Documents Also Allege Insults to Jews, Indians
Kevin O’Brien, the fired head of 13 stations of the Meredith Corp. broadcast group, denies that he made the racist comments attributed to him, his lawyer told Journal-isms today.
But court documents include corroboration of the comments from others and allege that O’Brien insulted not only African Americans, but Asian Indians and Jews, and made inappropriate gestures toward women.
“That woman was so ugly she could knock the balls off a pool table,” was one comment O’Brien is said to have made in an employee meeting.
A number of employees said O’Brien routinely expressed extreme dislike for the chief financial officer, who is Indian, and “stated on numerous occasions that ‘that idiot hates me. My father always told me you can’t trust those Indians,'” according to the previously confidential Nov. 8 memo to O’Brien from Meredith’s general counsel, John Zieser.
When O’Brien was asked to reschedule a “news summit” in Orlando, Fla., so that it did not conflict with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, O’Brien said words to the effect that an employee “could be there if she wanted to be. These Jewish holidays—I’ve always thought those existed just so those people either wouldn’t have to work or could take the day and do inventory,” according to the memo.
The document was among those unsealed by court action.
Lawyer David Casselman of Tarzana, Calif., noted that many of the allegations came in a Sept. 23 letter from the then-general manager of Atlanta’s WGCL-TV, Susan Schwartz. “The woman who made the allegations that pointed to the investigation was fired. She was slated to be fired and was fired, and that fact was leaked to her, and two days before she was terminated, she made them. . . . where were all these complaints and reports” of ill treatment before then? Casselman asked.
O’Brien “denies making the statements. There are very significant facts that prove he’s not a racist,” Casselman told Journal-isms. He said he would not disclose them so as not to tip off his legal strategy.
Art Slusark, a spokesman for Meredith Corp., said that, “we conducted a thorough outside investigation to look into this” and employed two Atlanta-based lawyers, one white, A. Lee Parks of Parks, Chesin & Walbert, and one black, Paul Oliver of Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Nelson & Schneider. Their conclusions went to the Meredith board of directors in October, and the board decided to fire O’Brien, Slusark said.
According to a Meredith proxy statement filed in September, O’Brien, who is now unemployed and living in San Francisco, according to his lawyer, made $570,000 in salary for 2004 and received a bonus of $1.689 million, plus stock awards.
“His contract was due to expire in six months and only by terminating him for cause did they avoid . . . paying him his termination bonus,” Casselman said in explaining Meredith’s action.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Black Journalists applauded O’Brien’s firing.
?This is one case where a sensitivity seminar wouldn?t begin to repair O?Brien?s documented racist, mental breakdown,? said NABJ Vice President-Broadcast Barbara Ciara, managing editor/anchor at WTKR-TV in Norfolk, Va. ?The question the company should be asking is, ?How can we right the wrongs he meted out?? Now it must repair the broken careers of those he discriminated against.?
“Ciara also warned other media companies to avoid hiring O?Brien for any position in which he could do more damage to the careers or psyche of black journalists,” the NABJ statement said.
The Nov. 8 memo from counsel Zieser to O’Brien listed the allegations and the results of the investigation in each case.
It said, “You admitted you made the statement” about the pool table in an employee meeting. “You said you were using her as an example of the ‘Old Meredith.’ Several employees interviewed confirmed you made the statement, and found it racist, sexist and insensitive.”
In another example, the charge was: “‘Kevin touched and stroked Ro Shwarz at a meeting . . . Ro has an employment contract that contains terms significantly more favorable than other corporate staff. When Kevin touches Ro in public, is he harassing her, or merely telling female employees that flirting, or romantic relationships may lead to more favorable treatment?’
“Findings: Both you and Shwarz admit to the fact that you hugged her, would kiss her on the temple and forehead, and had physical contact with her at this meeting and at others. She did not object, and while others said it seemed very inappropriate, no one objected or complained until the Sue Schwartz letter.”
