A Liberian Journalist based in the United States, Moses D. Sandy said Spoon Communication Network’s popular nighttime radio show, Spoon Talk has lost its relevance, trust, and credibility in the objective and critical analysis of news events in Liberia.
Sandy, who is the National President of the Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA), said it is a double standard for panelists of Spoon Talk to continue holding discussions on other national matters in Liberia, but at the same time deliberately shying away from critically dissecting the legal and medical implications of the recent criminal indictment issued against the show’s Lead Panelist and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Spoon Communication Network, Stanton Witherspoon.
Federal prosecutors in the United States recently indicted Witherspoon for allegedly conspiring with 24 other accused individuals in the creation and sale of fraudulent nursing diplomas and transcripts to quasi-licensed practical and registered nurses in the US.
Witherspoon and his co-conspirators were charged with participating in a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses. They allegedly sold more than 7,600 bogus nursing certificates, and they earned US 114 million dollars. The overall scheme, the indictment said, involved the distribution of fake nursing diplomas issued by three South Florida-based nursing schools: Siena College in Broward County, Palm Beach School of Nursing based in Palm Beach County, and The Sacred Heart International Institute located in Broward County.
The defendants risk up to 20 years imprisonment in a federal penitentiary and property forfeiture if convicted.
Spoon Communication Network in 2021 established the Spoon Talk Show with the sole purpose of providing an objective and credible media platform for Liberians at home and abroad to have a say in matters affecting the peace and stability of their country, but according to Sandy, the talk show has now lost the trust and confidence of the Liberian people.
Sandy said the federal indictment has put a significant dent in the image and reputation of the show and its panelists.
He said in the wake of CEO Witherspoon’s criminal indictment, the talk show has been reduced to a mere talk shop for politicians. Moreover, the Liberian Journalist said the charges have drawn Witherspoon’s integrity and trustworthiness, and that of Spoon Communication Network, especially the Spoon Talk Show into question.
He said until CEO Witherspoon is cleared of the criminal charges levied against him by federal authorities, he and Spoon Communication Network’s reputation and credibility remain shattered. The media guru observed, “It is often said in journalism that the medium is the message. This implies that if the medium is not trustworthy, the message will also, not be credible”.
He called on Witherspoon to muster the courage to recuse himself from the show permanently and resign as CEO of the Spoon Communication network with immediacy, to enable him and his family to focus on his legal battle at this critical time in their life.
“Resigning as CEO of Spoon Communication Network would also, enable the entity’s management to put in place strategies for restoring the lost credibility his criminal charges have caused the network,” he added.
Spoon Communication Network owns and operates Spoon FM and TV, Farbric FM, and Super FM in Monrovia.