Afflicting the Comfortable: Journalism and Politics in West Virginia (West Virginia & Appalachia) - Hardcover

Stafford, Thomas F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1933202041 ISBN 13: 9781933202044

Publisher: West Virginia University Press, 2005

Synopsis

In 1990, the New York Times wrote, ""Government corruption was not invented in West Virginia. But there are people who contend that West Virginia officials have done more than their share over the years to develop state-of-the-art techniques in vote theft, contract kickbacks, influence peddling and good old-fashioned bribery, extortion, fraud, tax evasion and outright stealing."" While investigating such events as the Invest Right scandal, Thomas Stafford, a former journalist for the Charleston Gazette, would find himself in a very precarious position. As a reporter he felt obligated to tell the whole truth, and he believed in the need to serve the public and those West Virginians who were being abused by a political machine. In Afflicting the Comfortable, Stafford relates such tales of the responsibility of journalism and politics in coordination with scandals that have unsettled the Mountain State over the past few decades. His probing would take him from the halls of Charleston to the center of our nation's ruling elite. Guided by his senses of duty, right, and fairness, he plunged head first into the misdeeds of West Virginia's politicians. His investigations would be the preface to the downfall of a governor and an adminstration that had robbed the state and the citizens of West Virginia for years.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas F. Stafford (1914-1993) was born in Grafton, West Virginia, USA. He began his career in journalism with The Raleigh Register in Beckley, West Virginia. In 1954 he joined the staff of The Charleston Gazette where he served as a political reporter, writer of the ""Affairs of the State"" column, and associate editor. In 1989 he was presented with a special award from the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University for his career in journalism and his service to the university.

From the Back Cover

In 1990, the New York Times wrote, "Government corruption was not invented in West Virginia. But there are people who contend that West Virginia officials have done more than their share over the years to develop state-of-the-art techniques in vote theft, contract kickbacks, influence peddling and good old-fashioned bribery, extortion, fraud, tax evasion and outright stealing." While investigating such events as the Invest Right scandal, Thomas Stafford, a former journalist for the Charleston Gazette, would find himself in a very precarious position. As a reporter he felt obligated to tell the whole truth, and he believed in the need to serve the public and those West Virginians who were being abused by a political machine.

In Afflicting the Comfortable, Stafford relates such tales of the responsibility of journalism and politics in coordination with scandals that have unsettled the Mountain State over the past few decades. His probing would take him from the halls of Charleston to the center of our nation's ruling elite. Guided by his senses of duty, right, and fairness, he plunged head first into the misdeeds of West Virginia's politicians. His investigations would be the preface to the downfall of a governor and an adminstration that had robbed the state and the citizens of West Virginia for years.

From the Inside Flap

This tale of the looting of billions of dollars of West Virginia s limited natural and financial resources for the modern equivalent of thirty pieces of silver should be required reading for political scientists, journalism students, and conservationists . . . Like a mason building a house brick by brick, Tom Stafford builds his case in great detail, showing a half-century of plundering and incompetence by others given high public trust, including at least one individual whose wrongs may yet end up costing the state as much as a billion dollars. John Olesky, journalist

Edition details

• Publisher: West Virginia University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1933202041
• ISBN 13: 9781933202044
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 331