WHAT A CRYING SHAME

We are certain that most of the old timers out there remember when shark fishing from the Folly Beach pier wasn't against the law. The process was pretty simple. The fisherman dumped "chum", a mixture of blood and guts, into the water and waited for the sharks to arrive. It didn't take very long before the water was alive with the large tooth monsters. Then, the fisherman would bait his large hook with half of a mullet and go to work.

In case no one has noticed, we have a similar feeding frenzy going on in the local media right now. The only difference is, sharks are not the target. This frenzy is aimed at Congressman Henry Brown. Channel 5 News and WTMA radio have aired stories concerning remarks allegedly made by the Congressman on the night of the Republican Primary run-off election. According to these TV news stories and topics of discussion on WTMA talk radio, Henry Brown called the voters of Berkeley County "fools" for reelecting Dan Davis, Supervisor. These stories have been edited for effect and have spread through the county like wildfire. The big problem is THE BASIC STORY IS NOT TRUE.

On the night of June 22nd, we were at the Musicman where Mr. Brown was holding his election night party. When the news came in that Mr. Davis had won the election, the TV news crew approached Mr. Brown for his comments. We were standing directly behind the interviewer and listened to every word that was exchanged. At no time did Mr. Brown refer to the voters of BC as fools. During the lengthy interview, he did say he thought the voters of BC "HAD BEEN FOOLED" by Mr. Davis' false statements during the campaign. As any thinking person knows, there is a wide canyon between saying someone has been fooled and calling someone a fool. But, we have to assume certain members of the media are not numbered among the thinking people. They created a firestorm over something that was never said.

Mr. Brown attempted to correct the misstatements made on WTMA by calling in to set the record straight. It was embarrassing to listen to the disrespect heaped upon Mr. Brown as he tried to correct the false reporting. The host would ask a question of Mr. Brown and, before Mr. Brown had any chance to answer, the host would pepper him with yet another accusatory question. The host of the show even went so far as to allow callers to join the pile-on.

The most egregious misleading report came from Channel 5 news. After the WTMA hatchet job, a reporter from Channel 5 called the Congressman for an interview. Realizing he had been placed in an untenable position, the Congressman refused the interview by saying, "I said what I said and I stick by it". Even after the Congressman said he refused to go on the record, the Channel 5 reporter recorded this remark and included it in the report, giving the false impression that Mr. Brown had admitted saying what he was accused of saying. As we all know, "cut and paste" can create anything you want. This was not the best example of honest reporting.

GE&P has received numerous calls from BC voters who saw the Channel 5 report and are" very angry that the Congressman could say such a thing about them". They believe this story simply because it was on TV news. We tried to correct their wrong impression but failed. The damage is done. People are convinced the story is true. The Congressman will carry this black mark to his grave. No one will ever see the raw footage from the original interview. Why would Channel 4 run this footage? That would prove a really hot story to be a crock and what would that do to viewership?

Congressman Brown, our numbers here at GE&P are, admittedly, small but we would like to offer you our sincere apology for the treatment you have received from the media and some citizens of BC over the last few days. We appreciate your years of service to Berkeley County. It breaks our hearts and shames us that these citizens choose to reward your years of faithful service with this verbal lynching. What a crying shame.