A group of Democrat Latina elected officials pledged to boycott 9News in a recent Zoom forum with a representative from Standard General, the largest shareholder of the station’s parent company TEGNA.
The calls for a boycott stem from allegations by former 9News reporter Lori Lizarraga who says she experienced various forms of racist behavior at the station.
The Zoom call on Friday included Lizarraga, Denver Councilwomen Candi CdeBaca, Amanda Sandoval, and Jamie Torres, State Sen. Julie Gonzales, State Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Denver School Board Member Angela Cobián, and Amit Thakrar, an investor with Standard General.
CdeBaca blasted KUSA saying the station has shown they will “abuse, misuse, and disregard” Latinos irrespective of any superficial human resources changes at the station.
CdeBaca said she will no longer interact with the station absent a change in management.
“I want us to boycott 9News,” CdeBaca declared.
“The way to take control of [our influence as Latinas] is to make conscious choices about where we invest our time, our labor, our energy. And frankly, 9News doesn’t deserve that.”
Colorado House Assistant Majority Leader Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez said she is refusing to speak with 9News, and has called on her fellow Democrats to abstain from speaking with the station about any issues pertaining to immigration.
Gonzales-Gutierrez echoed those sentiments in a now-deleted tweet.
The state representative shared she has already refused to speak with certain 9News reporters, something Denver Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval said she had also done.
Current Rocky Mountain PBS reporter Sonia Gutierrez, also a 9News alumnus, said she would not advise Latinos to work at 9News.
Gonzales revealed that 9News’s General Manager Mark Cornetta had originally agreed to meet publicly with their group, but backed out once Standard General accused the station of racist behavior in their SEC filing.
Thakrar said TEGNA refused Standard General’s request to review documentation regarding the allegations from Lizarraga and other former TEGNA employees.
“Unfortunately, they responded by saying ‘we’ll provide you with a little bit of information, and by the way you have to sign an NDA, and you can’t share this information with anyone,'” Thakrar said. “So quite frankly, again, that’s not an acceptable response. We we are pushing forward, and we are continuing to fight with them. And we’ll play it out however we have to.”
Standard General’s filing with the SEC implied they could take legal action against 9News’s parent company if TEGNA refused to disclose the information.
With TEGNA’s annual shareholder meeting set for May 7, it will certainly be interesting to see what Standard General has up their sleeve.
See the highlights of the Zoom meeting below:
House Assistant Majority Leader @SerenaForCO said she is also boycotting 9News, and state leg. Democrats are showing solidarity by refusing to discuss her immigration bill with the station. #copolitics #coleg pic.twitter.com/4DpY5ftsm3
— CO Peak Politics (@COpeakpolitics) April 28, 2021
.@SenadoraJulie revealed KUSA General Manager Mark Cornetta cancelled their followup meeting with local Latina elected officials following Standard General accusing TEGNA of racist behavior in a federal filing. #copolitics #coleg pic.twitter.com/y9RgmVNuPq
— CO Peak Politics (@COpeakpolitics) April 28, 2021