“Radio reporter fired over Obama T-shirt”:
Longtime Metro Detroit radio reporter Karen Dinkins has been fired after wearing a pro-Barack Obama T-shirt while covering a rally for the presidential candidate Sunday at the Detroit Public Library.
Dinkins, who has worked at WWJ (950 AM) for 13 years, acknowledged that the radio station fired her Monday, but she did not elaborate.
“I don’t want to comment at this time,” she said.
Georgeann Herbert, WWJ’s director of programming, said in a statement that Dinkins compromised the station’s objectivity by wearing the T-shirt.
“(The station) believes that our credibility with our listeners rests on the independence of our newsroom staff,” the statement said. “WWJ does not favor any candidate, party or issue.
“While we encourage employees to exercise their rights as citizens, we expect them to be on guard against any actual or perceived conflict of interest when covering news stories,” the statement said.
Bitchin.’
Of course, expect the teacher’s union to step in and set Ms Herbert straight. After all, one cannot press for free speech and simultaneously complain when teachers use their “free speech rights” to indoctrinate students in a way that is demonstrably partisan.
Agitating against fascism is totally anti-freedom. It’s a paradox.
Deal, bitches.
Being a pain in the ass defense lawyer, my immediate reaction to this story was, “She’s wearing a shirt…and she’s a radio reporter. As long as radio still has no video output, what’s the big deal?”
But in all seriousness, it’s about goddamn time the notion of an objective press was revived.
A drop of The-Way-It-Should-Be in an ocean of Let-Me-Se-Your-Papers-SCHNELL!
That’s so wrongful dismissal. At least Karen was honest. Signs of intelligent life would mean Charlie Gibson’s punk ass was calling me asking if he could use me as a reference and I would be all like bitch don’t call me again.
Benny! How are you, darling?
I fear she will end up rich because of it. Fire her anyway!
I remember when Rove resigned and some newsroom started cheering and clapping. One old-school editor actually had the nerve to say that maybe reporters should refrain from open displays of partisan cheerleading. I thought it was sad that the situation has deteriorated to the point that reporters no longer even try to hide their anti-Republican biases, but it was still cool that at least one old-timer remembered what journalistic professionalism looked like.
My tots’ school never actually stumped for Obama, per se. It was more of a case of individual teachers sending to parents emails of The One’s speeches which they had found especially inspiring. Just sharin’ the love, actually.
Gwenn Ifill thinks this bitch was just asking for it!
Living, Puck, but feeling as dismal as our fine host here. I’m feeling overwhelmed by an tidal wave of calumny that I’m powerless to dike.
Heh. Dike.
It might be better if reporters were required to wear the t-shirts of the candidates they support. With a button showing how much they donated to the campaign, the party and various PACs.
Gwen is just doing it cause that fat CNN guy died or got arrested or something. It’s an affirmative action thing. She’s not any more biased than any other mainstream journalist. Every one of them have a conflict of interest inasmuch if they’re seen as being soft on McCain or Palin they won’t be asked back and if they make Baracky or Joey Hairplugs look bad their career is a lot fucked.
Well, it’s heartening on one level.
Of course, waking up tomorrow to news that the radio station had been burned to the ground and that burned chunks of several members of management were hanging from area bridges wouldn’t surprise me.
Not one bit.
Back in high school (around ’95 -’96) I remember I had a flowery spanish teacher who used to use her classroom time waxing on about religion.
Some of her gems:
“There are many ways to God. Just because your way is not my way, doesn’t matter…it’s all the same.”
“If you don’t vote, you don’t bitch.”
yeah. what that had to do with Spanish language I’ll never know. But she was a hardcore lefty not even bothering to hide her indoctrination efforts.
What’s that swiftboater guy that writes books with a decided political slant in the titles….
Jerome …
He has a professional track record also.
They should make Gwenn sit next to him I think. They both can sit there asking questions with their books propped up in front of them at just the best placement angle.
BECAUSE OF THE …..
[…] Fighting the bias […]
“Agitating against fascism is totally anti-freedom. It’s a paradox.”
Totally appropriate for the reporter to be fired. Imagine the feigned shrieks of outrage, had the matter concluded differently.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/17563487/detail.html#
Of course the reporter was being positive in her support of Obama,
whereas the Mile-High Gendarmes find the 1st amendment something of a joke du jour.
” The Denver police union is selling T-shirts that poke fun at protesters at last month’s Democratic National Convention, but the main target isn’t laughing.
The back of the shirts reads, “We get up early to beat the crowds” and “2008 DNC,” and has a caricature of a police officer holding a baton.
The front has the number 68 with a slash through it, a reference to the Recreate 68 Coalition, which organized several demonstrations during the convention.
Click here to find out more!
Recreate 68 organizer Glenn Spagnuolo called the shirt appalling and tasteless.
Spagnuolo released a written statement Thursday saying members of the police union “clearly have no respect for the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.”
Detective Nick Rogers, a member of the Police Protective Association board, said police often issue T-shirts to commemorate big events.
