OT: Pittsburgh tv producer fired for Brady “joke”

[PittPatriot]

I don’t think he deserved to get fired but at the same time I have no sympathy over the fact that he did get fired.

The problem with stuff like this is that not haters will use it as “proof” and “conformed media reports” that the whole thing happened.

In today’s age where we don’t know what is “real” or “fake” news, journalistic integrity and being honest without personal bias in delivering the news is more important than ever.
KDKA is one of the oldest radio stations in the world. Their television news channel carries some weight. This employee thought he was being funny and made a mockery of it.

If I want funny and provocative I will go to Facebook. I like my News boring and monotone. Just tell me the truth and let me decide what to think about it.

 

[IcyPatriot]

$1,746 of $10,000 goal

Raised by 101 people in 1 day

Click here to support Help the Producer who made this graphic organized by Connor Trushel

 

[n6249c]

With all due respect, as I know you are a very intelligent person, I think you may not be aware that a television broadcast is bound to journalistic standards in the same way a newspaper is. This is not some kind of opinion-driven show or comedy sketch. When a station is reporting or live broadcasting the news or events, factual reporting, or an attempt at factual reporting, is the absolute backbone of the entire operation. This is why you never see little snarky comments or Wayne’s World-style queue cards stuff from smart-ass producers. It doesn’t happen and makes a total mockery of the station’s integrity.

.....

Following?

With all due respect that is a steaming pile of dung.

“In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the [television] news in the United States.”

That has not been overturned nor superseded so it stands as law of the land. Or at least precedent to be cited in jurisdictions where there is no settled case law.

So there is no journalistic integrity just broadcaster financial interests. In this case, potential liability exposure for defamation.

11. The Media Can Legally Lie - Top 25 of 2005

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Link to interview with this guy

https://deadspin.com/an-interview-with-the-local-tv-producer-fired-for-a-gra-1832202041

Guy sounds like a schmuck. Doesn't seem to realize how unprofessional his deliberate act was. The station correctly fired him. Sounds like these kinds of low-level producers are a dime a dozen. Guy's a schmuck for apparently not understanding that, too. The station will easily replace him with someone who will simply do their job and not treat the on-air graphics like their personal stand-up routine.

Regards,
Chris

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes!

 

[Koma]

Link to interview with this guy

https://deadspin.com/an-interview-with-the-local-tv-producer-fired-for-a-gra-1832202041

That's the second article Deadspin has put out defending this guy. Considering their hatred of Brady and the Patriots, that confirms that firing him was the right move by the station. I'm sure Deadspin would say it was a joke and minimize if someone put up a graphic insulting one of their favorites.

This statement from the ex-producer also doesn't generate any sympathy from me:

At 5:05, my boss calls me in and she was like, You need to be here now. [My manager] said, “What were you thinking, it’s all over social media, people screenshotted it, why did you do that?” So I explained about Deflategate and everything and basically just told her my thinking. They said, “Well, we can’t have that,” and all this stuff.

In a twist, all the inaccurate information the media pushed about deflategate led to this guy putting something inaccurate on TV and getting fired for it. Maybe he should be making that charitable donation in Chris Mortensen's name.

 

[IcyPatriot]

I don't think he should have been fired ...
Reprimanded based on that stations standards perhaps ...
But if they are really strict over there then he should have known and now he owns it.

 

[Simpelton]

Am I wrong for not firing him If I was his boss? Reprimand him, absolutely.

Fire him, I wouldn't.

Now If he did it again I would.

What this man did is a crime. It's the crime of slander.

The media has some wiggle room under the law when targeting famous individuals but that production doesn't extend as far as allowing a media outlet to perpetuate an outright falsehood.

If the graphic had said "alleged cheater" or "suspected cheater," this man might still have a job today, after a self-abasing public apology. But "known cheater" is a pretty concrete statement that is provably incorrect, and even under the famous legal precedent of New York Times v Sullivan he could have put his bosses in some very, VERY hot water for that one.

 

[tasmlab]

Am I wrong for not firing him If I was his boss? Reprimand him, absolutely.

Fire him, I wouldn't
Now If he did it again I would.

I could see it go either way. In the end, he lost a mid-level graphics job and the station has to replace a mid-level graphics guy. Nobody is really getting hurt and there will be plenty of employers in Pittsburgh, maybe in a different field, who will congratulate the guy for his joke.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

I don't feel bad for him at all. ChEaTer thing aside, have some sense of professionalism when you're at work. I don't have a group policy set up to run a slide show of all our Super Bowl highlights when our computers go into sleep mode, even though everyone here is a Pats fan, because it's just unprofessional. People are a little too comfortable these days at work

 

[Raymond]

I am amazed with the number of people who think the man shouldn't have been fired. As producer, his job was to deliver the news content that was intended by his media editors. Not some cute version he wanted to run to impress a friend or two of his who really happen to hate Brady.

