Pasadena Now on Felicia Williams: Lack of Ethical Journalism

The original version inside the edited version (Photo – Screengrabs)

The dust has barely settled on the November election, and the public is being asked to think about the next one because it is only 13 months away. The thought makes me a little light headed. The struggle already is on for candidates to present themselves in the best light possible.

By Ryan Bell

Pasadena Now reported this morning that Felicia Williams officially launched her campaign for Assembly District 41 to replace the termed-out Chris Holden. What is troubling about that report is that the original version of the article included one and a half paragraphs that were later scrubbed from the article without a notation that the article had been edited. Apparently, someone wasn’t happy with Williams’ depiction in the first version and asked for it to be changed. Sadly, the public isn’t alerted to this change or the reason for it. Was something in error or did the candidate simply not like the reporting?

The portion that was removed reads:

Williams, who changed her political party affiliation from Democrat to ‘No Party Preference’ in 2022, was criticized recently by progressive Democrats for various votes as a councilmember, including voting against ‘hero pay’ for supermarket workers during the pandemic, opposing rent control and a state law that would limit campaign contributions, as well as suggesting in 2021 that Pasadena consider ignoring the state law requiring masks, and also opposed closing schools until Covid numbers improved.

Asked about the criticisms, Williams quoted a political colleague who said, ‘If everyone leaves the room happy, we haven’t done our jobs.’

Original unedited version on Pasadena Now (Photo – Screengrab)

The reader deserves to know why this was removed. The public record records Williams taking these positions noted in the removed paragraph. These decisions have not been popular with the voters in Pasadena and are out of step with the Democratic Party. For example, Measure H passed by a 7.6% margin in Pasadena, but in Council District 2 it passed by 8.5%.

The ethical thing for any news outlet to do would be to notify the public that the article has been changed, when, and why.

Next year’s election is going to be one for the history books—a veritable game of thrones. To be well informed, the public must do more than read local news reports credulously. We must ask what isn’t being reported, what else is there to know, and who is funding the campaign.

Ryan Bell is an organizer with Pasadena Tenants Union and a member of the Pasadena Northwest Commission.