No suggestion has been made that Amelia Ferrell Knisely, formerly with West Virginia Public Broadcasting, published anything false or libelous. And yet she was fired last month after reporting on the alleged abuse of people with disabilities at West Virginia's foster care and psychiatric facilities. The AP isn't shy about making clear what happened:
In a statement, Knisely said her news director told her the order came from WVPB Executive Director Butch Antolini, former communications director for Republican Gov. Jim Justice. Antolini has served as executive director since 2021, when his predecessor was ousted after Justice overhauled the agency's governing board. Justice has tried unsuccessfully to eliminate state funding for WVPB in the past and was accused of appointing partisan operatives to the board. WVPB receives around $4 million a year in state funding.
What better thing to read next that Knisely's article, "Reports Show People With Disabilities Are Abused In State Care", which I would never have heard about had she not been fired for writing it.
