wfsb.com Photo

Bad news: Duby McDowell represents herself as a news analyst in a Tabor property propaganda video.

TV journalist turned hired gun Duby McDowell "reports" on her client—and doesn't tell.

McDowell, who covered state politics for WFSB-TV Channel 3 for years before starting her own PR firm, portrays herself as a WFSB representative in a televised video she put together for one of the state's most prominent law firms, Shipman & Goodwin.

The 30-minute video is called "New England Estates v. the Town of Branford."

It stars Tim Hollister and Jim Bergenn, two partners at the Hartford firm that won a whopping $12.4 million jury verdict against the town. Their expertise lies at the intersection of big law, big development and big marketing.

The show is being aired on Branford Public Access cable television twice a day. It is also shown in the nearby towns of Madison, Guilford, North Haven and East Haven, no doubt as a cautionary tale.

McDowell interviews the lawyers. Her title flashes across the screen: "WFSB Political Analyst," a reference to the Hartford station. Though she is no longer a staff reporter or talk show host there, she does sometimes appear on the air as an analyst. The video does not identify her as the PR agency head who put together the video.

With McDowell in the video's co-anchor spot, so to speak, is Tanya Meck, whose title is former chair of the Planning and Zoning Board in West Hartford. The set looks just like it could be a rebroadcast of a WFSB show.

McDowell and Meck sit at a table and toss softball questions at Bergenn and Hollister, who represented NEE, the would-be developer, during a six-week jury trial last year in Waterbury. The jury found that the town wrongfully took by eminent domain 77 acres of land on Tabor Drive. The town said it did so because it had health and liability concerns: The Tabor land shared a border with the town dump. Hollister and Bergenn say the town acted to prevent a large housing project on the site. The town has served notice it will appeal.

McDowell most recently served as a WFSB-TV political analyst when she and Brian Flaherty provided commentary on the Hartford mayoral race. One of the best known political reporters in the state, McDowell co-hosted Face the State for more than a decade. Over a 15-year period she served as a correspondent covering the legislature and the administrations of Govs. William A. O'Neill, Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. and John G. Rowland. WFSB is fully aware of her many roles; its website lists her company and her accomplishments.

The PR video, unlike a news chat show set in an actual television studio, is not a bipartisan discussion of the issues. For one thing it has no analyst from the other side. There's no one representing the town, not an official, not an attorney.

It is a set Shipman & Goodwin rented out for the occasion. McDowell does not tell the viewers that this show has nothing to do with WFSB-TV. She does not inform the viewing audience that Shipman & Goodwin is a client, that she is getting paid. She does not say the law firm hired her company, Duby McDowell Communications LLC, which specializes in press relations, strategic communications and media training. (One of her corporate partners is the Hartford lobbying firm of Levin, Powers, Brennan & Shea, LLC.)

Nor does Meck go beyond her former public title. According to her website, she heads MBAssociates, a firm that specializes in fund-raising, public relations and events. She is a former assistant secretary of the state. McDowell says in an interview the Shipman & Goodwin video was the first time the two had "partnered together." McDowell is asked whether the viewer might think she was doing this video as a political analyst for WFSB-TV, since that is how she is identified in this piece, rather than as a paid PR person.

"Yes," she says.

She pauses for several seconds, then amplifies her answer.

"However, it is pretty clear during the whole video....We needed some sort of title for everybody and that is what we came up with. But I think, I like to think that we made it very clear during the video that we referred several times to going to the website," she says.

"And I would have to look at the video that we put together but we have mentioned at the end that this is paid for by Shipman & Goodwin, etc., etc."

The television video did not start on public access television. It started out last month on a new Shipman & Goodwin website, one devoted to the Tabor trial's testimony, which was electronically recorded.

McDowell and Meck do mention the website many times. It is prominently displayed on a banner behind them. McDowell refers to it as "our" website.

McDowell is asked if she believes she successfully conveyed the message that she was working in a PR role. "Yes," she replies. "Hopefully that is the case. Yeah."

Judge for yourself. The video can be viewed at branfordtaborrecord.com.

McDowell says she was hired by Shipman & Goodman to do the video. "That has been sort of out there. We do public relations for them."

She also says she is still a political analyst for WFSB Channel 3. "I have many other titles because I have my own firm, a media consultant firm and that kind of thing."

And the purpose of having two interviewers?

"We were trying to come up with an informational vehicle rather than having Jim and Tim looking at the camera," she says. "We thought it would be more helpful if we were to ask them questions, to do an interview format, which is a little more, I'm trying to think how to describe it, which would be more informational for people..."

One informational point may be to make sure residents got the message that the Tabor verdict is getting more expensive by the month for the town. Bergenn observed $100,000 in interest accrues each month, plus attorneys' fees—not yet paid. Then there is the steep $4.6 million price tag the judge set for the land itself.

"We are certain to see property taxes rise," McDowell informs her viewers, without offering any other alternative, such as an insurance claim or possible reversal on appeal.

"There are a lot of myths out there," she says, characterizing Branford's legal position as a myth. Immediately Bergenn debunks the "myths."

She does not explain that the developers had an option to buy the land, that they did not own it. She does not say that NEE failed to get Planning and Zoning approval for the project. The judge told the jurors they could presume the developer would eventually get the approval.

Perhaps fellow "reporter" Tanya Meck might have had an informed opinion on this topic, given her long association with her own P & Z, but she did not volunteer her thoughts.

Since Bergenn and Hollister won the case, one wonders what they would have done had they lost. What is the purpose of their campaign? McDowell says she really had to check with her client before she could answer that question. She then suggested that I talk to Hollister.

Stay tuned.

This story originally appeared in the New Haven Independent (http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/branford_eagle).

editor@newhavenadvocate.com