By Frank Gayaldo
March 13,2017
Stockton- Mike Klocke, editor of the Stockton Record, and I spoke on the phone for 15 minutes today about the Record’s unwillingness to retract their “DA alleges Silva stole millions” headline. No other news outlet has reported such a large amount nor has District Attorney Tori Verber’s prosecuting the case made such a claim. Instead they are alleging “thousands”, which is veer very different from “millions” in both amount and severity.
Record Headline
Mr. Klocke said that the Record stands by their story, and was not responsible for what other media outlets are reporting. He said their newspaper did additional investigative reporting and interviews “beyond just the DA’s press conference”, but refused to reveal who their sources were or even what those sources said. I asked if he was willing to at least publicly admit they are quoting anonymous sources, but Mr. Klocke said he was hesitant to tell me more as his words “might get twisted”.
Record Editor Mike Klocke
When I asked for a written statement to support his refusal to provide who the Record’s sources within the District Attorney’s office is, he said “you have Roger Coover’s statement and I stand by that.”
I asked if the Record or he has read the Grand Jury’s sealed reports, and he said “I think that would be illegal. No I haven’t seen any sealed reports. You are just fishing”.
When I asked if he thought a minimum average of $41,000 a month embezzled ($2 million divided by 48 months, the lowest amount needed to justify the claim of millions) seemed outrageous to him, Mr. Klocke said he “refuses to say what he thinks about that number.”
When I suggested that there were talks of boycotting the Record for disseminating “fake news”, Mr. Klocke defended the Record’s reputation and said his newspaper has been in existence for a long time {since 1895} and he anticipated will continue to exist for many years to come.
At question rightnow for many in the community is whether or not the Record’s covering of recent events is clouded by personal and political bias or motivation. Some are also asking if their unsubstantiated reporting may poison the jury pool risking a conviction if Silva is guilty.
