Snitches Get Stitches, MSM Version

 

Reportedly a suspected source of the ABC “hot mic” video leak to Operation Veritas has been found and fired — by CBS. Recall that Amy Robach was caught on tape at ABC complaining about the higher-ups burying the Epstein story she had that has now come out in other media. After an investigation, ABC focused on a former staffer who had moved on to CBS. CBS was informed and the suspected leaker has been fired.

I am glad that we are hearing about some of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that shows unsavory conduct by those who curate the information we are supposed to know. But I am ambivalent about the “whistleblower protection” concept writ large. CBS was not wrong to fire an individual of demonstrated untrustworthiness even as we benefit from the actions of that individual. We want and need whistleblowers, but — and this is a big “but” — when people act on principle, they also need to understand that their employment may be terminated.

This may seem like a harsh judgement. But think about your working life — the water cooler, the gab sessions, the intemperate moments — and think of how that might be portrayed in second- and third-hand accounts. I have been a worker and a boss. When I was a worker, all the solutions seemed simple; when I was a boss, a lot less so. Every workplace that functions and works to the profit of the enterprise is a trust society in microcosm. When that trust is broken — regardless of the reason or justification — the enterprise is broken. And trust cannot be restored with the continued presence of the trust breaker.

There are enterprises where, as a society, we are pleased with that outcome: the Mafia, the Ponzi scheme, etc. But that is not the majority of our activities. A major component of Soviet society’s lack of productivity was fear. That is not a society in which we want to live.

I have no problem with whistleblowers being terminated. Depending on the significance and truth of the allegations, whistleblowers should be compensated for the job they have sacrificed on behalf of the rest of us. Keeping them in the organization is a “no go.” Promoting them within the organization is even worse.

But let’s also be clear: you are not a whistleblower if you are peddling second-hand accounts. Got that, Adam Schiff and the IG for the Intelligence Community? You are a gossip.

I get that circumstances arise at times that, if not reported, make you an accessory to a crime. That is a tough spot to be in. I was in that spot once. I was invited into a meeting where people were hand-wringing over whether to report time-card fraud (of monies charged to the federal government under a contract) because there was fear the theft would undermine an unpopular accounting policy that management was trying to implement. I simply told them that they had a choice: either they would report it or I would. I wasn’t going to be an accessory after the fact. Happily, that was a clear cut case. Not every situation is. Life is not fair. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and tough decisions have to be made.

It doesn’t change the fact that doing the right thing still means accepting less than optimal outcomes personally. As mentioned above, people who lose their jobs doing the right thing should be compensated. But making them make that choice and risk not being compensated is also needed to ensure that people do not break trust without just cause.

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  1. DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey
    @DrewInWisconsin

    For me, the most interesting aspect is that CBS fired an employee who blew the whistle on ABC.

    Instead of reporting on how ABC helped protect a prolific child molester and his Democrat pals, CBS played judge, jury, and executioner on ABC’s behalf.

    Are these news departments no longer competitors?

    • #1
  2. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Rodin: CBS was not wrong to fire an individual of demonstrated untrustworthiness even as we benefit from the actions of that individual. We want and need whistleblowers, but…and this is a BIG “but”…when people act on principle they also need to do so with the expectation that their employment will be terminated.

    This is different than a person who knows that something illegal is going on in the organization and reports it to management, right? There will be some people who would call that person a snitch. I don’t think that person should be fired for reporting (although the person committing the crime should be). The awkward part is that others may see the one who reported the crime as a snitch and make his or her life difficult, and try to drive the person out. The “snitch” will have to decide if he or she can take the heat, or if he or she is better off leaving.

    • #2
  3. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    None of the media are competitors anymore.  They are co-conspirators against the duly-elected president.

    • #3
  4. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    I like what Scott Adams said, “From now on, I’m only interested in what anchors have to say when they don’t think the cameras are rolling” – or something like that.

    Hey, maybe Fox will hire her. I mean, they hired Donna Brazile, right?
    Remember, the Donna Brazile who leaked CNN questions to Hillary before a debate?

