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Station targets officials' comments
By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- For months, Hillsborough Commissioner Ronda Storms has spoken out against what she sees as obscenity on the airwaves of the county's public access television station. Now, in a curious turn, a lawyer for the station has filed a motion in federal court designed to force Storms to keep talking. Lawyer Rochelle A. Reback said Tuesday she wants to depose Storms and Comissioner Stacey Easterling about their quotes on the issue in the St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Tribune. Reback thinks the comments from Storms and Easterling go right to the heart of the lawsuit the station filed last week to remain on the air: Did the commissioners vote to cut the station's budget because they didn't like the content? Such a move would be a violation of the First Amendment, the station argues. So far, Storms and Easterling aren't talking. "Where in the world is Ronda Storms?" Reback asked Tuesday. "Why would she not want to affirm or deny these statements?" Reback said she has made repeated attempts to get lawyers in the county attorney's office to stipulate to the accuracy of the statements. But while they confirmed the accuracy of comments made during recorded commission meetings, they would neither confirm nor deny the statements made directly to the newspapers, Reback said. Neither Storms nor Easterling returned phone calls seeking comment. Storms' assistant said the commissioner was out of town until Friday and referred questions to the county attorney's office. Lawyers there said in a court filing Tuesday that the decision not to fund the station was part of an entire legislative budget process, which means the motives of individual commissioners are irrelevant to the lawsuit. The controversy blew up in March over a program called The Happy Show, which included closeup footage of female genitalia. Storms had a tape of the show sent to State Attorney Mark Ober, who concluded that the show and its producers broke no laws. Storms then alleged that the show broke a variety of technical rules spelled out in agreements between the county and Speak Up Tampa Bay, the non-profit group that runs the station for the county. Speak Up officials denied the breach but enacted a series of new procedural measures to avoid more problems. Eventually, commissioners voted 5-2 to cut $355,000 in annual funding to the station, saying they had more pressing needs for the money. In response, Speak Up filed a lawsuit last week seeking to restore funding through the end of its contract, which lasts another year, as well as attorneys' fees. The same day, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to keep the station broadcasting until Oct. 15, when a hearing is scheduled to hash out the case. Another hearing is scheduled for today in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Scriven, who is expected to decide if Reback can depose the two commissioners before next week's hearing. In the lawsuit, Reback copied a handful of comments from the newspapers that she felt showed the commission's intent was to shut down the station because of the content, not for legitimate cost reasons. In an April 2 story, the Times quoted Storms as saying, "They didn't get Al Capone for murder or racketeering. They got him for tax evasion." In an April 8 story, the Times paraphrased Easterling saying that she didn't think the county should be enabling obscene programming. Easterling went on to say that the best strategy might be to cut funding for the station, await the First Amendment lawsuit that was sure to follow and let the courts sort it all out, according to the story. Reback has a backup plan if Scriven denies the request to depose the commissioners: asking the judge to compel the two reporters -- Bill Varian of the Times and Ted Byrd of the Tribune -- to testify about the accuracy of their stories. The Times would fight such a move, said Times attorney Penelope Bryan. Freedom of the press is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, and forcing reporters to testify about their sources threatens the integrity of the newsgathering process and ultimately may result in a less informed public, she said. "Reporters are supposed to be observers," she said. "They shouldn't be thrust into a story that they are covering." -- Graham Brink can be reached at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com.
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From the Times Ernest Hooper |
