12 News Is Letting an Activist Pose as a Reporter

Craig Harris, a reporter for 12 News, has abandoned any pretense of journalistic objectivity when it comes to Arizona's ESA program. He functions less as a reporter and more as a spokesman for anti-school choice groups like Save Our Schools Arizona — the same groups currently trying to kill a program that serves more than 100,000 Arizona students.

Here's the clearest example of his bias in action: Harris continues to publish claims that unallowed ESA purchases total 'around 20% — that's 1 in 5.' That figure is flatly wrong. The Arizona Department of Education's own statistical analysis found program misspending is less than 2%, with actual fraud or egregious purchases totaling just 0.3%. Craig Harris either cannot read a government report or chooses to ignore it. Either way, he's misleading the public.

It gets worse. On the heels of the Arizona legislature voting to protect military families from having their ESA funds seized by the government, it has now been exposed that Craig Harris was actively coordinating with those same groups. That's not journalism.

This matters because 12 News is owned by Nexstar, a company that publicly touts its commitment to journalistic integrity. Nexstar's stated principles include 'Accuracy and Truth' ('getting the facts right is more important than being first to air'), 'Fairness & Impartiality' ('we put our personal biases aside'), and 'Independence' ('we do not act on behalf of special interests'). Craig Harris violates all three — repeatedly and on the record.

Arizona families deserve honest coverage of the programs they depend on. Tell 12 News editors to hold Craig Harris to the standards Nexstar publicly promises — or stop pretending 12 News is a news organization.