    • #4
  5. MichaelKennedy Inactive
    MichaelKennedy
    @MichaelKennedy

    ABC and Disney hid the miniseries “The Path to 9/11” until Hillary seemed to be out of contention.  Ditto with the Epstein revelations.  Nothing to see here. Move along.

    • #5
  6. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    Come on, was it really news that a major news organization was covering up for the crimes of the rich and powerful and politically liberal? This is all dog bites man kind of stuff. Move along.

    • #6
  7. DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Eustace C. Scrubb (View Comment):

    Come on, was it really news that a major news organization was covering up for the crimes of the rich and powerful and politically liberal? This is all dog bites man kind of stuff. Move along.

    Sad, but true.

    Turns out that our ruling class are a bunch of corrupt pervy creeps who make the guests on Jerry Springer look like aristocrats in comparison.

    • #7
  8. OldPhil Coolidge
    OldPhil
    @OldPhil

    Speaking of whistleblowers:

    During the GW Bush administration, the head of the National Park Service didn’t agree with some of the budget decisions her bosses at Interior and OMB made for her agency. Instead of resigning in protest and making her case in an appropriate way, she decided not to support the positions of the administration while working for it, criticizing the budget in Congress and in public statements. She was fired.

    However, she was then hailed as a whistleblower, praised by all the usual suspects, and eventually won back pay and attorneys’ fees based on a decision by the Merit Systems Protection Board that she had been illegally punished based on her “whistleblower” status.

    It was ridiculous at the time and still is.

    • #8
  9. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey (View Comment):

    Eustace C. Scrubb (View Comment):

    Come on, was it really news that a major news organization was covering up for the crimes of the rich and powerful and politically liberal? This is all dog bites man kind of stuff. Move along.

    Sad, but true.

    Turns out that our ruling class are a bunch of corrupt pervy creeps who make the guests on Jerry Springer look like aristocrats in comparison.

    Government centralization across every area imaginable facilitates this corruption. One of the major reasons for the 17th Amendment was allegedly the out-of-control corruption in state governments control of senate appointments. Now most of the campaign financing for incumbent Senators to stay in Washington, which is now their home, comes from sources outside the state they supposedly represent. I don’t see that as having improved things, quite the contrary.

    • #9
  10. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    DrewInWisconsin, Type MonkeyAre these news departments no longer competitors?

    News is a competitive endeavor on the individual level. I want the scoop, I want to be first. If I work for ABC I don’t look at CBS and NBC as competition as much as I look at them as future employers.

    The winds can change direction real quick in the news business. If someone in CBS management decides to fire me or not renew my contract I now have somebody at ABC that owes me a favor…

    • #10
  11. DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey
    @DrewInWisconsin

    EJHill (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey: Are these news departments no longer competitors?

    News is a competitive endeavor on the individual level. I want the scoop, I want to be first.

    Seems like this former ABC employee had a scoop.

    I guess CBS didn’t want it.

    If I work for ABC I don’t look at CBS and NBC as competition as much as I look at them as future employers.

    The winds can change direction real quick in the news business. If someone in CBS management decides to fire me or not renew my contract I now have somebody at ABC that owes me a favor…

    When the news department I worked for in Our Fair City closed down, nobody was hired by the other TV station. Even though they were hiring at the time. I figured they didn’t want an already trained and experienced employee, because they would have had to pay them more.

    But it’s true that most of my co-workers at this small-market TV station were constantly sending out resumé tapes to larger-market stations. And they all thought they were the only ones. I helped most of them with editing, so I always got “Shh! Don’t tell anyone I’m doing this!” And I always wanted to say “Even your boss is making resumé tapes.”

    • #11
  12. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):
    This is different than a person who knows that something illegal is going on in the organization and reports it to management, right?

    @susanquinn, absolutely. Reporting to management that there is illegal activity going on adverse to the company’s interests is not the breach of trust I am speaking about. There is also the internal politics that goes on when someone is trading on information within the company as means of gaining favor with persons who can promote them or otherwise confer private benefits. I am not speaking of this as well. What I am talking about is someone who has decided to reveal private facts gained in one’s employment with someone outside the company with the intent of casting someone (justifiably or not) in a bad light. As I stated if there is a public benefit in doing so I think they should be compensated, but I don’t think it is practical for them to keep their job.

