Hey George, We all know you controlled the election, why not the newspaper?

sarcasm

I think that we are showing how powerful we are in many ways. Which is good. We are not limited to the issue of Cuba, as the libzillas would love to see us caged in that particular item. That they are blaming us for the firing of that lawbreaking fatso is good. It shows that we have achieved a real punch in the power scene. And yes, we rant, and we defend ourselves and we are damn right!
Way to go!

My wife subscribed to the weekend edition of this newspaper for a long time, mainly for the Sunday edition. I pestered her ad nauseum to cancel it because of my extreme dislike of its editorial policy. She finally relented and we cancelled. A few months later, a Knight-Ridder telemarketer called my house asking if we wanted to renew our subscription. Since I had picked up the phone, I politely explained that I had no use for The Herald since we did not own a bird.

She didn't get the joke.

I worked as a MSM journalist for years - about 7 of them in Florida. Every TV station I worked for emphasized that here, unlike some other states, the permission of both parties is required to record audio. It was beaten into our heads.

Therefore, if DeFere taped without permission, it is not a technical violation of the law, but a real violation. And since he knew, or should have known about the law, violating it is an ethical violation, too.

I know other reporters who were fired for illegal taping. They deserved it - and management would be negligent to fail to fire them. If the reporters cannot be trusted on this point, what can they be trusted to do?

Val, Mr Rivers is NO relation! I want to make that very clear!

Oh, vomit indeed. It amounts to "we, the sacred elite journalistic presthood, are above mere laws; those are for everyone else." One is reminded of Leona Helmsley talking about how only "little people" paid taxes.

It's not a barf bag. It's a DeFeedBag.

I think Mr. Defede should have been fired long ago - not for his lawbreaking today (which is grounds enough). He should have been fired for omitting facts in his columns. While his was an opionion piece and he is entitled to state just that, it is unethical to put it mildly to leave out facts especially in reference to Cuban exiles. He tried to paint a picture of exiles as the evil oppressors and terrorists, when in fact the terrorism and oppression was coming from Fidel, and all the evidence overwhelmingly shows it. During Defede's recent interview of Alarcon he failed to follow through with tough questions and failed to interview an appropriate opposition member. Defede is not the only far left columnist at the Herald. Carl Hiassen leads the pack of leftists still there. They have NO ONE on the right anymore. There is hope, they have added someone to their editorial board recently that blasted Fidel in a recent editorial. Justice shows up in strange ways.

Great find George! Barf bags deployed and used.

I can't believe the number of journalists who've signed the letter. Many of the names I recognize, and I have become quite familiar with their work. I am deeply disappointed to say the least, and left a message to let them know.

Heh heh. I read that in the Orlando Sentinel today (they get it at work, I was waiting for the coffee to finish -- the Slantinel is almost as bad as the Herald) about DeFede's firing, and my first thought was "HA ha! They fired the jerk!" I forget what exactly it was I read of his that first made me think "mmm, jerk," but without him on it the Herald is now a slightly classier sort of birdcage liner.

By the way -- I'll bet Teele's family sued De Fede. No wonder he got canned so fast.

I know I'm gonna take a lot of heat for this, but I think what the Herald did in firing Defede is bullshit. Forgetting who the reporter/columnist is for a moment, he's in the business of recording calls he takes. All reporters do it. Even if the person on the other end isn't on the record. Recording helps you remember what was said. Often you need those details even if you aren't going to quote somebody but so you can independently verify them. If he were reporting on some big white house cover up and not a "popular" local politician he would have been given a pulitzer.

And George, I understand what you're saying about Rove is an advisor to the President. A free media (even the MSM with its faults) is an important guardian of our democracy.

It's illegal to withold the names of anonymous sources when asked to disclose them by a judge in criminal investigation but every media outlet in the country defends its reports who do.

"Sues" I mean. And I have updated my url in the links. I had the old one saved.

Conductor, did you or did you not read the comment on how you aren't supposed to tape someone without their permission? I guess not.

I threw my barf bag out of the black helicopter as we flew over Mr. Rivers home.

Andrea, did you or did you not read the comment about how you aren't supposed to withold the names of confidential sources from law enforcement or judges during criminal investigations, yet the media defends its reporters "right" to do this every day? I guess not.

Conductor,

No heat from me, but I disagree.