In a pre-emptive strike, the Des Moines-based Meredith sued O’Brien in U.S. District Court in Iowa’s Southern District, alleging violations of the Workplace Violence Safety Act and intentional interference with contract of employment.
As Ryan J. Foley reported Friday for the Associated Press, “Meredith filed its complaint under seal, keeping secret what it said was a confidential employment contract, but O’Brien’s lawyers claimed the company was trying to cover up the dispute.”
U.S. Magistrate Ross Walters “on Friday granted a motion by O’Brien’s lawyers to lift the seal, making the files public.”
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Emery King’s Sudden Termination Shocks Detroit
Detroit was abuzz today about the sudden pulling from the air Friday of TV anchor and reporter Emery King, who had been with Post-Newsweek station WDIV-TV for 19 years.
“Although his contract doesn’t expire until the end of the month, station officials removed King from its Web site and took him off the air,” as Mekeisha Madden Toby noted in the Detroit News Saturday.
The removal of King, 56, was the subject of talk radio shows and of a statement by the Detroit chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. “I’ve had calls all day today, as you might imagine,” King’s lawyer, John Moye, told Journal-isms.
“I’m angry about what happened to Emery. He is my friend and my mentor,” Huel Perkins, anchor at rival WJBK-TV, told Journal-isms. “At least give him the dignity of saying goodbye, and send him away with a big fat check, for all the money he’s made for you.”
Perkins was mentioned as a possible replacement for King in a story by John Smyntek Saturday in the Detroit Free Press, but Perkins said he would “never, never” do such a thing. Perkins also confirmed that the station appeared to be changing directions. “The kind of reporting that Emery did does not seem to be as valued — the kind of in-depth, thought-provoking, challenging, hard-hitting reporting — and that’s sad.”
In the NABJ chapter’s statement, president Darren A. Nichols, a reporter at the Detroit News, said, “Emery King is, hands-down, the area’s most talented television political reporter. He is a 20-year fixture of the local evening news and he is someone who sets the bar for others in the industry. We are concerned about the process and want to make sure that the decision to lose King—who happened to be only the third black male anchor for WDIV to do weeknight newscasts—was a fair and reasonable one.”
Moye told Journal-isms that he had submitted an updating of King’s previous contract to management, and “I expected that it would be enthusiastically welcomed and . . . approved.” Instead, station executives said they wanted to talk with King. They told him the contract would not be renewed and that he would not go on the air that night. “There were no contract terms discussed,” Moye said.
That version conflicts with the station’s assertion that there had been negotiations and the implication that they had broken down.
“In a terse statement, news Vice-President Neil Goldstein said ‘King was told Friday his contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of March. The decision was reached following negotiation talks with Mr. King and his representative. No replacement has been named for the 5:30 p.m. anchor position,'” Smyntek wrote in the Free Press.
Goldstein told Journal-isms today through a spokesman that “we do stand by our statement that that’s what happened.”
Moye said King did not know what he would do next, but that this “may be a great opportunity for him to do great things in other places.”
Before King came to Detroit, he spent six years as a national reporter for NBC News.
Perkins, who called in to the “Inside Detroit” talk show on WCHB-AM today to express his outrage, also said he was disappointed that King’s co-workers were not speaking out.
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NBC Launching Hispanic Station in San Diego
“NBC Universal TV group announced Friday it will launch a new independent Spanish-language TV station and cable channel in San Diego, the 13th-largest Hispanic TV market, on April 8. The station, ‘Mi San Diego TV 43,’ will be broadcast over the air on KBOP-CA and over Cox Communications’ digital tier,” Katy Bachman reported today in Media Week.
