Dear Ms. Brayton:
Thank you for your letter dated February 28th, 2008.
I respect your opinion about the story we aired on February 26th, concerning the City of Providence’s crime statistics. However, I respectfully disagree with your conclusion that “this story falls far short of the journalistic standards that this community expects”.
There is no more qualified and respected journalist in the City of Providence who understands journalistic standards than Jim Hummel.
You should be aware that Mr. Hummel is one of the most respected and honored journalists in the market. He’s reported a combined 26 years for both the Providence Journal and ABC-6. He has also received numerous awards for Excellence in Journalism including the prestigious 2007 Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting.
In your letter, you use the phrase “Mr. Hummel knew, but deliberately chose to leave out of the story” on eight different occasions. Mr. Hummel didn’t choose to deliberately leave out anything. I am ultimately responsible for making final decisions on the contents of a story. It was MY decision to focus the story on one singular point: “Are crime stats manipulated to bolster the City of Providence’s image”? The statistics are especially important to the city and its leaders. In your words, “The subject of crime affects everyone in the community: residents, business owners, tourist and prospective investors”. I focused the story on that topic. I believe we presented a fair and balanced story. Additionally, the men and women of the Providence Police Department are the source of this story, not victims.
Again, I respect your viewpoint and appreciate your passion in defending the City of Providence and the management of the Police Department. In that spirit, I would like to extend an invitation to Chief Esserman to join Mr. Hummel in a live and unedited interview concerning the premise of our story. I’m sure we can work out a date and show-time in the near future to accommodate this request.
Sincerely,
Regent Ducas
News Director-WLNE/ABC6