This is like your Uber driver staging an accident or getting you lost for a gag.

Or, a waiter/chef delivering food to your table with fake plastic insects for a gag.

The difference being, this went out to thousands of people at once.

Sheesh people, how about some accountability for one's actions.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Sheesh people, how about some accountability for one's actions.

An alarming number of people have no understanding of this concept.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

It's really hard to figure but the local news outlets seem to love contrarians. Tomase now laughs and pokes fun at how much he is hated. Apparently he's rationalized a way to enjoy living with it.

He can rationalize and enjoy his pathetic decisions as much as he wants to.

What irks me is that, in spite of smearing us, he is back earning in the same profession that he also managed to smear (perfect example of 'fake news' before that term became popular now), and yet doesn't seem to have shown any sincere contrite nor appears to have paid any penalty for the inexcusable blunders he willfully committed that has caused and continues to cause angst among the Patsfans.

We have forever been branded by the non-Patsfans as cheaters and it stuns me to this day when friends @ work and outside ask me how can I root for a team that cheats. Such is the damage done by this moron that can never be washed away by rational discussion and presentation of facts.

End rant.

Back to enjoying the SB.

GO PATS!

 

[Kontradiction]

I don't think he should have been fired ...
Reprimanded based on that stations standards perhaps ...
But if they are really strict over there then he should have known and now he owns it.

Sucks that he has a mortgage but at least he has savings. Tough luck, kid. The hardest lessons to learn are always the ones you remember.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Exactly. There us nothing "lighthearted" in any context when you publically label a person a "known cheater" especially when the person and family was dragged through the mud, was suspended and had his legacy all but destroyed. Hardy, hat har har.

I think yours is the best response to this, so far.

The reference to "journalistic integrity" here conjures up an image of Goodell and his NFL.

Have you ever read the NY Post?

I'm a lifelong Pats fan and Brady guy all the way since we drafted the kid.

When I first saw the image I immediately got the humor in it. It's silly. And it's funny.

Comparable taglines:

"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr./Communist Agitator"

"LeBron James/Won't Shut Up And Dribble"

"J Robert Oppenheimer/Traitor, Soviet Defector"

"Rubin Carter/Murderer"


My reaction is first, this guy did NOT create all the anti-Patriots propaganda. The NFL, its owners and local Boston and national media did.

Second, the byline underscores the absurdly obvious corruption of the NFL ownership, and total lack of integrity in the NFL front office.

"ICE/Patriotic Heroes Nobly Defending Our Country"

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I won't be donating to his GoFundMe.

As for how this should've been handled by the TV station, that's entirely up to them. I simply don't feel the need to laugh at a guy when he's down. We are a sports fan site. This is a guys real life we're talking about here. Regardless of how he feels about the Patriots or Brady why wouldn't I wish him all the success in the world?

In my view the reporter shouldn't have done it but this was an over reaction to a fairly minor act. I don't see how it could make the common person not trust the man's journalistic integrity. I wouldn't be inclined to disbelieve any REAL story he tells me because he did this. I think this was simply a young man trying to poke a bit of fun and he didn't think anything would be made of it. Perhaps his judgement was slightly off but to me something like this shouldn't get someone fired.

Thanks for your common sense.

I think the thing's hilarious. It's obviously a joke.

I think even Tom could see the humor in it. Roger that.

 

[RedSleevesPinkStripes]

Thanks for your common sense.

I think the thing's hilarious. It's obviously a joke.

I think even Tom could see the humor in it. Roger that.

Have to disagree. Brady is a humble but very proud man that takes every slight personally even if he doesn't complain about it much.

I think the national narrative that he's a cheater bugs him and is part of the reason he continues to be fueled to compete and prove them wrong.

He's had to deal with this narrative since he was "Tuck Rule Tommy" and I think he's finally fed up which explains his "fk you" attitude of late.

Millions of losers constantly discrediting something you work so hard for, you can only ignore it for so long.

This instance is just another in a long line of BS he's had to deal with over the years and will add to his fire to keep pissing people off with his greatness.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I think he's finally fed up which explains his "fk you" attitude of late.

You just described me, and my response to Patriots denigration since the Beatles broke up - the reason Tom's had a different experience from Joe Montana, or any other great athlete and champion who did not play for the Patriots.

 

[IcyPatriot]

$2,306 of $10,000 goal

 

[QuantumMechanic]

With all due respect that is a steaming pile of dung.

“In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the [television] news in the United States.”

That has not been overturned nor superseded so it stands as law of the land. Or at least precedent to be cited in jurisdictions where there is no settled case law.

So there is no journalistic integrity just broadcaster financial interests. In this case, potential liability exposure for defamation.

11. The Media Can Legally Lie - Top 25 of 2005

"journalistic standards" are ethical and practical ones, not legal ones. As @Deus Irae notes upstream, stunts like this can open a media outlet to a defamation case.