Did TV Station Cross The Line?

Luzer

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Last week, primary elections were held in Florida.

One race, in Broward County, featured a Florida house seat. One of the democratic candidates is the son of the previous Sheriff of Broward County, who is in Federal Prison for tax evasion and mail fraud. The son is Evan Jenne, dad is Ken Jenne. The second candidate is Robert Kellner, whom I know nothing about. The third candidate is a newcomer, Freda Stevens. Mrs. Stevens wrote checks to the station, WPLG, Channel 10, for campaign ads. The checks were not honored by the bank. There is the possibility that the account the checks were written on had a funds on hold, which caused the checks to bounce. I am not sure, and I don't care.

Anyway, Channel 10 broadcast a "news story" the evening before the primary that the candidate, Mrs. Stevens, had bounced checks to the station earlier in the month of August.

Do you think it is legally and/or morally correct for the station to have aired this report? I feel it was extremely dirty and not a news item at all.

I have no connection to any of the people here; I don't even live in the county this happened in (Broward). I am fuming that a station would do that.

What do you think?

http://www.local10.com/politics/17298500/detail.html

http://fredastevens.com/ Here is a link to the lady the story was about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Jenne Here is an article on the ex Sheriff.
 
Checks don't bounce without the account holder being made aware. If a person can not be responsible with their own account, why in the world should they be elected to public office? I've been in business for over nearly 13 years. Out of all the bounced checks I received over the years, exactly two instances come to mind where the account holder contacted me before the checks even came back to me. They wanted to come in right away and take care of it. The rest of the returned checks, I had to threaten to prosecute, and in some cases prosecute to get my money.

I don't feel one bit sorry for the candidate. I'm glad that the public knows because they have a right to know before the election. Bouncing checks is considered fraud if it's done intentionally. Not taking care of the bounced checks is pathetically irresponsible, if not downright criminal.
 
I guess it would depend on how far into the process they were and why the checks bounced.

If they were returned the first time, the station should have given her a chance to make good and explain why. I have had that happen when it was completely the bank's fault - they bounced a cashier's check from another branch of the same bank when I was moving from FL to GA, which caused a couple of my checks to bounce - how dumb is that??? (I even made them write a letter of apology to the people they bounced the checks to!) There have also been times when they have held a check for a really long time for no apparent reason when it normally clears in a day or so. Banks suck.

If they were returned and not paid and no attempt to make good, then maybe it's a story. I guess I'd have to know more before passing judgement on either the candidate or the station.
 
I for one would be quite concerned if a person who wanted my vote is not financially responsible.

So, yes the public should know that cheques were written that were not valid. I would be even more concerned if the person who wanted my vote, was in charged of anything financial.

Being financially responsible says a lot about your character, or not.
 
I have worked in banks, and sometimes mistakes are made and cheques get bounced that shouldn't get bounced. I hope the tv station got to the bottom of the situation first.

Also, I think it casts the tv station in a bad light. If I were considering them as an advertising medium, their lack of discretion in this situation would cause me to pause and reconsider. If i had a problem, made a mistake (which people CAN do when it comes to their banking) I would not want that fact broadcast to the world.

imho
 
If someone wrote a cheque knowing full well that it would not clear, then that is a huge problem. This person does not even know if cheuqes are held and or valid.

IF, the TV station did make a mistake then it is up to them to correct it, or the bank. But, if the mistakes does lie with the person who wrote the cheque then it should be known.
 
I hope , as sandraladeda says, that the TV station had all the facts straight before reporting this, but I do think the subject is absolutely fair game.
 
i think it's fair game. the news is supposed to report stuff about these candidates that could effect voters. if word had gotten out that she was writing checks that bounced to anyone, that most likely would have made the news. this is an election, and just about everything's fair game. not to mention, if you can't balance your check book ... well, good luck in politics!
 

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