J. TODD FOSTER: Kingsport Slimes-News Lives Up To Its Reputation

Kingsport Times-News reporter Hank Hayes has a bright future flacking for politicians. Lord knows, he’s better at it than at journalism.

Hayes used the news columns of his newspaper on Thursday to attack an investigative article we published a week ago about U.S. Rep. David Davis, R-Tenn., and his congressional earmarks. That same day, we published an editorial that noted the amount of special-interest money Davis was socking away.

The 1st District congressman issued a press release Wednesday attacking a “local newspaper” for its negative editorial. (The editorial is available online at www.tricities.com/tri/news/opinion/editorials/article/campaign_cash_with_strings/10477/).

WHILE DAVIS never mentioned the BHC in the news release, he clearly alluded to us; besides, no other area newspaper prints hard-hitting editorials.

Hayes’ cut-and-paste job demonstrates this troubling fact: The reporter either wrote out of sour grapes for getting beaten on a story or doesn’t know the difference between an editorial and a news story, even though I tried to explain those differences to him. “I’ll take it under advisement,” he barked, before hanging up on me late Wednesday.

Hayes was within journalistic bounds to write a story about Davis’ charge – albeit false – that our editorial was a “gross misrepresentation.” However, attacking rival newspapers for their editorial positions is a dangerous precedent, especially when the Kingsport paper denies the existence of climate change – a reality even embraced by President Bush and John McCain.

BUT HAYES’ story barely mentions the editorial and keeps referring to the news story, which appeared June 8 on A1 (go to www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/consumer/article/davis_top_beneficiary_in_defense_firms_gifts/10488/).

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of Hayes’ conduct is that he admitted in an e-mail to me the night before his story was published that the congressman told him “he hadn’t read the story.”

So that would mean that Hayes took it upon himself to attack our news article in an editorial masquerading as a news article. His only motive would be having his hat handed to him by BHC investigative reporter Michael L. Owens on a news story that Hayes himself should have had first.

MY ADVICE to Hayes is to cash in on his boosterism. If Davis does the right thing and fires his press secretary, Ryan Tronovitch, as we editorialized he should on Friday, then Hayes could at least join the Davis payroll officially.

Why did we call for Tronovitch’s firing?

Because the news release attacking our editorial was posted on the congressman’s Web site under a URL – or Web address – that ended in “bhcjerks.”

THE URL quickly was removed by Davis’ staff after Hayes’ article quoted me as saying the “bhcjerks” reference was immature and undignified.

Tronovitch has more problems than his immaturity (he can be forgiven for being 23 years old). The Broome (N.Y.) Community College Web site has a photo of Tronovitch as a member of the men’s soccer team and quotes him under “Favorite Things To Do” as saying, “I like to play soccer, sleep, eat, listen to music and that’s about it.”

Notice that learning the English language was not included on Tronovitch’s list. Many of the Davis news releases under Tronovitch’s byline include rampant misspellings. (Note to Ryan: There’s a new invention out; it’s called SpellCheck. You might want to use it.)

DAVIS HAS been in Congress fewer than 18 months and seems to have had a bad run with press secretaries. His first, Timothy Hill, left to “pursue other interests” after getting caught removing unflattering but accurate mentions of his boss on the Wikipedia Web site.

Now Tronovitch has overstepped the bounds of decency by posting on a taxpayer-funded Web site a cutesy URL address ending in “bhcjerks.”

Perhaps this would be an excellent time for our congressman to hire a press secretary with more than a few months experience on Capitol Hill and none as a press secretary. He might even want to look for a spokesman familiar with our area: Tronovitch is a New Yorker that I’m willing to bet could not find Ridgewood Barbecue on a map, let alone in an automobile.

Even Hayes can spell, and he’s already proven himself worthy for the job as Davis’ toady.

J. Todd Foster is managing editor of the Bristol Herald Courier and can be reached at jfoster@bristolnews.com or (276) 645-2513.