Kelly Confirms Collusion, Brushes It Off

In his Sunday column, Times-Tribune writer Chris Kelly admitted that he texted a photo from School Director Bob Casey to Mayor Paige Cognetti’s spokeswoman, Wendy Wilson, while reporting on Congressman Rob Bresnahan’s visit to a local Democratic fundraiser. Kelly described the exchange as “something done millions of times a day by millions of people worldwide.” 

That may be true — but not usually by reporters to campaign staff. When a journalist forwards unpublished material from a source to someone working inside an active campaign, it’s deeply suspicious, if not outright unethical. 

The issue isn’t whether Kelly meant harm. It’s that he didn’t see a problem. The Society of Professional Journalists’ code tells reporters to “act independently” and to “avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.” Texting a source’s photo to a political operative doesn’t meet that standard, no matter how commonplace texting has become.

In defending himself, Kelly dismissed the entire incident as normal, then cherry-picked an unnamed local critic and mocked the person’s grammar. He has a history of targeting people’s education levels, having previously attacked former School Directors Bob Lesh and Bob Sheridan for holding GEDs—something he even alluded to in Sunday’s column. His repeated references to “the Machine” serve to distract from what many see as the Times-Tribune’s own “Machine”, one that has promoted Cognetti since her initial appointment to the Scranton School Board.

For years, the paper’s coverage of Cognetti has bordered on sycophantic. The Times has repeatedly claimed she resigned from the School Board to take a job in the Auditor General’s office, even though that job didn’t begin until two months after her resignation. Her resignation came on the very day she was scheduled to vote on a budget that included a tax increase—after months of reporting that her Harvard MBA and financial expertise would somehow deliver a “miracle budget.” That miracle never arrived. Instead, the district faced devastating program cuts and higher taxes.

Evidence of this pattern includes front-page coverage of personal milestones, articles that mirror her press releases almost word for word, selective omissions that soften criticism, and close professional ties between the newsroom and her campaign team—Kelly himself has acknowledged that Wendy Wilson previously worked at the Times.

Kelly now downplays his role in “Picturegate” by saying Wilson is his friend. Yet Wilson circulated the photo in a Democratic group, mocked Director Casey’s appearance—impacted by cancer treatment—and tried to stir up activists against him, suggesting he was “MAGA” simply for speaking with a Republican. In truth, the controversy seems less about Casey’s actions than about redirecting attention from Cognetti’s absence at events supporting local Democratic candidates.

It’s worth noting that Wilson apologized to Kelly, but not to Director Casey. That detail reveals the real issue for Kelly: not that he shared a source’s photo, but that he received blowback for doing so.

The episode also shines a light on the culture inside our local press. Readers have long noticed that coverage of Cognetti tilts friendly, and moments like this don’t help. Transparency is the cure. The Times-Tribune should address the situation directly, explain its policies on sharing source material, and make clear how it separates reporting from campaigning.

Mistakes happen. But pretending they don’t matter erodes trust. In Scranton, trust is hard-earned and easily lost — and in journalism, it’s the only currency that counts.