Our colleague Lynn Bonner has a first-rate story on the relationships between UNC-TV and the Golden LEAF Foundation: Golden LEAF gives UNC-TV six-figure grants, and UNC-TV runs favorable stories on Golden LEAF.

This is not the first story on UNC-TV's favorable coverage of its funders. Back in 2000, UNC-TV ran a series of shows promoting the UNC system's $3.1 billion bond referendum. That promotion stuck in the craw of some of the news staff at UNC-TV, like former North Carolina Now anchor Marita Matray. 

" 'North Carolina Now' is not geared to benefit the general public, but a small target audience - trustees, lawmakers and university people," Matray told The N&O. "Very often we were forced to do stories that would benefit those few people who could affect the budget of UNC-TV. I always felt like a hypocrite."

Generally speaking, if a news organization has a financial relationship with the subject of a story, the news organization should disclose the relationship and include contrary or critical perspectives in the story.

That's Journalism Ethics 101. In 2001 and 2010, UNC-TV executives responded to the conflict of interest question with the same response: UNC-TV is "an information provider" and not a news organization.

Departures raise questions about UNC-TV
The News & Observer
Monday, September 10, 2001

By Bill Krueger and Joseph Neff , STAFF WRITERS

With 11 transmitters blanketing the state, the reach of UNC-TV is vast. Almost anyone with a television in North Carolina can see what the state's public station is showing. UNC-TV can be a powerful way to get out news about the legislature, elections or natural disasters.

Or to promote the station's owner - the University of North Carolina system.

Several of the station's journalists - the people who report and produce UNC-TV's nightly news program, "North Carolina Now," or the weekly "Legislative Week in Review" - have left the station in the past two
years. They say they left, in part, because they felt that General Manager Tom Howe had turned UNC-TV into a cheerleader for the university system.

" 'North Carolina Now' is not geared to benefit the general public, but a small target audience - trustees, lawmakers and university people," said Marita Matray, a former "North Carolina Now" anchor who worked at UNC-TV for six years until August 2000.

"Very often we were forced to do stories that would benefit those few people who could affect the budget of UNC-TV. I always felt like a hypocrite." Matray now works for a Fox television affiliate in Cincinnati.
(continued)

The Golden LEAF Foundation has pledged $24 million toward an effort to bring broadband Internet to 69 counties throughout North Carolina.

The grant money was awarded to the non-profit MCNC, which has applied to the federal government for funding in round two of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. NCNC's total proposal was $111 million, but organizations applying are required to come up with 30 percent of their proposal totals in local matching funds.

Golden LEAF's $24 million will make up the majority of those required matching funds, with another $9 million already pledged by other organizations, said Golden LEAF president Dan Gerlach. It will be late summer or early fall before MCNC knows whether the federal government will award it the money.

If the proposal is approved the money will go to provide fiber broadband access to school districts, community college campuses, libraries, universities and other public institutions in those 69 counties, 67 of which were found to be underserved. The effort would create an estimated 1,000 engineering and construction jobs.

The Golden Leaf Foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant to Triangle North, an economic development group that promotes jobs in Franklin, Granville, Vance and Warren counties.

The funds will be used for marketing efforts to target industries such as life science, technology and defense that are likely to expand. Among the projects that will be funded:

— a direct mail and call program with medical device companies

— a campaign to identify and reach manufacturing companies

— meetings with companies that are looking for a site to expand

— media campaigns to raise awareness about the business parks in the four counties.

Triangle North also has received funding from the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center and business investors. It received an initial $40,000 investment from the Golden Leaf Foundation and used that money to acquire and develop four sites in each county for business parks.

Spirit AeroSystems' massive plant near Kinston remains on track to open in April.

Company officials on Wednesday held a briefing and walking tour of the facility under construction, reports the Kinston Free Press.

The 500,000 square-foot plant is expected to begin production next spring of fuselages for Airbus’ new A350 Xtra Wide Body passenger aircraft.

The plant, about 80 miles southeast of Raleigh, eventually will employ more than 1,000.

Spirit is the first major tenant of the N.C. Global TransPark. State officials offered a rich package of financial incentives to lure the Kansas company with the hopes it would attract other industry. That includes a $100 million grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, the biggest in the foundation's history.