Rogers said each Denver officer was given one of the shirts free and others are on sale for $10 each at police union offices.
He said the union expects to sell about 2,000 of them.
Rogers said he hadn’t received any previous complaints about the shirts.
Police arrested 154 people before and during the Democratic convention. There were few reports of violence.
In once incident, an officer was videotaped pushing a protester to the ground with his baton and telling her, “Back up, b—-.”
How’s dat werk, BITCHES!?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003844825
DA MAN just beating her ass down…torch the station…
I want a shirt
“I want a shirt”
Brown IS available…………..
Are you sure she didn’t get fired because no one would see the shirt on radio?
Can’t you be completely irrelevant in a little less space, cleo?
oh hey! is that a bunny over there!?
I’m not sure I want in on this world. I don’t care that people are in the tank. In fact, I’d prefer they were out front about it. Y’know, like wearing their preferred candidate’s t-shirt. That way I can assess their biases. Firing someone for wearing a t-shirt that advocates anything, up to and including NAMBLA membership, seems like a race to the bottom.
I mean, far be it from me to tell an employer how to enforce their dress code, but if we’re gonna fire people for dress code violation, let’s start with the stretch pants brigade and move rapidly on to the moose knuckle men.
The Hobbits never quit.
Never.
This isn’t about ‘compromised objectivity’ it’s about not being declared an in kind contribution.
Can’t have that
I know I shouldn’t feed the trolls, but I can’t help it in this case.
Regarding police and t-shirts, lighten up. If police didn’t try to find humor in their work, a skanky protestor in the one incident cited wouldn’t have walked away from the gentle push back. (Which BTW, was only done after she had been antagonizing the police while they were trying to arrest someone else.)
Tangentially related, a good friend is a homicide detective and he gave me a t-shirt and coffee cup with their motto, “We clock in when you clock out.” Everyone who’s seen them love them, but then I guess the dead are not likely to complain….
Can’t you be completely irrelevant in a little less space, cleo?
B Moe: Trollhammer. Zero space.
Sounds like a justified firing — she was on company time, in public, likely carrying equipment or an ID that connected her to the station.
This might be the only piece of good news I’ve heard all day.
Now, if it were her radio station, then she could do as she liked.
It wasn’t. Good riddance.
– Hey Cleo-dwarf- you’re trying to ruin their fun. Most of the mental misfits that infest these “rally’s” want to get some kind of hammering. They love to run back to their rats nests and brag to their equally brain dead buddies “Hey = looky here – I got My head busted for the cause, am I a Kossack. or what?”
She should have known better. When you’re on company time, you have to abide by company rules. She blew it and got pretty much what she deserved. But that’s my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. Maybe she just had a blond moment. Is she blond? Sorry but I’m blond and use that line all the time so no offense to blonds hopefully.
Comes down to, did the station have a written policy about maintaining an appearance of neutrality on the stories a reporter covers. At a rally there are people who will see that shirt and she undoubtedly also had gear bearing the station’s call letters. Since not everyone there is necessarily a supporter, the result is a blot on what the station considers its reputation for integrity.
We might disagree with how they measure that integrity — sending a pro-Obama reporter, T-shirt or no T-shirt, to cover an Obama rally isn’t the smartest move either — but the reporter knew or should have known that the T-shirt was out of bounds.
Of course, if the station had no such written policy, not only are they wrong and possibly liable for the firing, they’re dumber than a box of nishtoons.
So…uh…Radley Balko’s full of shit, huh…. Dang., I was starting’ to like his work.
Ya know, Jeff…I think the word “parallax” fits in that last sentence, instead of, or in addition to, “paradox.” Mebbe even ‘paragons of parallaxed paradoxes’ or sumpin’. You know. Like a kaleidoscope.
I hear Gwen Ifill is gonna wear an O! t-shirt tonight…Or a button, or sumpin’…
So old traffic and weather WWJ is acting like adults? They could give seminars on that, maybe a good stream of revenue.
#19 Cleo:
Blue is the new brown.
signs of intelligent life?
Comment by ‘tic on 10/2 @ 5:41 pm
Take sPIEholes example…
So far, no.
#16 Comment by Semanticleo on 10/2 @ 4:54 pm #
This, from a person who assures us indignantly that she “get(s) the Military.” Yes, I know, these are police, and police are different (at least we hope they are), but many of the features occur in common, particularly humor.
Semanticleo, if someone assured you that water does not flow downhill, would you accept their assurance that they “get” the Law of Gravity? This is about on that level. If you don’t see how and why that T-shirt is (a) funny and (b) a defense of civil liberties and free speech, I can assure you that whatever you “get” about the police and military is as wrong as expecting water to flow uphill.
Regards,
Ric
Semen has obviously got his ass kicked one too many times. He’s a victim. Help the victim. Help.
Brown is available… right from cleo’s closet.
Very late to a very dead thread, but this is an excellent idea:
Truth in journalism, wouldn’t that be refreshing?