The subject here isn't the issue. I don't hate DeFede as a person, just don't like his reporting.

It's OK to record, just let the other guy know. Simple. I've been the interviewee many times in radio/TV/print as part of my job, and when I've done interviews for newspapers, they almost always ask if its OK to record the conversation.

Especially in a case as sensitive as this, he should have realized the consequences of taping without consent. He could have waited until Teele was in a calmer state before asking him if he could record the conversation. Or he could have just eaten the tape and not said anything after realizing what had happened (no pun intended...seriously).

As far as your hypothetical situation, indeed the Herald would have allowed it if it was a White House cover up.

That's my only point. That there's an incredible double standard. The media (and the entire journalism establishment) condone certain illegal acts such as protecting anonymous sources even while under subpoena to reveal them but they fire Defede for taping a call that they wouldn't have known about if he didn't tell them. Perhaps it was never even his intent to publicize what was said. Now the stroy that was in that tape is in the hands of the Herald.

Yes in Florida it's illegal, but in something like 38 states only one party needs to consent to the recording of a phone call. Of course, I know he is under the jurisdiction of Florida, but the point is that it's not like this rises to the level of being such an offense that every state recognizes it.

I'm unsure if the motives for firing him were entirely due to "ETHICS". WTF was on those tapes???

My only intent was to point out the blatant hypocrisy the supposed "free" media indulges in on a daily basis. I cannot stomach a press that, because of its political alliances and preferences, passes and tries to bury stories of amazing legitimacy and impact -- Clinton's alleged rapes of several women, or Red China's involvement in his campaigns and the subsequent passing of military secrets, as two examples -- and then turns around and alleges all sorts of things -- The PlameGate affair, questionable National Guard documents, etc. -- without one fucking iota of evidence. Conductor, if they were fair all around, I'd respect them more. But they aren't, and I don't.

If DeFede taped the conversations, and The Miami Herald has a policy against doing that because committing the act itself is prima facie evidence of illegality, then good riddance to him. As an employer, I would not only fire his ass, I would file a criminal referral report. Better he get the criminal liability and not my firm.

In my view, Jim DeFede being fired -- for whatever reason -- is a victory. One little, screeching, mendacious voice silenced -- albeit for a short time.

Like I said I'm not shedding any tears for Jabba. But it's not even clear whether he broke the law. I just picked up a tidbit from an article from editor & publisher...

"The statute also states that "consent is not required for the taping" of someone "who does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy." That provision has caused some legal experts to question whether it could apply to a reporter interviewing a public official."

perhaps I'm reading the statute incorrectly, but wouldn't Teele have had a "reasonable expectation of privacy" since he apparently talked to DeFede about private matters "off the record"?

"a big part of the reason was the heat they got from the local Cuban-American extremists"

I swear if we EVER HAD THAT MUCH POWER FIDEL WOULD BE DEAD, CUBA WOULD BE FREE, MIAMI AND HIALEAH WOULD BE THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES (La Saguesera and la Republica de Hialeah respectively,) AND ABOVE ALL, GUARAPO WOULD BE SOLD IN EVERY WENDY'S, MCDONALD'S, BURGER KING AND CHECKER'S ACROSS THE U.S.A. Is any of this true... NO! (well... Hialeah is kind of on it's way isn't it...)

You could conceivably agree to be tape recorded and even make an off the record statement while being tape recorded if you trusted the reporter you were talking with not to disclose the off the record stuff.

So Teele was talking to a guy he knew very well, a reporter that had been sypmathetic to him in the past. The reporter didn't explicity say he was being recorded but perhaps Teele assumed he'd be recorded and trusted Defede enough to know he wouldn't use off the record remarks whether recorded or not. We'll never know if Teel knew he was being recorded because he blew his brains out.

And it wasn't Defede that drove him to the suicide it was Francisco Alvarado and the New Times that exposed his seedy underbelly. So I don't see why Defede takes the fall unless Teele told him some explosive stuff. If Teele had told him that he was thinking of killing himself or that he was sorry or something expected, I doubt the issue of whether the call was recorded would have ever come up.

Conductor, I don't know about your place of employment, but where I work, if you break the law or company policy, you are out. I work in the Unemployment Insurance field, representing healthcare organizations. Per state laws, in certain professions, employees are held to a higher standard based on the impact of their performance. For instance, airline pilots, nurses, teachers, etc. Also those entrusted with the third estate. Illegal recording? He was justifiably fired and under most state laws, will not be eligible to collect unemployment insurance. What the hell are you thinking?

