Discussion: View Thread

I'm not sure if this particular item is reaching the US and
elsewhere but I thought it might be worth some comment
in this forum.

Last Saturday, while taping a story about aid for farmers,
CTV NewsNet anchor Avery Haines stuttered during
her introduction. Following the stumble, she said:
"I kind of like the little stutter thing. We've got a stuttering
newscaster. We've got the black, we've got the Asian,
we've got the woman. I could be a lesbian, folk-dancing,
black woman stutterer. " A technician said something to her
through her ear piece, and she replied: "What's that? In a
wheelchair, with a gimping, rubber leg. Ya, really. I'd have
a successful career, let me tell you."

Note that these comments were made while she was taping
the introduction, she was not live. The problem is that a tape
editor ran the wrong tape when the story about aid for farmers
ran and ran the segment above over the air.

Avery Haines apologized live over the air about 90 minutes
after the tape ran. CTV management fired her on Monday for
the comments.

Avery was on probation since she had worked for CTV for
less than three months.

There are quite a few curious aspects to this story. A few of
them are:

- She had fought with CTV management over her hair. Avery
is about 30 years old and has a long gray streak in the front
of her hair. The network management wanted her to color it.
- She agrees with the termination decision as she sees it as
a matter of professionalism. She said that newscasters are
trained to know that anything they say or do could be aired.
- However, in an interview about the story, she quipped "Marv
Albert has a job and I don't."
- The news media is playing this up as backlash against political
correctness.

I am posting this on the Management Education forum as I think
it offers a chance for a discussion about a number of issues.

Dear friends,

Definitely nowadays, what you say and what you do are
to be heard or seen, and mainly appaised for someone
or for a lot of people.
It reminds me of a great discussion that is happening
here in Brazil about the use (or no use) of topless in
a beach at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
I'm kind (or totaly) of against it, because I think
that we live in a society, and when you are not at
home, you have to act different as of when you are
home alone.
Why do I have to be on the beach with my family and be
obliged to see things that I'm not really willing to
see? And why do I have to turn on the TV or the radio
and hear someone that doesn't understand that it's
important to control and thing of what they say?

It's funny, but I believe that we have different
people aroud us, and they have different thoughts, and
different cultures, and above all, we have to respect
them, because this way we can live in perfect harmony.

I believe it's an art to know how to live in a society
without "stumbling" in one another's space...

Have a good day everyone!

Marina Vidal


--- Martin Martens <martinl@UNIXG.UBC.CA> wrote:
> I'm not sure if this particular item is reaching the
> US and
> elsewhere but I thought it might be worth some
> comment
> in this forum.
>
> Last Saturday, while taping a story about aid for
> farmers,
> CTV NewsNet anchor Avery Haines stuttered during
> her introduction. Following the stumble, she said:
> "I kind of like the little stutter thing. We've got
> a stuttering
> newscaster. We've got the black, we've got the
> Asian,
> we've got the woman. I could be a lesbian,
> folk-dancing,
> black woman stutterer. " A technician said something
> to her
> through her ear piece, and she replied: "What's
> that? In a
> wheelchair, with a gimping, rubber leg. Ya, really.
> I'd have
> a successful career, let me tell you."
>
> Note that these comments were made while she was
> taping
> the introduction, she was not live. The problem is
> that a tape
> editor ran the wrong tape when the story about aid
> for farmers
> ran and ran the segment above over the air.
>
> Avery Haines apologized live over the air about 90
> minutes
> after the tape ran. CTV management fired her on
> Monday for
> the comments.
>
> Avery was on probation since she had worked for CTV
> for
> less than three months.
>
> There are quite a few curious aspects to this story.
> A few of
> them are:
>
> - She had fought with CTV management over her hair.
> Avery
> is about 30 years old and has a long gray streak in
> the front
> of her hair. The network management wanted her to
> color it.
> - She agrees with the termination decision as she
> sees it as
> a matter of professionalism. She said that
> newscasters are
> trained to know that anything they say or do could
> be aired.
> - However, in an interview about the story, she
> quipped "Marv
> Albert has a job and I don't."
> - The news media is playing this up as backlash
> against political
> correctness.
>
> I am posting this on the Management Education forum
> as I think
> it offers a chance for a discussion about a number
> of issues.
>
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com

Martin Martens wrote:

> I'm not sure if this particular item is reaching the US and
> elsewhere but I thought it might be worth some comment
> in this forum.
>
> [snip]
> - The news media is playing this up as backlash against political
> correctness.
>
> I am posting this on the Management Education forum as I think
> it offers a chance for a discussion about a number of issues.

Political correctness has a bad rep because some people focus on the
surface items (words...) instead of on the underlying attitude, which I
think should be 'respect for all people,' or 'respect for the web of
life, of which we are a part.' Christians have a phrase for it, about
doing unto others... So do other religions.

Inasmuch as 'political correctness' allows people to hide their core
attitudes ('values' in current Quality-speak), the bad rep is deserved,
and the speakers are hypocritical.

Irony and ironic sentences do not work well unless you can see the
face. And often, not then. Life is more dull without it, but...
Perhaps Ms. Haynes can find an income generating activity which lets her
speak fully.

Truth is often found in the ironic turn of phrase, but what is 'truth'?
And sometimes, it seems as if few care.

Enough cynicism for one day.
Jay
--
Jay Warner
Principal Scientist
Warner Consulting, Inc.
4444 North Green Bay Road
Racine, WI 53404-1216
USA

Ph: (262) 634-9100
FAX: (262) 681-1133
email: quality@a2q.com
web: http://www.a2q.com

The A2Q Method (tm). What do you want to improve today?

If an employee acts in public in a way that can clearly
bring harm to the employer (like broadcasting on public
airwaves' protected characteristics' humor that is possibly
offensive ) the employer has a legitimate beef. That the remarks
were not intended for public airing would not prevent
harm to the broadcast station's reputation when error
caused their release. That the technician received no
fall-out is a puzzle.

A local radio station here in Minnesota (KQ92 fm) was taken to
task by members of the asian heritage community because the
station broadcast 'humor' that involved a stereotypic
poor-English-speaking asian man. In that situation the station
deliberately aired the track as an occassional segment on a
morning drive shown known for its nonpolitical correctness.
The anchor of the show (Tom Barnard) is working still and
remorseless. The station apologized, but only after the public
pressure built quite a head of steam.

I guess it matters what sort of broadcaster you work for.

Howard Miller
hmiller2@uswest.net

As an update, CTV yesterday announced that the technician, who ran the wrong
tape, and the producer, who made comments over the earphone to Ms. Haines
during the incident, were suspended for three days without pay.