San Antonio Express-News

June 16, 1997

Column: OpEd; Letter
Comment - Media ignoring fraudulent infomercials
Author: Larry Gainor
Edition: Alamo
Section: Editorial
Page: 11A
A February Express-News story on television infomercial promoter William McCorkle indicated that his
home buyout scheme may have pulled in $90 million in 1996. One reason these scams are so lucrative is that
the public remains uninformed about the backgrounds of infomercial promoters, and local television news
departments are in no hurry to remedy this situation. No matter how sleazy or fraudulent an infomercial may be,
as long as the television station is receiving ad dollars, our local station officials seem to look the other way.
Such is the appalling state of journalistic ethics in San Antonio.
Several days before McCorkle came to town, I called KENS-TV's news department and told them that he
was being investigated by the Florida attorney general's office and that the Houston Better Business Bureau had
issued a report about him. I was told that this information would be passed on to News Director Jerry Ridling.
I then e-mailed copies of these reports to KENS, KMOL and KABB and telephoned KSAT's assignments editor,
Preston Jones, with the same information.None of these stations chose to inform their viewers about McCorkle
until after the attorney general had shut him down.
Last October, I wrote a letter to KENS-TV news anchors Chris Marrou and Deborah Knapp Bonilla and
sent copies to the station manager and assignments editor, asking if infomercial promoters' financial relationships
with KENS-TV exempted them from the news department's scrutiny. While I did not receive an answer to my
question, General Manager Mike Conly assured me that KENS-TV wouldn't want to provide airtime to anyone
who wasn't "squeaky clean."
Since then, KENS-TV has aired programs by Kevin Trudeau (criminal convictions for credit card fraud and
larceny), Financial Freedom Report (under investigation by the Utah attorney general, currently being sued by the
Federal Trade Commission) as well as McCorkle.
Perhaps the city would be better served if KENS-TV were to worry less about "Perverts in the Park" and
have Marrou direct some of his telegenic outrage toward "Cons on KENS."
It's worth noting that other stations are also reluctant to cover this matter. KMOL news anchor Randy
Beamer assured me both on the telephone and in an online chatroom on Dec. 18 that KMOL was interested in
"doing something" with this story. So far they've ignored it.
Moreover, KMOL's assignments editor told me that they would not cover a fraudulent infomercial if it did
not air on their station. (Apparently local stations overlook each other's ethical lapses.)
Express-News readers can't count on Jeanne Jakle, either. Her adolescent obsession with tonsorial trivia
apparently precludes coverage of this situation. (In fairness, I should mention that WOAI radio's Jack Riccardi and
KISS radio's John Lisle and Steve Hahn were willing to entertain discussion of this subject on their respective
shows.)
I don't know how much money leaves the San Antonio economy due to infomercial scams, but clearly
concerns about job security due to the closure of Kelly make our city an attractive target for peddlers of fraudulent
home businesses and other get-rich-quick schemes.
Similarly, our troubled education system may make some San Antonians more susceptible to the
overstated claims of convicted fraud Kevin Trudeau's reading and math programs. But it is the willingness of local
journalists to sell out their audience to any con man with a fat ad budget that ensures that infomercial fraud will
not be leaving us anytime soon.

Larry Gainor is a San Antonio Internet enthusiast.

Copyright 1997 San Antonio Express-News