Coal Intimidation

Let's say you live in West Virginia.

And
you want the local prosecutor to bring a criminal charge against
Massey Energy.

And
the responsible Massey executives.

For
manslaughter.

For
the deaths of the 29 coal miners who were killed on April 5.

At
the Upper Big Branch Mine.

In
Raleigh County.

So
you put up a web site -- prosecutemassey.org.

And
you urge people to sign

a petition to the prosecuting attorney in Raleigh County -- Kristen

Keller -- urging her to bring a prosecution.

And
in the first week, almost 2,000 people sign the petition.

And
let's say you design a billboard that reads -

29
Coal Miners Dead.

Prosecute
Massey for Manslaughter.

And
you purchase three billboard spots in the eastern part of the state.

Far
from coal country.

Four
hours away from where the miners died.

And
put up the billboards.

And
people see the billboards driving by.

When
they get home, they go to the web site.

And
they sign the petition.

And
donate money to buy more billboard space.

And
then you call billboard companies in coal country.

And
you call up the biggest billboard company in the state and the country
for that
matter.

Lamar
Advertising Company.

And
you say -- hey, I want to pay to put up a billboard.

Sure,
the billboard man says -- what does the billboard say?

Well,
we'll send you the design.

And
you send the design.

To
Bruce Morrison of Lamar.

Bruce
says he'll check with his general manager.

He
writes back and says -- okay, we'll do it.

But
you can't use the word "manslaughter" because no charge of
manslaughter has been brought yet.

But
Bruce, the point of the campaign is to persuade the prosecutor to
bring a manslaughter
charge against the company and responsible executives.

Before
the statute of limitations runs -- April 5, 2011.

But
Lamars say no.

We
then turn to Kanawha Valley Advertising -- the second biggest billboard

company in the state.

I speak
with the head sales guy -- Frank Young.

Up
front, I ask Frank -- do you have Massey as a customer?

Yes,
Young says, but I'll ask the owner -- Wade Leslie -- anyway
to see what he says.

Days
go by.

No
answer.

Finally,
we get a
letter faxed
to us.

From
Wade Leslie.

It's
dated May 10, 2010.

Leslie
doesn't say -- what are you nuts?

Massey
is one of our clients.

I'm
not going to do this.

No,
Leslie says it's about the miners and their families.

Leslie
says that "our primary focus at the present time is to assist our
communities
in the healing process and pray for the families affected by this
terrible tragedy."

So,
we wait a couple of weeks and e-mail Frank Young back and ask -- let us

know when we can start to talk about justice for those responsible and
bringing
a criminal prosecution.

The
statute of limitations is April 5, 2011.

No
answer yet from Frank Young.

Finally,
we approach Friendly Outdoor Advertising.

Friendly
is a small company that has a number of billboards in Raleigh County --

some near the Massey mine where the 29 coal miners died.

We
talk with Mike Rincic, the general manager for Friendly.

At
first, Rincic says -- yes, we'll do it.

He
says -- they've done controversial billboard ads before -- including
for "adult entertainment" businesses -- like Lion's Den
and Southern X Posure -- a topless bar.

"Some
of the advertisers -- like Wendy's -- don't want to be
on the same board as an adult entertainment store. And I can
understand that
for the kids' sake."

"And
in today's world, there's a lot of women in charge of marketing
-- and they consider this exploitation of women," Rincic says.

But
we take the heat, he says.

And
so, this Massey billboard shouldn't be a problem.

We
talk price.

And
we talk location.

I'll
e-mail to you the locations, Rincic says.

No
e-mail arrives.

Then
Rincic calls the next day.

He's
changed his mind.

But
Friendly turns out to be a touch more honest than Lamar or Kanawha
Valley.

"We
worried about the possibility of vandalism -- they could hurt our
property
or tear your sign down," Rincic said.

"Plus,
a lot of the people who have advertising with us are affiliated with
the mining
industry. It's probably not a wise business decision."

Do
you have Massey as a client?

"No,
but I'm sure that people we deal with sell supplies to Massey. Car
dealerships
sell to Massey employees. We just don't feel like it's a good move
for us."

"And
we're struggling -- we need the business."

"We
never said no, until we asked around," Rincic said.

"I'm
up here in Logan," Rincic said. "And yesterday, I'm talking
to a machine shop guy. He probably services the coal mine industry.
And I tell
him about your billboard. And this guy says to me -- you want to get
yourself
killed, don't you?"

"Yesterday
I was going to send you four locations that would have been possible.
Vandalism
is a possibility. And they could just tear your sign down. And there's

a big possibility some of our customers just might not renew with us.
They might
say -- what did you do that for? Risk wise, if you were in my position,

you would probably do the same thing."

"I
was trying to be fair. But I just couldn't do it."