    I recognize that “snitches” is a loaded term. I hope I haven’t taken too much license in its use in the title. In the context of the cited story, I think that is the message that ABC/CBS wants to send to its workforce.

    • #12
  13. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Some great points, especially about feminists…

    • #13
  14. Jeff Hawkins Inactive
    Jeff Hawkins
    @JeffHawkins

    When the controversy is about the right, it’s about the controversy

    When the controversy is about the left, it’s about “how did this get out”or the reaction to the controversy by the right 

    EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

    • #14
  15. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    Franco (View Comment):

    Hey, maybe Fox will hire her. I mean, they hired Donna Brazile, right?
    Remember, the Donna Brazile who leaked CNN questions to Hillary before a debate?

    They did? I don’t watch any of news stations so I didn’t know Brazile had left CNN or picked up by Fox. 

    • #15
  16. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    Franco (View Comment):

    Hey, maybe Fox will hire her. I mean, they hired Donna Brazile, right?
    Remember, the Donna Brazile who leaked CNN questions to Hillary before a debate?

    They did? I don’t watch any of news stations so I didn’t know Brazile had left CNN or picked up by Fox.

    Yes. Brazil’s was fired from CNN because she EDIT: got caught leak(ing) questions to Hillary a while back 2016? And fox hired her a few months ago.

    • #16
  17. MichaelKennedy Inactive
    MichaelKennedy
    @MichaelKennedy

    Fox has been edging left since Roger Ailes left.  The Murdoch boys are interested in those cocktail parties they’ve been missing out on.

    • #17
  18. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Franco (View Comment):

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    Franco (View Comment):

    Hey, maybe Fox will hire her. I mean, they hired Donna Brazile, right?
    Remember, the Donna Brazile who leaked CNN questions to Hillary before a debate?

    They did? I don’t watch any of news stations so I didn’t know Brazile had left CNN or picked up by Fox.

    Yes. Brazil’s was fired from CNN because she leaked questions to Hillary a while back 2016? And fox hired her a few months ago.

    I thought she was fired by CNN because she got caught.

    • #18
  19. OccupantCDN Coolidge
    OccupantCDN
    @OccupantCDN

    Jeff Hawkins (View Comment):

    When the controversy is about the right, it’s about the controversy

    When the controversy is about the left, it’s about “how did this get out”or the reaction to the controversy by the right

    EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

    More pouncing than Tigger.

    • #19
  20. WillowSpring Member
    WillowSpring
    @WillowSpring

    Rodin: I get that circumstances arise at times that, if not reported, make you an accessory to a crime. That is a tough spot to be in.

    I am reading “Permanent Record” by Edward Snowden.  By his telling, he found himself in a similar situation with respect to the massive data collection by the NSA.  He felt that he couldn’t raise a complaint “up the chain”, since the chain was totally in favor of doing what they were doing.

    I started out with fairly negative feelings towards him, but that is changing.  Either way, I sympathize with his conflict about what to do and how to do it in the most ethical way he could.

    It is an interesting and thought provoking book.

    • #20
  21. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    WillowSpring (View Comment):

    I started out with fairly negative feelings towards him, but that is changing. Either way, I sympathize with his conflict about what to do and how to do it in the most ethical way he could.

     

    I started out thinking both he and Assange were completely wrong but I’ve moved off that position as well since learning in more depth about the levels of corrupt behavior in our supposedly trusted institutions and our elected officials. I now am thinking Trump needs to get Assange to reveal how he got what he released before one of these corrupt components makes him disappear.

    • #21
  22. MichaelKennedy Inactive
    MichaelKennedy
    @MichaelKennedy

    WillowSpring (View Comment):
    By his telling, he found himself in a similar situation with respect to the massive data collection by the NSA. He felt that he couldn’t raise a complaint “up the chain”, since the chain was totally in favor of doing what they were doing.

    It is becoming clear that the NSA database is being massively abused to spy on Americans. It isn’t even limited to Trump.  CTH has a long post on it that is worth reading.

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/11/07/is-pending-ig-report-on-fisa-abuse-being-held-up-to-facilitate-nsa-bulk-data-re-authorization-that-expires-december-15th/

     

    • #22
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