“In partnership with Cox Communications, the station will debut the country’s first-ever Spanish-language live Padres baseball telecast and serve as the cornerstone for the new station’s programming. The majority of the new station’s programming will come from NBC-owned KWHY-TV in Los Angeles, one of the largest independent Spanish-language TV stations in the country. In addition, a local Spanish-language newscast is planned for later in the year, airing at 7 p.m. and produced by KNSD, the company’s owned and operated NBC station in San Diego.”
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Spanish-Language TV Station Headed to Phoenix
“Los Angeles-based Lotus Communications Group, known for operating 26 radio stations, for the first time is branching out to the Spanish-language television market with stations slated for Phoenix, Houston and Tampa, Fla.,” Angela Gonzales wrote last week in the Phoenix Business Journal.
“The family-owned company will open its Phoenix operation with KPHE-TV Channel 44 within four to six weeks, said Ken Kwilosz, who was named vice president and general manager of the Phoenix station.
“. . . Kwilosz is looking for a news director, anchors, reporters, producers, videographers, sales managers and representatives.”
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Editor Surprised by Reception as Black Journalist
Isaac J. Bailey, business editor of the Sun-News in Myrtle Beach, S.C., wrote Sunday that he has been surprised that being a black journalist has not played out as he expected.
“I didn’t expect hard work to pay off and didn’t believe I would be afforded the same respect from white colleagues as from fellow black journalists. But for the most part, I’ve received it.
“I didn’t expect upon being named business editor—after a recommendation from a white colleague—that the white CEOs and other executives I’d come to know while covering real estate would be among the first to congratulate me.
“I didn’t expect black readers to accept my opposition to race-based affirmative action without revoking my negro card. But they’ve accepted it,” he wrote.
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ESPN Reporter’s Sole Job: Covering Barry Bonds
“ESPN has assigned a reporter, Pedro Gomez, to cover Barry Bonds this season like sand covers the Sahara,” Scott Ostler wrote Friday in the San Francisco Chronicle.
“This means Barry, even when taking cuts in a batting cage under the stands, will never have to be lonely.
“It also means that if viewers respond favorably, Gomez will become a celebrity in his own right and ESPN will soon assign a reporter to cover Pedro covering Barry.
“Covering Barry Bonds 24/7 is the boldest media project since Andy Warhol trained a stationary movie camera on the Empire State Building and produced the eight-hour-long epic ‘Empire.'”
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“Desperate Housewives” Promo Ruled Not Indecent
“She may have been ‘desperate’ but federal regulators decided Nicollette Sheridan wasn’t indecent when she performed a steamy introduction to ABC’s ‘Monday Night Football’ with Philadelphia Eagles star Terrell Owens,” Brooks Boliek reported today for the Hollywood Reporter.
“The intro that aired last November showed ABC ‘Desperate Housewives’ star Sheridan in a locker room wearing only a towel and provocatively asking the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver to skip the game for her. She then dropped the towel and leaped into Owens’ arms.
Added Doug Halonen in TV Week: “The Nov. 15 promo . . . generated more than 50,000 complaints at the FCC, even though the bit showed Ms. Sheridan naked only from behind and Mr. Owens was wearing his football uniform. Said the FCC in rejecting the complaints: ‘Although the scene apparently is intended to be titillating, it simply is not graphic or explicit enough to be indecent under our standard.'”
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FCC’s Michael Powell to Join Aspen Institute
“Outgoing U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell will join the Aspen Institute as a senior fellow after he leaves his post as the top U.S. communications regulator, the group said,” Reuters reported Friday.
“Powell, 41, a Republican, plans to leave the FCC late next week after more than seven years at the agency, the last four as chairman. President Bush has yet to name his successor.
“For the next three months, Powell will advise the group’s program on communications and society on leadership, communications policy, and program activities and operations.
“The program holds forums with leaders from business, academia, government and the media, and develops models for communications policies.”
Powell closed his final FCC meeting Thursday by calling for a return to civil discourse, Frank Ahrens reported Friday in the Washington Post.
