Did Rep Buck McKeon (R) force local radio station to fire reporters?

[Gold Metal Flake]

(On Edit: McKeon is Rep of CA-25 and is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. And an asshole.)

That has been the accusation leveled at the radio station owner by the fired reporters. It's been back and forth for a while but noiw comes a report from Roll Call that sheds some light on the controversy.

http://hoh.rollcall.com/local-media-engulfed-by-mckeon-rogers-race/

Tasty tidbit:

Carol Rock is featured prominently throughout the story and she explains what actually happened during that October 5th meeting when Rock, Goldman & Archuleta met with Morris Thomas and Alyssa McCurley at McKeon's office. Rock says the first thing Goldman did was to apologize to McKeon's staff over the station's coverage:

Still, Rock said she totally believed the introductory meeting they all had scheduled with McKeon district director Morris Thomas and McCurley at the end of the week might provide everyone with a fresh start. At least, she did until Goldman opened his mouth. “Carl’s opening statement was an apology. We were blindsided by that,” she said of the jarring exchange. Archuleta was equally taken aback but somewhat less surprised. “It was like there had already been a conversation going on,” Archuleta said of the pre-emptive mea culpa. “Why would he apologize if they hadn’t complained? They must have before the meeting took place,” he surmised. And the appeasement didn’t stop there. “Carl then told them we would be taken off covering McKeon stories until after the election and that he would personally endorse Buck through the station to make amends,” Archuleta recalled. “All of this before we even had a chance to speak.”

McKeon's challenger is Lee Rogers. http://www.leerogers2012.com/
http://www.thebuckstopsnow.org/tag/lee-rogers/

[Gold Metal Flake]

1. Evening kick.