KTSM Appropriately Punishes Patty Maese

Photo Courtesy of Ruben Ramirez

Reports are circling that KTSM journalist Patty Maese is no longer with KTSM Newschannel 9 following some controversial remarks she recently made against the subject of a story.

It is unclear if her participation in an Open El Paso rally on Saturday was part of the decision. It is unclear if she was fired, asked to resign in lieu of termination, or if she resigned on her own. What is clear is that the station made public the fact that it was going to take some action against Maese following controversial remarks she made about an educator.

And I want to make it clear that the two issues (the comments and the protest) are very distinct.  

Issue one is a comment made by Maese on a KTSM Facebook thread on one of their recent stories. KTSM conducted an interview with Sammy Carrejo who is touted as one of the organizers of the event, but he said something interesting in that interview I want to point out - but I'll get back to that in a minute. 

KTSM subsequently ran a story featuring someone who is opposed to the Reopen Texas protest. The story featured an interview with Ruby Montana who is a professor at UTEP. Montana gave her opinion on the rally - because she was interviewed by the station - because she teachers Ethics, Philosophy, and Humanities at UTEP.

Maese, a journalist and employee of KTSM then posts a very controversial post - a post that was eventually deleted. Here is the post, in which Maese characterizes Montana as 

"...someone who has never really worked a day in her life and is still collecting a paycheck, while millions of Americans see their livelihoods crumble."

Interestingly, Patty Maese was also collecting a check at the time of the interview. Its also interesting that Maese was the PIO at a local school district for a year or so - so the fact that she referred to an educator not having ever worked a day in her life is particularly noteworthy. 

I can't think of any time that an on-air reporter commented on a story on a station's social media being critical of a subject of a story. And lets be honest, neither can you. Its a decidedly editorial position from a reporter. Think about it, do you ever recall Estela Casa attacking someone in a story? Hector Urrutia, Gary Warner, Elizabeth O'Hara, or any of the other long-time journalists in El Paso?

Nope. 

Obviously Maese was referring to the teaching profession, which has bothered a lot of El Pasoans. Maybe she shouldn't have attacked teachers when so many parents are struggling to homeschool their kids right now and have a deeper appreciation for the work of teachers. 

Its also strange to watch a female journalist attack another woman who is also in a field dominated by men. Seriously, women can't catch a break!

Now before the Libertarians and Republican in town start acting like she's some sort of martyr for the conservative movement, lets keep a few things in perspective. First, we don't know what, if any, role Maese's participation in the rally had in whatever punishment was administered by the station. 

But bear in mind the position she put the station in. She's a journalist at KTSM, she commented on a story by KTSM, on a facebook page belonging to KTSM, relative to a rally she supported and likely helped organize. All stations have clauses in their contracts with reporters about conduct. That is standard in the industry and has been in place long before the latest round of Open Up movements. 

But screenshots from social media show that Maese was more involved in the protest on Saturday than you might think. Here's a picture of her making a sign that was ultimately used by another protester.

Photo courtesy of Ruben Ramirez

Several days ago a Facebook group called Reopen Texas popped up and a lot of people in El Paso were added to the group. They are the organization behind Saturday's protest in downtown El Paso. The protest featured a modest number of people, all ignoring social distancing rules and comes on the heels of an escalation of rules coming from the city and county meant to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the El Paso area. 

Tens of people attended.

Now, remember earlier that one of the organizers of the event said something when he was interviewed earlier in the week that I wanted to get back to? Well Sammy Carrejo was being interviewed and he made an interesting comment. He was very clearly reading off a script - which is interesting - and the comment was, 

"...poverty, despair and isolation kill more people than any virus."

What is interesting about that comment from Carrejo is that Patty Maese made the exact same comment on a post in that Facebook group. I highlighted it in yellow in the screenshot below. 

But pay close attention to the two things I highlighted in a different color. That is former El Paso County Commissioner Sergio Lewis thanking Maese for "taking the lead on this", and former El Paso journalist Noreen Jaramillo is "glad to be a part of this". 

  

So Carrejo either completely stole the line from Maese and pass it off as his own - which is highly probable - or the message was coordinated. I mean it is pretty interesting that the interview with Carrejo just happened to be on the station she worked for...amirite?

As you can see in this screenshot - Maese is an administrator for the page.

Speaking of Carrejo not being very bright...my favorite part of the protest is when some young lady is speaking and he clearly thinks she's spoken enough (Sammy doesn't think very highly of women) and he pulls the bullhorn out of her hands so he can speak some more. But now he sounds like a broke-ass version of Bobcat Goldthwait.

I kid you not, he gets on the bullhorn and tells people to get out of the street saying "...rules are rules. Gotta follow'em..."



You know, the guy who organized an event so that tens of El Pasosans can get together and break the rules.

Again, I kid you not, in the very next sentence, Bobcat Carrejo then says, "Alright, everybody here - squeeze in..."

This was at an event that he said they would be maintaining social distancing, lol. The ultimate public face palm.

Speaking of face palms, this was my favorite guy there.

Photo courtesy of Ruben Ramirez

He has a shirt that says "Viva Trump", he's got a confederate flag on his face, he's holding an American flag, an Israeli flag, and the Russian flag. He is thoroughly confused but exactly what the El Paso GOP looks like...

And clearly, he was doing shots of Fabuloso before the event yesterday....

As for Maese, it is unclear what exactly she was let go for, but again she put the station in a bad spot and they basically had no alternative. The various news stations in town have been reporting on the rash of cases popping up, and on the very day of the event El Paso reported its largest jump in cases yet. So while stations have been doing their part to get the message out to El Pasoans about how to avoid getting and spreading the virus, a journalist actively participating in an effort that puts the public at risk and openly defies the shelter-in-place guidelines compromises the integrity of a state and her individually as a journalist.

Bravo to KTSM for doing the right thing.

UPDATE:

I just received a screenshot of Maese's comments following this incident. To be clear she is not apologizing for what she said, nor apologizing to educators.

She is claiming it was her decision to leave KTSM.

She also, again incorrectly identifies Professor Montana as a government instructor. That is a key fact she seems to keep getting wrong - which is weird because journalists are supposed to deal in facts.

Here is the screenshot of her comments: