Magers says cutbacks hurt TV news ability to cover up corruption

Moseley Braun was considered one of the most corrupt senators in Illinois history until, of course, Roland Burris came along.

"Ah, I remember Carol. You know that her spectacularly trashy tenure as Illinois senator could have been aborted before it began, but thankfully we restrained ourselves in 1992 at Channel 5, and she was able to make her contribution to the pollution of Illinois politics," said Magers. Moseley Braun served as senator for one term. She was defeated by Peter Fitzgerald, a maverick who couldn't have beaten anyone other than Moseley Braun because he was too independent and alienated the corrupt political establishments of both parties in the state.

The restraint Magers spoke of was a report the late and lamented Channel 5 reporter Paul Hogan reportedly spiked in order to ensure that Illinois would elect the nation's first female African-American senator.  Hogan had revealed questionable things about Moseley Braun during the 1992 campaign, but he apparently stopped short. According to an article by the New Republic in 1993, Hogan obtained a letter from Moseley Braun to her mother suggesting she was trying to defraud Illinois Medicaid authorities. Moseley Braun stonewalled Hogan, so NBC reporter Bob Kur questioned her, and she did not deny writing the letter.

As L. Brent Bozell put it (yes, now I'm quoting someone quoting an article. Hey, I ain't no great reporter like Paul Hogan), "The New Republic reported that her campaign manager, Gerald Austin, talked Hogan out of reporting the story, pleading he would destroy the woman, and more importantly, the liberal cause: 'If you go with the story, she loses, and you're responsible for denying the first African-American woman the chance to go to the U.S. Senate.' Austin feared she'd be indicted, not elected. Hogan spiked it, and so did Kur and NBC."

When Hogan died in 1993 he was eulogized elegantly and extemporaneously by Magers.
Said Magers yesterday, "Oh, I only wish newsrooms had the resources to get reporters out there so that they could investigate and then kill their own investigations so that political progress can be made."