Week in Review: The Battle for Accountability

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by WILL FOLKS

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South Carolina is a state with limitless opportunity. It is home to decent, hard-working people, widespread entrepreneurial zeal, abundant natural resource and picturesque landscapes.

Unfortunately, the Palmetto State continues to be governed by a corrupt class of politicians presiding over an antiquated, dysfunctional maze of malevolent bureaucracies and incestuous institutions. In this self-serving system, politics routinely triumphs over truth and justice – to the ongoing detriment of our citizens and taxpayers.

At FITSNews, we have dedicated ourselves to holding these politicians, bureaucracies and institutions accountable – whether it’s the money we provide them, the trust we place in them or the outcomes we expect from them. This week’s episode – which covers a range of stories – highlights both successes and failures in that quest.

In our first segment, research director Jenn Wood and I discussed several cases we covered this past week – including the federal government’s decision to seek the death penalty against 35-year-old Jaremy A. Smith of Marion, S.C. for the March 2024 murder of emergency medical technician Phonesia Machado-Fore.

While this prosecutorial decision marked an important step toward accountability, a Columbia, S.C. judge’s decision to grant a personal recognizance bond to an 18-year-old accused of brutally stabbing a man was yet another step backward.

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Jenn and I also discussed her ongoing work on ‘Toxic Justice,’ a series exploring the Palmetto State’s latest ‘judicial hellhole.’ This week’s story focused on the interplay between South Carolina’s shady asbestos docket and an upcoming election for the state’s supreme court.

In our second segment, special projects director Dylan Nolan – who cranked out a metric ton of content this week – joined me to discuss a semi-positive development in the case of sex offender Travis Reed Gaye, one driven by community and media pressure (including pressure from our outlet).

Dylan and I also discussed his exemplary reporting on the Silfab Solar scandal in York County – which has dominated headlines across the state over the past forty-eight hours.

As always, a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who watched this week’s program and remember – your support enables everything we do at FITSNews. The lights, the cameras, the accountability… all of it is a direct result of your subscriptions. So, if you value the sort of independent, unapologetic coverage we provide – please help us out and consider subscribing today!

If you’re already a subscriber, you can gift a subscription to a friend… or buy some of our cool merch!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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