By BOBBY HORN JR.
CROSBY After getting a black eye, to use a term from Crosby-Huffman Chamber of Commerce President Steve Coon, from Houston news station Fox 26 which aired a report on registered sex offenders that made Crosby look like a haven for sex predators Coon said he believes that the station has made up for their mistake.
Last week they (Fox26) ran a story that was very complimentary to Crosby and they apologized, he said. I dont think that we need to do anything else to pursue the matter.
The original report, which first aired on May 8, said that based on a population of 1,700 residents Crosby had a ratio of 30 residents for every predator. The term predator used by the report referred to registered sex offenders.
The Crosby-Huffman Chamber of Commerce, along with area business and individuals, took immediate offense to the report, citing what Coon referred to as being full of misrepresentations and inaccuracies.
The main area of contention, Coon said, was reporter Carolyn Canvilles source of population figures. Coon said that the 1,700 figure quoted in the reported consisted of only a small portion of the area and that the entire population of ZIP Code 77532 is closer to 20,143. Given the 62 sex offenders registered in 77532, the ratio is closer to 1 to 343, not the 1:30 cited in the report.
Coon said that within days of the report he, on behalf of the chamber, sent a letter to the news station asking for multiple retractions, a series of positive reports about Crosby, and the firing of Canville as well as those responsible for conducting research for the report as well as those who allowed it to air.
Following the letter, Coon he had multiple conversations with Fox, both locally as well as with their national legal representation.
In response to the complaints, Fox 26 aired multiple retractions beginning on May 22. Initially Fox26 refused to run a retraction on their website, even though the report was posted on the site. After more pressure by the chamber Fox26 said it would put a retraction on the website.
Then, on May 31, the station ran another story about Crosby. This time Canville interviewed Superintendent Mike Joseph and Crosby Brethren Church Pastor Dr. Larry Koslovsky, which presented Crosby in a better light.
Coon said that based on the second report, as well as apologies from the station he intends to meet with the chambers board of directors this week and recommend that no further action be taken against the station.
I know that there are others out there who want Fox26 to do more, he said. But I am satisfied that we got the positive coverage that we deserved.
