Conflicts of interest still matter to editors when it comes to their reporters. The public can point to even small ones that and say it compromises their reporters’ and their news organizations’ reporting. It turns out that Charlo Greene of Alaska’s KTVA had a BIG one: during a report on the Alaska Cannibus Club in the context of November’s vote on legalizing marijuana in the state she told viewers she was the owner — and with an adult expletive thrown in quit on the air. And literally walked off, visibily stunning the show’s anchor. [icopyright one button toolbar]
Not a good career mainstreak broadcast move but, then, those involved in the marijuana industry these days are destined to make big and steady bucks far and beyond those who work in the always tenuous world of broadcast news. The AP reports that her real name is Charlene Egbe and that “she knew about a month ago that she would be leaving the way she did. No one else at the station knew anything about it, she said.
The station issued a formal statement and apology on the incident which was, if traditional journalistic standards and facts mattered anymore, totally correct:
By now many of you have seen one of our reporters use inappropriate language and quit her job during Sunday night’s newscast. We apologize.
In addition, she had a personal and business stake in the issue she was reporting, but did not disclose that interest to us. This betrayed the basic bedrock of responsible journalism.
At KTVA we strive to live up to the highest journalistic standards of fairness and transparency. Sunday’s breach of those standards is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.
Thank you for watching our news broadcasts and be reassured our mission is to present the kind of journalism that lets you make informed decisions about the community in which we all live.
Bert Rudman
News Director
KTVA 11 News
Anchorage, AK
Although the video of her quitting will long be seen on You Tube individually and in complilations, a)a reporter quitting on the air in the way she did with the language she used showed a lack of professionalism the station’s management most assuredly did not believe she had when they hired her and b)if there is a big conflict of interest this is one. She should have disclosed her business to her employers and most likely they would have then kept her off that particular story. She should never have been allowed to cover it unless, at the least, she had disclosed ownership of her business when she did.
But to many that’s oh, so, 20th century. What matters is the emotion and the drama.
The saving grace is she did, in the end, reveal her conflict of interest — in a way that many today will cheer and applaud and perhaps emulate — and she’ll become a big media celebrity and in the end make mega media bucks in the long run for her business and also her way of quitting when she was in the spotlight. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her resurface in a high profile job in the media at a later date.
TWITTER:
Anyone else think what @Charlo_Greene did was unprofessional? Not just the outburst to quit, but the journalistic integrity?
— John Colucci (@johncolucci) September 23, 2014
If you want to resign to fight weed laws this is how: 'F*ck it, I quit': TV reporter Charlo Greene quits live on air http://t.co/bfWGrlHkx8
— jaydeepee (@reddeviljp) September 23, 2014
Reporter who said "f it I quit," @Charlo_Greene live tonight on @CNNTonight at 10pET.
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) September 23, 2014
The 'I Quit' Lady (Charlo Greene) explains why she quit
https://t.co/wJP29QlNOy
— donwill (@donwill) September 22, 2014
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.