INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER IN SAN ANTONIO NEEDS HELP

On October 12, 2022, I was fired by San Antonio Express-News publisher Mark Medici in a cynical display of corporate bullying that defies journalistic ethics and common sense.

I was fired while reporting a lengthy political profile on a Republican public relations woman, Trish DeBerry, who was badly behind in her race for County Judge. Hoping to derail the story, DeBerry went to Medici, a non-journalist who favors clickbait and fluffy features, and accused me of "bias" and asking two questions in our 3-hour interview that she claimed were sexist.

(The questions concerned her relationship with a "trusted" male political adviser who had twice been accused of domestic violence. He denies the allegations. Second, after DeBerry told me she had been divorced twice and "had experienced domestic violence," I simply asked if she would consider getting married again. Not to me.)

I know of no other allegations against me. Interestingly, the interview went remarkably well. DeBerry and I chatted amiably on and off the record about our families, inside politics and personal issues. After the interview, we exchanged numerous fact-checking texts and emails as I continued the reporting. Before its killing, editors called my first draft "fabulous."

A few days later, after catching her in yet another deception, I said to DeBerry in a text that she was "not credible."

I wasn't the first. Texas personal injury attorney Thomas J. Henry and Bexar County (San Antonio) Sheriff Javier Salazar have both publicly called her a "liar."

She complained to Medici. Two senior editors met with me and conveyed her complaints, which I called ludicrous. Medici insisted I meet with him, but refused to let me bring a lawyer, tape record the meeting or to even inform me officially in writing of any allegations. There was no semblance of a fair hearing.

I declined a severance package that required me to not seek any legal action. The money would have been nice. Until a few years ago, Express-News reporters had gone 10 years without a pay increase.

I need your help to hold Medici and the paper's owner, The Hearst Corporation, accountable for this corporate hit. Here's a link to a story in San Antonio's Current magazine: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/top-san-antonio-express-news-reporter-fired-after-complaint-from-bexar-judge-hopeful-trish-deberry-30135768

I'm a veteran journalist with more than 45 years of experience. I've written for The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic and Sports Illustrated, among many others, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2019 by The San Antonio Express-News. (Strange, that.) I'm a former U.S. Senate investigator who held a top secret security clearance and testified before Congress, and later taught at St. Edwards and The University of Texas at Austin.

In all those years, after interviewing Mafia figures, star athletes, pedophiles, and hundreds of politicians big and small, none has ever accused me of racism, sexism or homophobia.

Accusations of bias? Certainly. Almost every week. Goes with the job. In those 45 years and despite the very contentious nature of investigative reporting, I (and my employers) have never been sued over any of my stories. Nor have any of them run substantive corrections concerning my work. I'm fair and conscientious.

My reputation has been damaged by the actions of publisher Mark Medici.

Even a dubious charge of sexism against a reporter can end a journalism career because we live in a time where allegations are confused with facts.

I hope to raise at least $50,000 to file a federal defamation/retaliation lawsuit and do a public awareness campaign involving posters, advertising and news stories.

If you're thinking this seems to be a huge over-reaction to a pretty transparent political ploy and perhaps there is some deeper animosity held by Medici and Hearst against me, I would agree. Here's what it is: In 2016, I was demoted at the Express-News after politely telling the investigations editor that I wanted to be paid fairly for overtime. I soon learned that their good ol' boy policy of "just take Monday off" seemed to be a company-wide practice that was saving Hearst millions of dollars a year nationwide.

After my demotion, I filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor, which did an investigation and found numerous employees were due backpay.

For that, I was the target of subtle and not-so-subtle retaliation for the next seven years, culminating with my firing last October. Various editors were allowed to file false disciplinary reports against me, exclude me from staff meetings, kill or undermine stories of mine that had already been fully vetted, and in one egregious example, pursue for months an off-the-books investigation with a freelancer that was directly on my beat (then transportation), without any editor informing me of the management-approved poaching. Their surreptitious story ran atop a Sunday front page.

If this seems like a petty workplace skirmish, consider the damage done to aggressive honest journalism when a dedicated reporter can be so easily taken off a story and fired over allegations that many experienced journalists view as absurd.

Hearst and Mark Medici should be ashamed that he was so easily played by a desperate, yet sophisticated, political operative.

Please help me get this sordid affair into a courtroom and the Hearst management on a witness stand and under oath.