Oh, great... I forgot about that one.
Even in small-market media, that's a big “no-no” and it got a lot of attention in the journalism world because she should have known better.
It was also a serious wake-up call to a lot of us in the media that our own actions are being monitored by the public. My recollection is this reporter got outed because a neighbor videotaped the reporter in her bikini and handed the videotape to a news crew from a competing television station. I'm going by memory so if I'm wrong, I apologize in advance — maybe somebody has a link.
It is impossible to avoid conflicts of interest outside large cities, but an attractive female reporter going over to a source's home in a bikini — even if she brought her kids — shows serious lack of judgment. This doesn't make things look very good on this story with the reporter's own history.
People know that reporters aren't monks or nuns (many are **VERY** far from that, especially in the television media where physical appearance is a job requirement) but personal behavior and views of a reporter are not irrelevant if they indicate and influence on how a story gets reported.
Your recollection is correct - the way her fellow journalists got the story and then how they handled it after wasn’t too wonderful either. She definitely made a bad judgement call - and she fully admits that now.
Honestly, that’s why I’m surprised she came out on record with her personal opinion. It’s one thing to recount something she witnessed, it’s another to make a judgement call and run with it.
I’m aware that she’s not an unbiased reporter in her current job and she is now a talk show host which means she does give out her opinions, but I’m still honestly surprised. She definitely shouldn’t have put herself in that position of defending this person - all JMHO.
I wonder if she got caught up in all the hype as EVERYONE in Chicago media apparently knows this woman. I hope for Amy’s sake this doesn’t blow back on HER! Isn’t that the “1st rule” for journalists? Never BECOME the news you report on? I think I learned that when I was on our High School paper staff as a Freshman! I remember hearing that numerous times...
“If you’re single and you find a woman attractive and she’s both single and interested, flirting is fine. “
And you might want to look into that a bit further. The woman a desk or 2 away has a very solid EEOC case when that “single and interested” woman gets the slightest advantage. Woman number two someday gets slightly more work,, misses that promotion, or woman number one gets an award or a long lunch.
Then guess what,, the “bystander” is the victim of a hostile work environment created by the two consensual flirters.