A KTVA reporter announced that she is the president of Alaska Cannabis Club and quit her job during a live broadcast Sunday night. Reporter Charlo Greene, whose real name is Charlene Egbe, has been reporting on the legalization ballot initiative since April.
KTVA’s news director posted an apology for Greene’s outburst and use of an expletive on Facebook and Twitter but could not be reached for comment.
Greene posted a video on YouTube explaining why she quit so publicly.
“Advocating for freedom and fairness should be everyone’s duty, I’m making it my life work,” she declared in the video. “To uphold what America stands for truly: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Ideals that now need to be defended.”
The Vote No on 2 campaign spoke out against Greene this afternoon. They said they spoke with KTVA’s news director about her biased reporting after a 5-part series that ran this spring.
Kalie Kalysmat, the executive director of the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police, said she also expressed concerns about Greene’s bias. She says Greene’s reporting has been a disservice to Alaskans.
“When you have a reporter in a major news outlet as this one, professing her own point of view in stories, it’s really a very sad thing and difficult for the public to know what’s true,” she said during the news conference.
A YouTube video of the TV clip has gone viral, and Greene’s IndieGogo campaign to raise $5,000 for voter education on the marijuana legalization ballot initiative is more than half way toward its goal.
Anne Hillman is the healthy communities editor at Alaska Public Media and a host of Hometown, Alaska. Reach her atahillman@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Annehere.
