Reporter Tells His Side as to Why He was Fired

Sinclair’s KOMO (Seattle) fired Reporter Jonathan Choe after he posted a tweet and video to his social media that some believed to be propaganda for the white nationalist group the Proud Boys.

Choe’s tweet included a video of the rally in which he attended, but was not assigned to do so.

Choe is now giving his side of the story in a post in which he titled, “I GOT FIRED(CANCELLED) FOR LIVE TWEETING A PROUD BOYS RALLY.”

He writes that he, “wanted to be an observer at Saturday’s Proud Boys’ event and started live tweeting. I wasn’t taking sides. I wasn’t saying anything was good or bad. In fact, none of the marchers would talk to me on the record because they “didn’t trust the mainstream media.” So I just started following the march route. Aside from some middle fingers and heckling from those who opposed the rally, the day ended peacefully and without incident.”

About that tweet that got him fired?

Choe writes, “In a Tweet recapping the day, I decided to create a photo montage with natural sound from the march(in TV news this is what’s called a “NAT Pkg”). One of my videos picked up music blasting from a speaker strapped over the shoulder of one of the protesters. I could not make out the words and had never heard this song in my life. You could also hear car horns and the footsteps of marchers as I weaved in and out of the crowd. I laid some photos over this natural sound from the video and hit send.”

“I later learned the song is called “We’ll Have Our Home Again,” and is sometimes played at white nationalist rallies. This piece was never meant to air on KOMO News and it never did. I wanted it to be a conversation starter, and it sure did incite an unexpected response. In hindsight, I wish I added more context to this Tweet. But before I could clarify or respond to the criticism, my news director told me to take down all my social media related to the Proud Boys march. I was also told by my boss not to speak to any outside media. The following day, I was fired from KOMO.”

Choe claims he wasn’t taking sides with his post and was just telling the story about the proud boys and their rally. He pointed out that “a Proud Boy was shot by an Antifa protester during a clash near the Capitol Campus in Olympia.”

Choe claims to be an independent observer but many will tell you that perception is often a telling sign.

Choe posted a follow-up tweet, once again using the proud boys’ anthem, and explained it was all part of his “nat sound” montage.

He tagged FTVLive in that post and it was “liked” over two hundred times.

FTVLive scrolled through a number of people that “liked” the post and many of them refer to themselves as Trump supporters or “patriots.”

While Choe claims he is objective, he appears to have a number of fans on the hard right and not very many on the left.

Again, it is about perception and it appears that while Choe can claim he is not taking sides, the viewers might see it differently.