Viewers Voice: One viewer wants more rain!

A regular WSLS viewer who likes our coverage had one suggestion for Storm Team Ten.

Dr. Mark Wallace emailed, "I feel that often Mr. Haniewich does not realize that comments such as "Next up, I'll tell you when we will make it through a day without any rain" are troublesome to those of us who depend on rain to sustain our gardens, crops, trees, and shrubs. Perhaps Mr. Haniewich (and other members of the news team) need  to be a bit more sensitive to members of the viewing audience in such situations.  Although rain may ruin a day at the park, days without rain can result in financial and family ruin.”

Since this was addressed specifically to Jeff, I asked him to respond.

He wrote back to Dr. Wallace in part, “Let me assure you though, that I like rain a lot and need it badly at my house. With the weekend right around the corner, and knowing that many folks will want to spend time outdoors, my intention was strictly to let them know when they are 100% safe from any pop-up storms. And we have had a lot of those lately. So, please note that I don't root for drought... I am simply doing my job as to inform folks at home about when their outdoor plans are safe."

Another viewer felt our coverage of the Republican mass meeting in Franklin County a couple of weeks ago was slanted.

Greg Kitchens of Wirtz emailed, “Your station's political naivety or outright political bias was evident in your coverage of the Franklin County Republican Mass meeting on Saturday. The news, which evaded the reporter and your station, was that this was the largest mass meeting in the history of our county. Rather then accentuate the  positive, that of voters becoming interested in their local government, you showed your true bias in two major areas.  The first was even asking Greg Austin if he is considering running as an independent. If you were "in the know" you would understand all had signed an oath of allegiance to the winner as a condition of voting in the mass. Secondly, you continue to perpetuate the Agee incident which is riddled with lies and half truths. Try reporting the news and quit racking the muck.”

WSLS responds: thanks for the email. Mr. Austin told our reporters and more than one news outlet that he hadn't decided if he would run as an independent if he lost the GOP nomination, which is exactly what we reported. As for the Agee case, WSLS has extensively reported the events of the Memorial Day shooting through court and police reports with everything thoroughly documented.