Wednesday, July 11, 2007

More Amy Jacobson

Friend-of-the-blog Pat Hickey pointed out a couple of good articles about fired NBC 5 Chicago reporter Amy Jacobson.

The Chicago "free registration" Tribune's Phil Rosenthal writes:

Jacobson, who hails from suburban Mt. Prospect, leaves behind a staff at WMAQ that includes Marion Brooks, who had to testify last year about her four-year relationship with former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell that began when she was an anchor in that city.

Brooks is an anchor for NBC 5's late afternoon news broadcasts.

The Chicago Sun-Times' Robert Feder scored an exclusive interview with Jacobson, and he offers this nugget of insight:

Throughout her 11 years at the station, Jacobson has been known as an aggressive reporter who ingratiates herself with sources and sometimes employs questionable methods to get stories. Though she was a lightning rod for rumors, her bosses generally looked the other way and praised her for bringing them the scoops.

Jacobson told Feder:

I thought they would suspend me and then support me. I can't believe they did this after all I'd done for them. They know why I was there. There was never any challenge as to my motivation or intent.

The Sun-Times in a separate article under the headline, "Other questionable moments in journalism," the Marion Brooks saga and a 1988 Chicago story involving former CBS 2 Chicago reporter Giselle Fernandez, at the chagrin of federal authorities, taking an accused drug dealer in to surrender--but after enjoying a cruise on the man's boat.

But the Sun-Times forgot one dark journalistic moment. One of its City Hall reporters, Ray Hanania, became became romantically involved with City Treasurer Miriam Santos in 1990.

Hanania, better known now as a Palestinian activist, was fired for his lapse.

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