West Virginia Public Radio reporter Amelia Knisely claims she was fired after an investigative report about the abuse of disabled patients at facilities operated by the state.
She claimed she was fired by West Virginia Public Broadcasting Executive Director Butch Antolini after she continued to investigate the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. She was told to drop her reporting by Antolini, the former Communications Director for West Virginia Governor Jim Justice. According to The New York Post, Justice had previously tried to strip the annual $4 million in funding given to WVPB.
Knisley claims that WVPB News Director Eric Douglas told her she could no longer work on the story because the Department of Health and Human Resources had threatened to discredit the network. The state also asked for a complete retraction of her reporting, according to Knisley.
West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority chairman William H. File III rebuffs Knisley’s claims, stating that she remains on the station’s payroll. He added that Antolini “was not coerced or pressured by anyone”.
