Jim Shella: Analyzing Trump’s efforts to control the media

“Would you go to jail to protect a source?”

The question was asked last year when I served on a media panel in front of a leadership group from the Indiana Bar Association. My answer was yes. Rafael Sánchez of Fox59 gave the same answer.

In fact, going to jail to protect a source is a possibility that I considered at one point in my career.

I was covering a criminal investigation into stolen license branch money in Delaware County and reported on the contents of sealed indictments handed down by a grand jury.

The special prosecutor in the case was later charged with prosecutorial impropriety, accused of being my source. I was subpoenaed to testify at a hearing regarding the charges against him.

I arrived prepared to protect my source (and I am not revealing it here) no matter what.

An attorney for my TV station, however, worked out a deal allowing me to verify my reporting yet avoid answering any questions about sources.

I raise this because of the efforts by the Trump administration to control the media and stifle criticism.

Reporters at the Pentagon have been forced off site for refusing to sign agreements to stick to official sources. Federal employees suspected of leaking information have been given lie detector tests. The Associated Press is banned from the Oval Office and Air Force One.

And now the FCC licenses of Disney owned stations are being challenged in apparent retaliation for jokes told by late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

That hits home for me, too, because I hosted a show once that was cancelled following a threat to pursue FCC action.

Let me explain.

In 1982 I was working for the NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and hosted a program called Michigan Forum. It was a half-hour interview with the governor that aired once a month. It had been on the air for 16 years, broadcast in every Michigan market except Detroit.

The governor was moderate Republican William Milliken, and he was in his last year in office. His lieutenant governor, James Buckley, was a candidate to succeed him and Buckley was in a heated primary battle against conservative Richard Headlee.

During an episode of Michigan Forum I asked Milliken about the negative tone of the GOP primary campaign, a legitimate question to the figurehead of the state party. In his answer Milliken made comments critical of Headlee and supportive of Buckley. After the program aired Headlee contacted the TV station and demanded equal time.

Under FCC guidelines he was not entitled to equal time. That would be the case if Buckley made the comments. Nevertheless, the general manager of the TV station, Marv Chauvin, chose to cancel the program rather than risk federal scrutiny. I was notified after the fact.

The only price for Chauvin was some bad publicity including an item in the Columbia Journalism Review. It awards Laurels to those who uphold the First Amendment and Darts to those who fail to do so. He got a Dart.

I share all of this to make the case that preserving the First Amendment requires eternal vigilance. There are small battles like the ones I fought taking place all the time. Yet the big battles started by the Trump administration can do lasting damage to free speech in America and we may never know the fallout.

And, for what it’s worth, Richard Headlee won that 1982 primary despite Milliken’s comments. Sometimes politicians fight battles that are unnecessary.•

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Shella hosted WFYI’s “Indiana Week in Review” for 25 years and covered Indiana politics for WISH-TV for more than three decades. Send comments to [email protected].

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