Chicago TV reporter in hot water

So... any undercover investigation by a reporter that involves faux cozying up to a source is verboten?

Isn't anyone who is operating undercover becoming "part of" the story?

 

I don't want to post the whole story, because all newspapers everywhere can use the web traffic, but here's another relevant, if poorly edited, graf:

Sources say that breach of company standards, which made her a part of a story she was covering and had been warned she was getting too close to, was just the latest incident over the past several years to cause bosses to lose their confidence in Jacobson's judgment and cost the star reporter her job, sources say.

 

She didn't do a good job of operating undercover, did she?

 

No. Absolutely right. The reason I would can her, her carelessness (and recklessness as a parent)

But is this one of these journalism crimes only if you get revealed?

 

No, it's not. She became part of the story even before being exposed nationally when she got too close, which is always a no-no.

As a journalist, if you witness a crime, you have an obligation to report it. If you're going to work with police to stop crime, NBC's "Dateline" is the way to do it, being open and honest about it. And if you're going to work with police to solves crimes, "Unsolved Mysteries" and shows like that already have shown how to go about it that way.

And if you're going to work with police on attempting to solve a case like Amy Jacobson did, you sure better talk to your bosses about it first.

 

OK. I agree.

I guess I should make this a little bit hypothetical.

But, I meant that before we knew she was working with the police. Wasn't Jacobson just a reporter getting close to a source? I mean, police hadn't even termed him a person of interest.

If you are undercover for a story, with boss approval (the hypothetical that doesn't apply in this case), aren't you in the inner sanctum of a story? Aren't you ... part of it?

 

Getting close to the source is not a bad idea. You might even become friends with the sources. However, when it comes to the point when you're in a bikini with your two children at the person's house for a pool party, you've gone too far.

You can get close to sources simply by picking up the phone, driving to their house if they ask you to and having an informal chat about things over iced tea in the source's kitchen while acting like and dressing like the pro that you are. By doing that, you're not becoming part of the story while earning their trust at the same time.

As for undercover with boss approval, most times that applies to consumer watches and concerned citizens pieces. Rarely does it involve getting close to someone who at some point might become a person of interest to police.

 

Really... I understand the problem with the kids, but the bikini?

It's legal clothing... just less of it. And the type that, combined with a skilled personality, would possibly get information out of a trog.

 

If the Chicago public appears to be siding with her, of course, the station will put out everything they can to trash her rep. I'd side with the station if every other reporter in the world informed HQ any time they spoke to cops - I suspect that isn't the case.

 

She's a pro. She should act and dress the part. If she's good enough, she won't have to resort to a bikini to get the facts she wants. She ought to be able to get that in a blouse and khakis.

 

Here's the part of the Trib story I found most interesting.

"Those who like and admire Jacobson and those she rubs the wrong way describe her as someone who will do whatever it takes to get her story. This has produced both exclusive stories and reprimands, sources say."

So I bet she led the guy on even if she didn't put out....and a guy could do the same thing to woo a woman source.

And, if she's no longer a working journalist (albeit that's a loose term for TV reporters around my neck of the woods) is she still protected by Shield Laws?

 

I would think so, becuase even if she isn't working for MAQ, she could always claim she's a free-lance journalist and find some place to pitch her stories