Columnist, ex-reporter dustup

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Phil Kabler, a longtime Charleston (W.Va) Gazette statehouse reporter/columnist got into a little tiff with Lawrence Messina, a former long-time AP reporter who now does PR.
I thought Kabler took a cheap shot at Messina in his weekend column when Messina called him seeking verification of a letter Kabler claimed to have received. Messina - in the comments section - claims Kabler left out part of their discussion.

Phil leaves out a key part of our conversation. I had offered an example of him writing about a document that doesn't exist.
Following the 2011 redistricting process, Phil began a column by citing "the old saw about politics making for strange bedfellows" and then alleged that a liberal delegate and a conservative former senator had jointly filed a Supreme Court challenge of the redrawn districts several days prior.
I called the Supreme Court after reading that column, thinking (as a reporter) that I had missed the filing. I was told that there was no such filing.

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201311290133?page=2&build=cache


To wit: that no one (outside the profession) cares no one has commented on the incident.

 

[Double J]

Sounds like Kabler doth protest too much.

Then I was completely floored when Messina said he wanted to see the letter to verify I hadn't made it up. Made it up? Do you think I would have stayed in this job for coming up on 29 years by making up stories?

Well, gee, Phil, I just don't know. Let's ask this guy what he thinks.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Sounds like Kabler doth protest too much.

Then I was completely floored when Messina said he wanted to see the letter to verify I hadn't made it up. Made it up? Do you think I would have stayed in this job for coming up on 29 years by making up stories?

Well, gee, Phil, I just don't know. Let's ask this guy what he thinks.

He tweeted today about it being three days and still no apology from the flack.

 

[Double J]

Yeah, just looked that up. Nice of him to claim to have been "misinformed" on that particular incident brought up by the flack, who I doubt will be apologizing any time soon - and why should he? The more Kabler belabours this, the more of an asshole he appears to be.