Photo via Wikimedia Commons
About five years ago, the St. Louis American partnered with STL TV, then known as City Channel 10, to air an update on stories of interest from that week’s issue.
I was often chosen to shoot the 30-second spot, and all went well for the first several months. Then one day before taping, I was asked to speak with the woman in charge of the station. I have forgotten her name, my apologies. Anyway, have you ever walked into some place and instantly known something was up? That’s how I felt before I was even told I needed to speak with her.
The station wanted to review what we said in the spot before it could air. The implication was that the station wanted the option to rule out certain topics. The segments weren't opinion pieces; we just selected a few news, sports, and entertainment stories to highlight. It was a short meeting. She told me what was up, and I walked out. I don’t think I ever did another broadcast.
Can you guess whom or what the problem was?
Some of the stories highlighted were not favorable to Mayor Slay. The American has been no friend to the mayor, especially after his demotion of Sherman George, who was formerly chief of the St. Louis Fire Department.
The animosity still lingers and deservedly so.
Here we are years later, and Mayor Slay is again bombarding the world with his thoughts on STL TV. He wants to slash the station’s budget from about $900,000 to about $300,000. More than $600,000 would go to the police department to hire 13 new officers. Slay has disparaged the daily cost of the station, and its programming. (You can find this week’s schedule here.)
However, based on past experience, it's my guess that Slay really doesn’t care about the programming, and he knows he could find money for police officers elsewhere, without the station moving solely to the Internet or it ending completely. As with any other TV station, the First Amendment comes into play. Slay can’t control everything that is said on the station. Slay likes to control everything and everybody.
Comptroller Darlene Green and Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, the other members of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, rejected Slay’s move to cut STL TV funding. Reed said that many city residents still watch the station and that moving it online would shut out people who don’t have Internet access. Go figure, many of those people are on the city’s North Side. What a coincidence.
The station used to be broadcast on Channel 10. It now can only be seen on Charter (channel 992) or AT&T Uverse (channel 99). Charter and AT&T pay the city about $2.5 million in license fees annually. You can also watch at stltv.net.
Reed says the station needs to be marketed better, so people will know where to find it and what shows will be airing. Add that to the list of reasons that a pro-Slay candidate will likely challenge Reed in the next election.
Andre Holman, production manager of STL TV and a great guy, is not commenting. Instead, he's referring media members to the mayor’s office. Having a job is better than not having a job.
Some shows will inevitably include content or people that don’t pass muster with the mayor. So unfortunately, the attacks on what is a nice city resource will certainly continue.
Commentary by Alvin Reid
