Manna from Liberal Heaven for Raml

By Todd Ellis
January 16, 2006
 

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University has announced its new Hall of Fame members. The honorees are alumni Ellen Leyva, 1986 ASU graduate who has been a news anchor with KABC-TV in Los Angeles for the past 10 years -- Bravo! -- and Scottsdale's Katie Raml, 1999 ASU grad who has been a news anchor at KNXV-TV (ABC 15) in Phoenix for all of three years. Huh?
 

How does a station intern-turned-anchor with barely three years of experience at one of the lowest-rated stations in Phoenix and only six years out of college rate a Hall of Fame slot at ASU? Answer: When their politics are liberal and they have friends in all the right places.

 

This is the same Katie Raml who was ripped by the prestigious Columbia University Journalism School in its widely-read Journal during 2004 for her outrageous  emceeing of the liberal RINO (Republican In Name Only) WISH List campaign rallies and fundraisers during the last major election cycle and her documented financial contribution to the pro-abortion organization. 

Raml's WISH List activities occurred at the same time that a KNXV co-worker, reporter Rob Koebel, was being fired by the station for violating their "ethics policy." Koebel's alleged offense was paying to attend a campaign dinner for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio which Koebel says was part of his job in covering that campaign for the station. Perhaps Koebel's offense was really covering the wrong political faction and candidate. 

In the spring of 2005, Koebel filed a discrimination suit against the corporate parent of KNXV, alleging that he was fired while some female employees at KNXV were allowed to openly pursue their own personal political activities. Gee, who could Koebel be referring to? 

Since Raml was admonished by the Columbia Journalism Review, she has continued to appear and speak at functions run by active WISH List members -- such as Becky Jackson, who is now running for a seat on the Chandler City Council. Raml seems not to be concerned at all by the uncovering of her unethical affiliation with the partisan, pro-abortion WISH List. In fact, her association with the organization appears to be her ticket to local stardom.

 

One would think that ASU would be embarrassed by the unseemly activities of a recent journalism graduate who seems to flaunt her profession's code of ethics. Instead, they name her to their Hall of Fame at an earlier age and with less experience than any other member in its history. How can this be? 

The mystery quickly fades away when one discovers that a key Cronkite School Board of Trustees member and past-president is a fellow WISH List member and Scottsdale politico -- Susan Bitter Smith. What a coincidence! 

You may remember the abortion advocate Bitter Smith when she ran for Congress against Jeff Flake in 2000 and tried to undermine his campaign with false accusations. The Arizona Republic branded her "Gutter" Smith and called her campaign tactics "sleazeball politics." Evidently, the same liberal, pro-abortion network that has served Raml so well through her very brief career has now catapulted her to the ASU Journalism Hall of Fame. No doubt Raml's value to the pro-abortion organization and cause is greatly enhanced by making her a well-known and "honored" Valley celebrity.

 

More than a month ago, I sent a letter to the dean of the Walter Cronkite School and copied a majority of the board of trustee members and ASU's President Michael Crow. I asked for an explanation of Raml's surprising selection with so few credentials, and how they could possibly overlook her documented unethical political activities?

To date, not one person at ASU has responded or defended her selection. I guess you can't defend the indefensible. What a mockery, and I think this says a lot about ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. You have to feel sorry for other graduates who have ethically and successfully worked for many years in their profession and have yet to receive Hall of Fame recognition. Maybe they just need to make their liberal politics known and the rewards will soon follow!