AN OPEN LETTER TO CHARLO GREENE -- Dear Charlo, Congratulations, you got your 15 minutes of fame. Now please don’t come back. I know you’re probably pretty pleased with yourself. You used your position and influence as a reporter with KTVA in Anchorage to further your personal cause of legalizing marijuana in Alaska. Then you went out with a blaze of glory (pun intended), by punctuating your final story with this soon-to-be-viral sentence: “And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice, but f**k it, I quit.” mediabistro/tvspy/alaska-reporter-drops-f-bomb-as-she-quits-on-air_b129407 Well, wasn’t that clever of you? But here’s what you clearly fail to grasp, Ms. Greene: 1) If you want to push a cause, don’t get into journalism. Seriously. When you become a reporter, you swear off being an agent of change in the community. Your job is to report the facts on the issues, not lead the charge. 2) You have a responsibility to be transparent about your connections to a story. Every story you filed on marijuana -- without disclosing your ownership of the Alaska Cannabis Club -- is a breach of the faith the public placed in you. 3) When people watch your station, they are essentially inviting you into their home. You may not physically be there, but you’re basically in their living room. And I highly doubt you’d drop the F-bomb as a house guest. That’s the equivalent of what you did this past weekend. You don’t seem to get it, but it’s an enormous act of trust when someone allows you into their living room via their television. They’re trusting you to be honest, accurate and ethical. Plus, they’re trusting you to not do something that would harm their children, who might be watching. And you failed spectacularly. What I saw was selfish. Plain and simple. You wanted the attention. You wanted the spotlight. And you wanted to push your cause. The fact that it came at the expense of your station’s integrity, my industry’s integrity and even your own integrity, seems moot to you. In the end, you got what you want: A temporary boost of notoriety. But guess what? Your 15 minutes are just about up, but the record of your disrespect will last a whole lot longer than that. So, again, I say kudos on your attention-grab. Now please don’t come back. The business doesnt need you. Jeff
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 21:48:01 +0000
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