police Chief Tim George in a 2015 letter. “She left long voicemails demanding new carpeting and stating that she wanted to pick out the color.”

Curtin told her RPG would not be installing new carpeting and asked her to stop leaving voicemails about the issue. “The tenant yelled and cursed at Mr. Curtin, then hung up the phone,” the letter states.

And that’s it. That’s all the communication Curtin ever had with Carpenter; whom Bourke also states claim has never heard Curtin’s voice. So even that fact is wrong in Bourke’s report!

As the story progresses, it’s clear that Bourke is trying Curtin and RPG in public and relying solely on Niezen and Carpenter for the “facts” he puts forth.

Bourke then ends his report by claiming the station had reached out “multiple times” to Curtin and his attorney for their side of the story. Curtin, however, says he received “a voicemail that was unintelligible” about an hour before the story aired, and that he himself did not even learn that he would be attacked on TV until he happened to see the broadcast.

Once again, Newswatch 12 proved itself a wanton violator of journalistic ethics, according to the SPJ Code: Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing.

Reviewing this story, it’s abundantly clear that Newswatch 12 didn’t “diligently” seek out Curtin, nor even make a minimal effort to adhere to basic journalistic ethics. Any responsible news station would have immediately reprimanded or fired both Morton and Bourke for gross violations of not just professional ethics but for common human decency. It’s obvious they got suckered by Niezen, a public official with a penchant for sloppy work and outright lying, but it’s not Newswatch 12 that ultimately paid the price for these two men’s incompetence — it’s RPG and Curtin.

Social media mob

Let’s say you’ve read all this and think, so what? Just another botched news story.

Well, leaving aside the fact Curtin estimates he’s spent more than $20,000 on legal fees related to the case, what about his reputation and physical safety?

Consider what happened AFTER Newswatch 12 aired the story.

Reading through the reaction to the report after Newswatch 12 posted the story on its Facebook page is a frightening tour of condemnation. As of May, 2019, the comments were still posted on the station’s Facebook page, although the broadcast story itself is no longer available.

Here are just a few of the comments Facebook readers made about Curtin and RPG.

James Rothstein: “Lesson learned: don’t rent from Kevin Curtin or Real Property Group.”

Justin Sane: “The Landlord just needs an attitude adjustment followed up by a smack down! Trust me that usually solves the problem.”

Linda Marie Kindt: “What a loser this landlord is i hope people quit paying there rent (sp). The law will be on there (sic) side they can take the jerk to court.”

Robert Boyd: “I hope landlord will be in jail or hell!!!”

Bonnie Hamlett: “This is such BS. How can this man get away with this and who’s the scumbag who’s defending him. They should shut him down. If the police and courts prevented him from renting these properties out, he’d fix them real quick.”

RPG contacted each of the people listed above through Facebook. Only one responded, Bonnie Hamlett, who in May 2019 said she still stood by her comment. Mind you she made this statement despite the fact she was provided with proof the Newswatch 12 story was essentially false. This goes to show how one, repeat, one TV news story, no matter how poorly sourced or reported, can nonetheless so convince a member of the public it’s true he or she would rather believe it than truth itself.

Curtin adds the social media reaction caused him concern for his safety, noting that Niezen recklessly published Curtin’s home address in a publicly available police report.

Curtin also noted his employees were shocked by the newscast and couldn’t believe he’s had to deal with the fallout from Niezen and Newswatch 12’s misinformation campaign for years. The one-two punch delivered by Niezen and Newswatch 12 to his name eventually played a role in Curtin’s decision to sell his residential rental properties in Medford.

“The station has never apologized for its ambush report and the blatant falsehoods its anchor and reporter spewed,” Curtin says.

Newswatch 12 did not respond to requests for comment on this story, nor did Bourke or Morton. As of May, 2019, Morton is still employed at Newswatch 12, and Bourke works for WDHD 7 in Boston, Mass. Higher-ups at both stations have been informed of the unethical TV report these two men created, but have made no public statements.

Conclusion

The SPJ Code of Ethics calls on journalists to “consider the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of publication. Provide updated and more complete information as appropriate.”

It’s clear that Newswatch 12 never bothered to consider the “long-term implications” of its story. So, two questions remain – five years after Newswatch 12 publicly trashed a citizen’s good name as well as that of his corporation, will it make amends or simply forget this ever happened?

And can viewers of Newswatch 12 be assured that this station won’t do this again? The station’s slogan is “Watching Out For You.”

To which we’d add, “Whether We Get Your Side of the Story or Not.”