CBS Radio Reporter Fired After Report Spiked

CBS Yanks Report(er)

Boston Reporter Fired, Terror Story Quashed


Was a veteran CBS radio reporter sacked after complaining about her spiked terrorism reporting?

That's what Flo Jonic, now fired from WBZ-AM Boston, claims. Among the allegations: that her report on weak security at Boston's One Center Plaza was pulled, after FBI complaints.

When Jonic sent a scathing newsroom memo, objecting to the censorship, she was immediately fired by local CBS/Infinity Broadcasting management.

Industry trade publication All Access and reporter Perry Simon broke the story:

ALL ACCESS hears that JONIC uncovered serious security flaws at the ONE CENTER PLAZA building, including being able to enter the building without significant security screening and the presence of a car rental agency on the ground floor, but that the FBI told station and INFINITY management that the story would be dangerous and an aid to terrorists by identifying weaknesses in security, and the story was not aired.

Radio industry insiders and listeners are debating the termination's impact. Some claim WBZ's evening talk hosts have been prohibited from discussing the matter, but offer no evidence.

Newsroom morale is said to have plunged at the station and a decent level of industry outrage is beginning to develop.

Blute and Scotto, hosts at rival WRKO, a conservative Rush Limbaugh affiliate, skewered WBZ during Thursday's show. They expressed disbelief that the FBI could be allowed to program WBZ and wondered what was wrong with exposing anti-terrorism weaknesses.

WBZ, like some of CBS's other news/talk stations nationwide, exists in radio time warp where the boat is never rocked, in news coverage, or talk programming.

Is it really that dangerous to report our country's need to plug its many security holes, for the sake of fighting terrorism? Or do we pretend we're safer than is really the case?

Something else: do you really think terrorists don't have a pretty good idea where to find the easy hits? For years, they've been looking around for the next targets. Might as well alert the public, don't you think?

WBZ's evening talk shows avoid controversial topics, or drawing attention to themselves. Other than the occasional fawning Boston Globe coverage, WBZ's personalities don't generate much publicity.

On the news end, though, WBZ features Boston's only remaining large radio newsroom. Jonic's termination and their resulting credibility loss threatens WBZ's major asset: the Bay State's strongest radio news image.

Can CBS afford another major news flap, when its image is still badly damaged after last year's Rathergate fiasco? If WBZ has any sense, they'll give Jonic her job back, in short order.

Update: The Boston Herald is really playing up the troublemaker reporter aspect, which is annoying. This is high-pressure, big city journalism and things get heated in these settings. Reports of Jonic's occasional outbursts don't seem to reflect terribly unusual behavior for the news business.

Also, I don't buy this theory, expressed in the Herald story:

Some WBZ insiders are wondering whether the radio station did indeed cave, or whether higher-ups actually liked the story and opted to hold it until a period when ratings would be higher – perhaps September.

It's not typical in radio to put investigative pieces in the bank, to be used months later, that's somebody with a TV news mindset, speculating.

If they liked it, they would use it now, then follow up in September if needed, as to whether building security improvements were indeed made.

Firing one of the city's best broadcast journalists because of an email memo is a sure sign of an overreaction. There aren't many good radio reporters anymore and someone with Jonic's expertise isn't likely to be found, given this industry's ever-shrinking talent pool.

Update: welcome Instapundit readers.

Seen the Radio Equalizer's Air America Scandal coverage? Click here for the main page and scroll down a bit.

Fair disclosure: I was fired from a Seattle CBS radio affiliate, owned by a different company, in 2004.

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