And now for tonight's rant...

And it's a doozy.

This past weekend, I went to Pittsburgh for my husband's cousin's wedding. Yesterday, I was reading through the Post-Gazette's opinion section, where I found a column about shame.

Shame is a timely topic in the wake of the Rev. Ted Haggard's recent, ah, coming-out. But the focus of the column, which can be found here, was about a local minister, the Rev. Brent Dugan.

Rev. Dugan was not a controversial figure by any means. He was well-liked by his parishioners and regarded highly by the Pittsburgh Presbytery, which oversaw his church.

Yet KDKA-TV decided that there was something wrong anyway, and decided to "investigate" this man's "crimes", heavily promoting the story for sweeps week. Was he accused of molesting children or stealing from the church accounts? No. The Rev. Dugan's sole offense was that he was seen in an adult bookstore. There were also apparently tape recordings and other information, but it is not known if they contained information about illegal acts. If he were married, this would be fodder for a private investigator, but he wasn't. He was single. So nothing criminal probably happened, but KDKA took it upon itself to enforce what it assumed was church rules, because, y'know, the public has a right to know. KDKA eventually chose not to run the story, citing concerns that Rev. Dugan might harm himself.

Which he did. He checked into a motel in Mercer County and ended his life with an overdose of alcohol and aspirin. He left a suicide note alluding to the shame that was about to be made public.

Journalism is, by definition, a scummy business. Reporters sometimes have to go into less-than-glamorous outposts of the world to report on human misery, both in America and abroad. The lucky ones get to put on a suit each day and don't have to worry about sweating or getting shot at.

But KDKA-TV, and especially its reporter, Marty Griffin, deserve to be censured. Griffin, in fact, was sued for libel for a similar stunt he pulled in Texas. Erik Williams, who was playing for the Dallas Cowboys at the time, had been accused of rape and sexual assault by a woman who later recanted her story. Griffin reported the former fact but not the latter, which is what led to the suit. Griffin's employer settled the suit for $2.2 million and fired him. Griffin did not admit to any wrongdoing and claimed that he did not approve the settlement. (Dallas Morning News story)

And, according to the Post-Gazette, Mr. Griffin was cited last year for misdemeanor trespassing in an incident in which he went to a bus garage with a cameraman, claiming that he was merely demonstrating what he described as lax security on the part of the Port Authority; he was ultimately found not guilty on appeal; the appellate judge cited First Amendment grounds. (KDKA article)

Now, you may argue that Griffin is merely being a zealous advocate for the people. He has won at least one regional Emmy for investigative reporting.

But responsible advocates check their facts before going public, particularly where personal reputations are at stake. When they are wrong, they admit to it publicly and don't hide behind a "Who, me?! What did I do?!" attitude. From a First Amendment standpoint, this man has a right to say what he wishes. But from an ethical perspective, the man is scum. He makes me ashamed to be a journalist.

If KDKA listened to me, I'd tell them to fire Mr. Griffin and see to it that he never works in journalism anywhere. He's caused too much damage and Lord knows what else he's capable of. At the very minimum, I'd require that he take a course in journalistic ethics. His audience deserves no less.