It seems Duane Dudek has been assigned damage control duty for WTMJ radio and TV.
After the Journal Broadcast Group released the statement that its employees engaged in PUBLIC political activity by signing recall petitions against Governor Scott Walker and Steve Wexler gave an embarrassing interview about the issue, Dudek reports that two more Milwaukee news outlets have announced their employees also signed.
There seems to be a rush by Dudek to prevent the Journal Broadcast Group from bearing the brunt of the attention regarding this lapse in journalistic integrity.
Dudek writes:
Two more local television stations Wednesday confirmed that their news employees signed petitions to recall Gov. Scott Walker. The stations came forward in the wake of an admission on the WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) news Tuesday night that as many as six broadcast employees at WTMJ had signed the petition.
Six? Not "two or three"?
Steve Wexler, vice president of radio and TV for Journal Broadcast Group, would not reveal the names of the personnel in question. But WTMJ-AM (620) sports show host and reporter Trenni Kusnierek confirmed that she had signed a petition.
Of course, she confirmed it. She's been tweeting about it. She can't deny it.
Note to Journal Broadcast Group: Caution your employees about babbling on social networking sites.
Some of the posts are not befitting public figures and members of the media.
On Wednesday, WISN-TV (Channel 12) confirmed that three photojournalists came forward in the wake of the WTMJ-TV report. The matter "is being dealt with internally," said WISN-TV president and general manager Jan Wade.
Overt political activity, such as signing the petitions, is usually prohibited by news organizations because it creates mistrust in the objectivity of their news coverage.
"We have a station policy which prohibits it," said Wade. "In addition, as journalists, our folks know that they must remain totally unbiased."
I'd like to know if the WISN photojournalists cover politics.
Viewers have the right to know their names, given that signing the recall petition is a PUBLIC record.
WITI-TV (Channel 6) also confirmed that one of its photojournalists signed the petition and was being reassigned. Chuck Steinmetz, station president and general manager, said the person came forward last month after employees were reminded of station policy.
"From that day forward until he leaves, the station they are not going to be allowed to cover anything related to Scott Walker," said Steinmetz.
Channel 6 did the right thing, naming the individual and permanently barring him from covering anything related to Scott Walker.
Journal Broadcast Group is owned by the owner of the Journal Sentinel.
WDJT-TV (Channel 58) did not respond to questions about its employees.
Yes, Journal Broadcast Group is owned by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Makes sense that Duane Dudek has taken on the task of spreading the shame around to include other media outlets besides WTMJ and TMJ4.
I think this could be just the tip of the iceberg.
Are the media employees being forthcoming about their PUBLIC political activity? Are they being honest?
Did any pull a Lynn Kristensen/Lynn Kirstense?
Bottom line: It really doesn't matter how many come forward. Every day we see the political bias embedded in reporting - news, weather, and sports. Some offenders are worse than others. Some local stations are more overt in their slant.
It's important to remember that NOT signing the Walker recall petition is not necessarily an indication of journalistic integrity.
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UPDATE, April 5, 2012, from Mark Belling:
Shari Dunn, On-Air Milwaukee TV News Anchor, Signed Walker Recall Petition
CBS 58 Reporter Who Signed Recall Petition Reported Brazenly Biased Story On Recall
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