A young woman named Sara Dayley made a wise decision last year when she walked away from a reporting gig at the NBC affiliate in St. Louis. She became the spokeswoman for the West County EMS & Fire Protection District, reportedly for $65,000 a year. Now she wants to moonlight on weekends at the Fox affiliate, anchoring the morning news.
This arrangement
drew a raised eyebrow from Joe Holleman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
When
asked about potential conflicts of interest, Dayley referred questions to
Audrey Prywitch, news director [at the station]. Prywitch said that because the
station is aware of Dayley’s other job, "We’re even more cognizant (of bias),
because we don’t want to appear to have any kind of bias.”
Then Mr.
Holleman called on Al Tompkins, a former news director who teaches at the
Poynter Institute. He huffed and puffed: “
At some point, let’s either be a
journalist or let’s be a public relations spokesperson. The public already
suspects we show favorites. … Disclosure minimizes the sin, but it doesn’t
erase it.”
I’m
guessing Mr. Tompkins has never watched TV news on weekend mornings. It’s a
continuous loop of stories from the week before and breathless updates twice an
hour about mayhem from the night before. The weatherman appears a lot; maybe the
sports staff left something useful. Anchoring said broadcasts for hours is a chore few volunteer for.
In this
case, the disclosure is on the record. It has been decreed that any story involving
the West County EMS & Fire Protection District will be presented by Sara’s
co-anchor. Give Ms. Prywitch credit from a creative solution that will sit well
with bean counters and the news staff. Call the naysayers what they are – hacks
who witness real biased reporting every day and never call it out.
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