I'm glad they fired him. He wasn't a journalist.
A journalist looks at both sides and prints the truth. Today's MSM focuses on destruction, only because they have the power to. THey are protected here, as well they should be but this guy never looked at both sides and rarely printed the truth from any prospective. That in itself is a deraliction of duty and cause for termination.

I say good ridance.

one intersting "loophole" to the both parties rule is that if the person DOES NOT have an expectation of privacy, then the party DOES NOT need to be informed of the taping.. talking to the press, even off the record, is a dangerous thing to do, cause by the mere nature of a journalists job, you have to wise up and figure, this is gonna get out at some point.. that is from a LEGAL point.. if the herald has an internal policy, then the herald can do what they please.. in fact, isnt florida a 'right to work' where you can leave and by the same token be dismissed at any time?

Daniel,

I raised that question last night. Did DeFede seek Teele out for an interview, or did Teele call him up as a friend or someone he could trust. If it's the latter, which I believe is the case, then one can argue that Teele did have an "expectation of privacy". Another argument can be made that if you contact a journalist, then you are fair game for your comments to be used. That's where ethics come into play, and that's where DeFede loses.

ROBERT: yeah this is one those hair splitting issues.. did teele the politician or teele the man having a rough go of things call defede the friend or defede the journalist? i think ANY time ANY one calls a journalist, youd have to think, 'i better not say anything i dont want to see on the front page tomorrow'.. now, was teele in a lucid state, i think the actions show he was not, in fact i think defede said at one point that BECAUSE of teeles frame of mind he wanted to get the conversation on tape.. i think the herald, like any other business, has the right to hire and fire whoever the hell they want.. they got rid of max castro, and i dont think it was over violations of company policy.. and besides, theyre the only game in town, in fact i bet alot of people who live in miami today arent even aware we had an afternoon daily called the miami news for many years.. the herald really doesnt care what the extreme right or left think, because no matter what people say in public or their friends, if you want to buy a copy a local newspaper in miami, you really only got one choice.. its funny that the right accuses the herald of being to the left, and the left accuses the herald of pandering to the right..

I stated this at Cuban American Pundits and will say it here again. "Off the record" means "Do not record." Whether by electronic means or pen and paper. It cannot be defined any other way.

If Teele stated "this is off the record" then DeFede must have known Teele was commenting to him in confidence. Recording the conversation was a violation of the standard of ethics for a journalist.

I am certain, and what is at the heart of this matter, that if Teele had been informed by DeFede that the conversation was being recorded, that Teele would simply have not continued with the conversation.

Journalists are not above the law. Nor are they above, or below, a standard of ethics.

What DeFede did was wrong. It was unprofessional and it was unethical. He got fired for it. End of story.

Has he compared his suffering to that of Jesus yet?

My favorite part of the letter was this:

"But in any case he came forward on his own and has admitted his mistake."

There. That makes it all better.

Florida Cracker, I'll add one more mantra of the libs/left: "But he meant well; his intentions were good!" What is it they say about a road to hell...?

Kathleen, you don't read very closely sometimes. What about all of the media outlets that stand up for theirt reporters when they are in contempt of court? It happens all the time when a reporter won't reveal a confidential source to a grand jury or a judge or a prosecutor. The media stands behind these illegal actions because of the nature of their business and the vital importance it plays in our democracy. I'm not saying what Defede did is right. What I'm saying is the reason given by the Herald is bullshit in light of what reporters do every day. I never said the Herald didn't have the right to fire him. As has been stated repeatedly you don't need a reason to fire someone in Florida. But I'm going to call them out if what they say is bullshit. The Herald has zero journalistic integrity to begin with so for them to say they fired him because of ethics is laughable.

Conductor,

Newspapers standing by their journalists when they refuse to out one of their sources is one thing, but I hardly think any reputable media source will stand by one of their own if that person has commited what can be construed as an outright illegal act. Furthermore, DeFede has made a career out of outing people - politicians, Cuban Americans, businesmen, the list is endless - for either illegal activity and/or ethical lapses. I would find it highly hypocritical of the Herald to either ignore DeFede's actions or let him get by with a slap on the wrist.

Canning his sorry ass was the right thing to do.