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Time Inc. Completes Purchase of Essence
“Time Inc. announced today that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of the portion of Essence Communications Partners that it did not already own,” according to a brief Time Inc. news release.
“Essence Communications Partners publishes ESSENCE magazine.
“Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.”
Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, calculated the company’s worth in January at about $175 million, meaning that Time, which owned 49 percent, had to pay about $80 million for the remainder of the enterprise.
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Blogosphere Dominated by White Males
“At a recent Harvard conference on bloggers and the media, the most pungent statement came from cyberspace,” Steven Levy wrote in Newsweek today. “Rebecca MacKinnon, writing about the conference as it happened, got a response on the ‘comments’ space of her blog from someone concerned that if the voices of bloggers overwhelm those of traditional media, ‘we will throw out some of the best . . . journalism of the 21st century.’
“The comment was from Keith Jenkins, an African-American blogger who is also an editor at The Washington Post Magazine [a sister publication of NEWSWEEK]. ‘It has taken ‘mainstream media’ a very long time to get to [the] point of inclusion,’ Jenkins wrote. ‘My fear is that the overwhelmingly white and male American blogosphere . . . will return us to a day where the dialogue about issues was a predominantly white-only one.'”
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Mark Whitaker, Janice Min Honored by Adweek
“The magazine?s stronger-than-ever journalistic outturn; fresh, unpredictable take on subjects already covered by a zillion other press outlets; numerous industry honors; innovative cross-media partnerships and spinoffs; and steady advertising growth all inspired Adweek Magazines to honor Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker and executive vp/worldwide publisher Greg Osberg as this year?s Executive Magazine Team of the Year,” Greg Osberg wrote today in Media Week.
As expected, Us Weekly’s Janice Min was named Editor of the Year.
“Over the last year, the world of celebrity journalism has changed, and that change is largely due to a petite, unpretentious, perpetually bemused Korean-American named Janice Min. Us has become a part of popular culture, shorthand for trashy-but-irresistible celebrity fluff that?s referenced regularly on Saturday Night Live and Letterman. Min herself is an idea machine, packaging and contextualizing photography that would be tiresome without Us? arch commentary,” Judith Newman wrote.
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Les Payne Lauds Great Anchor Who Never Was
“CBS had better choices for anchor than Dan Rather back in 1981,” columnist Les Payne wrote in Newsday yesterday.
“My candidate would have kept CBS ahead of that aloof Canadian as well as the handicapped, nice-guy patriot from North Dakota who can pronounce only 23 letters of the alphabet. Lest the bigots take to the air, race has nothing to do with my choice—it’s competence fair and square. Besides, this reporter—and what a reporter—has worked quite successfully at avoiding being embraced as a ‘race man.’ Given a choice of profiling Barbra Streisand or Nina Simone, he’d pick Streisand every time.
“Despite his bad judgment on that one score, as the great CBS anchor who never was, I’ll stick with Ed Bradley.”
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Hershey Should Have Consulted NAHJ Stylebook
“Argentines and Dominicans may do a double take when they see Hershey’s new Elegancita chocolate bar and an ad for Kisses being promoted by Mexican bombshell Thalia,” Christina Hoag wrote in the Miami Herald last week.
“The advertisement, running in People en español, features a shot of the songstress about to bite into the Kiss with a slogan boasting ‘sabor a chocolate blanco con cajeta’ (white chocolate taste with goat’s-milk caramel). The chocolate bar proclaims it is ‘Cajeta Elegancita’ on the wrapper.
“Well, that’s the Mexican version of cajeta—a type of dulce de leche, a very sweet, caramelized condensed milk eaten straight from a tin, drizzled atop desserts or made into candies throughout Latin America.
“But in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, cajeta is a vulgar term for a certain delicate part of the female anatomy.”
Hoag includes this reminder:
“As a guide, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists stylebook includes a list of Palabras Malsonantes —words that have an innocent meaning generally, but a more nefarious one in a specific region.”
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