A viewer who wrote me brought up a good point I hadn't even considered before. He made an interesting connection between Micron CEO Steve Appleton and former Boise Mayor Brent Coles. The connection? In tough times, each only talks to KTVB. The viewer saw Appleton's recent interview with KTVB and wrote, "This reminds me of the mayor-gate when channel 2 broke the story ... and channel 7 was the one that the ex mayor would only talk to because they 'were fair to him' in other words they asked the feel good questions."
More on that in a moment, but If you don't know the history of 'Mayor-gate,' a little background. Years ago, I was the News Director at the CBS affiliate here, KBCI. We had gotten a whiff that some things were really rotten at Boise City Hall. I put reporter Jon Hanian on the story, and piece by piece, the story began to explode. Eventually, the story got so big, reporter Mike Keckler got into the mix. Jon and Mike no longer work in TV news, which is a shame. Both are pros, and through their skills and determination, the whole Coles corruption saga began to unravel. I left KBCI before Coles resigned and was eventually convicted, but kept up with what was going on.
And on the day Coles resigned, to which station did he give the 'exclusive' interview? It wasn't KBCI, which had broken and followed the story. It was KTVB, which had virtually ignored the story until it became too big to ignore. Now why do you think Coles did that?
First of all, I know first hand Coles was angry at KBCI about all the critical (but truthful) coverage, and second, I suspect he felt KTVB would offer him a more sympathetic atmosphere to get his message out.
Which brings us to Steve Appleton, who also only talks to KTVB. He won't even return the 'Idaho Statesman's' phone calls anymore after they broke a story about the true severity of his injuries in a plane crash. Seems a little thin-skinned, don't you think?
And to our viewer's point, if you watched the KTVB interview with Appleton, there were a lot of 'feel good' questions. At one time, Appleton was literally asked "Do you 'feel good' about how you've treated employees?" Other questions included pressing topics like whether he feels uncomfortable when he goes to the grocery store.
In all fairness to KTVB (and I fully admit being fair to them is not my strong suit), they have their own identity and journalistic style of doing things. TV stations do have different personalities. 'Stationality' we sometimes call it. KTVB's more non-confrontational stationality has worked well for them, couldn't be more different from our approach, and Steve Appleton knows this.
He knows this because of an incident that happened between us and Micron last year. Micron set up a tour of one of its fabs and a sit down interview with Mark Durcan. Coincidentally, this came just days after Idaho and 34 other states announced they were suing Micron for illegal price fixing. We asked the questions for which Micron had set up the session, but we also asked Durcan about the price fixing lawsuits. Micron's PR people were furious! How dare we ask a legitimate question to the COO about an impactful and newsworthy event that could potentially cost Micron hundreds of millions of dollars!
Now I know what some of you are thinking. This is all 'sour grapes' from a News Director who is getting 'scooped.' Well, I suppose I am going to continue to get scooped, because as our previous experience with Mr. Durcan shows, we are not willing to change the way we do journalism just to gain access to people. If Mr. Appleton consented to an interview with us (fat chance, by the way) but put conditions on it, we would honestly decline. The only interview we are willing to do with him is one that allows us to ask probing questions with the goal of getting revealing answers. That's what people whose jobs are on the line and a community that sees its largest private employer shrinking need right now.
So what would we ask?
Mr. Appleton, why is Boise being targeted for the vast majority of these layoffs? What would you say to citizens and community leaders who are concerned that Micron is reducing its commitment to its home community despite all of Boise's and Idaho's efforts over many years to be supportive of this company? Are parts of your Idaho operations currently for sale? What is your vision of the future of the Boise fabrication facilities and employment here in the coming years? As an Idahoan who runs a 'born-and-bred' Idaho company, do you feel any special loyalty to this state above and beyond Utah, Virginia, or Asia? If so, how are you demonstrating that now?
Mr. Appleton, would you describe the removal of the responsibilities of 'President' of Micron as a demotion? Specifically, how will this change your role within Micron? Do you see yourself still with this company in five years? How do you respond to critics, including Forbes magazine, who have described your financial stewardship of Micron in recent years as poor?
Mr. Appleton, the buck stops with you. Tell us about some mistakes you have made that helped generate this financial crisis. Considering the fact those mistakes are a factor in putting hundreds of Idahoans out of work, do you have anything you would like to say on a personal level to the many good former employees Micron has just laid off?
Those are the tough questions, and I'm just getting started. Appleton may have good answers, and him having the courage to 'take them on' would garner the CEO a ton of respect. It's an interview that will never happen. Appleton's approach to the news media insures it, and like Coles, isn't very courageous.
That very last tough question we would have asked is particularly important because my sense is Mr. Appleton is missing the real crux of all the anger we see in current and former Micron worker's observations on this web page and elsewhere. It's the 'coldness' Micron is displaying about all this. At the bottom of this blog, I have cut and pasted the verbatim statement Steve Appleton sent out the other day. It's very dry and not terribly sympathetic. If I was doing Appleton's PR, I would have added a line or two that read something like this.
"I truly regret this action will mean the loss of employment for many hard-working people who have served Micron well for so many years. They have been the backbone that has built this great company, and to the extent that any mistakes I have made may have led to this necessary cutback, I offer a heartfelt apology."
Layoffs are painful and people are angry about that. My sense is that anger is being multiplied by the seeming lack of candor, caring and gratitude that's coming with it.
Read the replies on here and on message boards about the atmosphere at Micron and you get a picture of people who feel they are being treated badly. Appleton publicly answering tough questions about Micron would help his hard working employees plan a course for their lives. Appleton showing some real gratitude and public compassion would make them feel better about their labors for a company to which they've given so much.
Steve Appleton is probably absolutely correct in saying he has to cut hundreds of jobs to save thousands, but many clearly get the sense by far his biggest concern is looking out for #1.
As always, your replies are read and welcome. You can post using anonymous names and e-mail addresses. We may use some on-air.
Here's Appleton's statement from the other day.
"This is a challenging time for Micron. The global markets that our products are sold into have experienced severe oversupply and price degradation. Micron is pursuing a number of initiatives to drive greater cost efficiencies and revenue growth across our operations. This is a process that we are working through, and it will take time.
As part of this process and in line with these initiatives, we’ve determined that some workforce reductions in certain areas of the company will occur as we realign the business. We have completed many of these workforce reductions, which account for less than 10 percent of our workforce in the Treasure Valley. In instances where employees are affected by workforce reductions, we are doing everything we can to help with the transition, including providing severance and outplacement services. Additional changes, including the evaluation of functions more efficiently performed through partnerships or other outside relationships, will come over time as we work through them. Workforce reductions are always difficult, but these initiatives are being pursued to support the longterm global viability and competitiveness of the company."