Couldn't have said it better myself.... Defede leaving the Herald is the best news I have heard all month!!!!

Besides Defede's obvious bias against Cuban Americans which led him to one sided coverage against us on many issues, he also has a nasty mean streak. Before the families even had time to mourn their dead, defede wrote ugly, mean articles about Leonard Miller and George Batchelor. defede seems to be an envious misfit at best and I for one am glad the Herald canned him, even if they are less than candid regarding their reasons.

Conductor, Val took the words out of my mouth, but as far as the snide “sometimes I don't read very closely” remark, I read perfectly well, I just chose to ignore supercilious words that shroud the truth.

all this talk about "commit an illegal act, pay the price", in all fairness, depends on who did what to whom.. when sol95 called and recorded chavez and castro we all laughed and applauded, but lets face it, they recorded a conversation without consent.. i doubt alarcon ever considered firing them, and if they had been let go, many here who applaud the heralds decision would probably be outraged.. many were offended that the fcc even considered a fine.. and before someone asks "whats my point?", here it is IF firing defede is the correct thing to do because he VIOLATED the law by recording without consent, then, i can point to that radio stunt (however funny and enjoyable that it was) isnt much different.. AND IF we want to plead for law and order and adhere to the rules and laws, we cant just pick and choose what gets followed and what gets ignored, regardless of who commits those acts and whatever political sphere they may come from..

Daniel,

I follow you, but you're assuming and speculating too much. They didn't get fired because their boss decided not to. Fact is, radio stations use this sort of stuff for ratings. If they would have done something extremely offensive, like other morning jocks around the country have been known to do, then they would have been canned to protect ratings from falling through the floor.

Bottom line...most FM radio stations with popular morning shows don't give a crap about ethics, so long as ratings don't plummet. Few people were offended by the chavez/castro calls, and it was wildly popular even though, yes, they were recorded and broadcast without consent. I'm not passing judgement, just stating that fact.

Sheesh, daniel.

Talk about pushing the modulus of elasticity! Dont you think its a bit of a stretch to compare one thing with the other? I believe the fcc considered fining these guys because of the profanity which ensued from castro and not becuase they violated the recording law. castro is not a US citizen nor is he a resident of the state of florida, so I dont know if the consent law would necessarily be aplicable here.

DeFede violated not only the law, but a code of ethics. As a reporter, the only thing he has of any worth is his integrity (not that defeedme had much to begin with but thats beside the point). Having a confirmed unethical reporter on the staff of any major media outlet is definitely bad for business.

DeFede violated not only the law, but a code of ethics

oh man i just cant stop laughing, journalists with code of ethics... i have yet to read one of them yet, from the right OR the left...

all i meant by the comparison is how people, in general, will excuse the acts of one of their own, or when it suits them, but are quick to be judge, jury and executioner when its "the other side" that gets caught.. what i meant was if defede was another guy, lets call him pepe gomez, who wrote "anti castro, pro embargo" stuff that presented the cubans in miami in a "good" or "positive" light, and was caught in the same situation and fired, there would be those saying he got fired becuase the "msm" would not accept an anti castro stance.. by the same token, the imaginary pepe probably would not have much support from his collegues..

and for laughs, look at #185 on the list of the "journalists" who signed the petition.. to be fair, the only 'good' thing ive seen on that site (and to his credit, he has a point about this) is when they translate articles that only appear in el nuevo to english and/or articles that only appear in english to spanish..

# 185 is a classic. Good ol' Alvaro and his BS columns! Warms my heart just thinking about it.

Not to mention that prince among castro apologists, Saul Landau.

Success!
232. Mike Litorice
Journalism student
University of Miami

LMFAO Donnah!!!

God, I live for these lists.
This was a toughie, as my entry had to be read, then typed in by an actual JOURNALIST!

Donnah,

Best part is the JOURNALIST wont know until someone reads this LOWLY BLOG and lets him know.

I wonder if I can get away with Heywood Jablomie?

Noooo, too obvious. Might I suggest to you "Phillip McCaffity"?

LOL

So I guess Twinkies Galore is a bit much?

Let plausibility be our watchword and gullibility be theirs.

Juan Paxety did a nice write-up if you haven't seen it yet.

An I thought I was dealing with adults in this blog...

Mike Hunt
Class of '69

Let's get back to the main issue. DeFede is really fat.