What's the issue here? The way you present the facts, it seems that
Avery committed an indiscression that was aired in public, and suffered
a consequence that is fairly common today. In fact, you mentioned that
"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."
An off-handed remark or joke passed in private does not usually cause
any problem-even if the joke is at the expense of another individual or
group. In a particular context (i.e. private) it may have one meaning,
that changes in another context (i.e. public). While such a comment, or
habitual comments, could indicate a person's inner character or value
system, I believe a person can still perform in a professional way if
they exercise appropriate control. In fact, this might be to the
person's credit that they can exercise such control over their own bias
and prejudice. Similarly, a lack of such control takes away from their
credit.
On the surface, I do not see an issue here. It is unfortunate, but she
should have known better, and exercised greater control over her
thoughts and words.
A question I do have is, Why was the tape aired? Was it by accident? or
deliberate? If deliberate, Why? Is there more to this than just one
incident?
The key factor I would examine is, Is CTV Management consistent in their
treatment of her. Have they/would they do the same to anyone else who
did the same thing? If they are fair and consistent in their treatment,
then I would not fault them. Judge the issue on its own merit, and not
on other "political" considerations.
What do others think?
Bob
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.
>
> 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.