John Vibes

September 15, 2015

(ANTIMEDIA) Baton Rouge, LA — A television news reporter says he was recently fired from a station in Baton Rouge for asking a politician about his previous involvement in prostitution rings. According to reporter Derek Myers, he approached U.S. Senator David Vitter about his history in prostitution — something that Vitter actually confessed to back in 2007.

Vitter was implicated in the infamous “D.C. Madam” case after his name was outed by Deborah Palfrey, the whistleblower in the scandal who ended up dead in an “apparent suicide” the following year.

Hours after Myers dared to attempt some real journalism, he was fired by NBC affiliate WVLA, and he says it was because he was asking the senator tough questions. Myers believes that Vitter’s office called WVLA after the incident and threatened to pull $250,000 worth of campaign advertisements from the station if they did not fire him.

A spokesperson from Vitter’s campaign has called the accusation, “1,000 percent false,” telling The Advocate that no one from his office called the station threatening to pull the ads. However, the fact still remains that Myers was fired just hours after his encounter with Vitter. Further, Myers alleges he overheard a conversation in the newsroom just after he was fired detailing how Vitter’s office did, in fact, threaten to pull the ads.

The incident began last Tuesday in the parking lot of the Secretary of State’s office, where Vitter officially entered the race for governor. While Vitter was walking to his car, Myers approached him asking him about his admitted involvement in prostitution. Vitter ignored his questions and rushed to his car.

“Senator Vitter, don’t you think the people deserve answers?” Myers asked him.

Myers is now seeking employment with a news organization that can appreciate his true investigative journalism.

It is important to point out that this is a perfect example of how politicians can control what the media says by hanging advertising dollars over their heads. This can also be seen with major military contractors like Northrop Grumman and Boeing. These quasi-government corporations have an influx of commercials all over the mainstream news, but what average citizen has any interest in the products these companies have to offer? Are rocket launchers and aircraft carriers on the average American’s shopping list? Of course not — these advertisements are not designed to sell products, but rather, to be used as leverage over the broadcasters the same way Vitter’s political advertisements may have been used against Myers.

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