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Public Radio Station to Investigate Tirades Against GOP Congressman

Staffer told former Army colonel to ‘find a real job … and not live off the taxpayers money’

Rep. Chris Gibson (R., N.Y.) / AP
October 2, 2014

An upstate New York public radio station is vowing to investigate one of its affiliates following a Washington Free Beacon report revealing an employee’s tirades against a Republican congressman and U.S. Army veteran in an email last month.

An employee of WIOX radio in Roxbury, N.Y., told Rep. Chris Gibson (R., N.Y.), a former Army colonel, to get a "real job," in a September email and expressed hope that Democratic challenger Sean Eldridge would beat him in November’s election.

"We are taking steps to investigate this situation and ensure it does not happen again," wrote Carolina Basso, director of development and marketing for Binghamton-based WSKG in an email on Thursday.

WSKG owns and operates WIOX, Basso said. The former received its charter from the Board of Regents of the State University of New York and the New York State Department of Education, and has received federal grant money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

"It is a violation of WSKG policy to use company assets to express personal opinions," Basso wrote. "This incident appears to be a violation of that policy by a lone individual and it will be quickly addressed by our organization."

In a September email, sent in response to a Gibson campaign press release, a WIOX employee wrote, "Someday (hopefully) he will be replaced by Sean Eldridge."

"Someday maybe he will find a real job like the rest of us and not live off the taxpayers [sic] money as he has done his whole life," the employee added.

Gibson served seven combat tours in the Army before running for Congress in New York’s 19th congressional district. Eldridge, the husband of Facebook cofounder and New Republic owner Chris Hughes, is vying for the seat after passing on a House run in a nearby district in 2012.

Additional emails provided to the Free Beacon since Thursday’s report reveal that the WIOX staffer sent additional negative comments to the campaign in response to other campaign emails.

After the campaign sent a schedule of public events in the district in June, the employee wrote, "The same Chris Gibson who voted ‘no’ against secular chaplains in the military? Is he the one you mean? Can't wait not to see his pathetic face."

In another email, responding to a press release about Gibson campaign fundraising numbers, the employee wrote, "Our Congress is a disgrace to democracy and you are a huge part of it."

All of the emails were sent from WIOX’s official email account.

"WSKG Public Media is completely committed to objective, unbiased, and credible programming," Basso wrote. "This ethic and this goal applies to all of WSKG's producers and reporters, whether professionals or volunteers."