After 13 years as a radio reporter at WWJ (950 AM) in Detroit, Karen Dinkins was let go on Monday. The reason: she wore a pro-Obama t-shirt while covering a rally for the station on Sunday.
Reached by telephone, Dinkins acknowledged that she wore the shirt, and that the radio station fired her Monday. But she declined to elaborate.
“I don’t want to comment at this time,” she said.
Georgeann Herbert, WWJ’s director of programming, said in a statement that Dinkins compromised the station’s objectivity by wearing the T-shirt.
“(The station) believes that our credibility with our listeners rests on the independence of our newsroom staff,” the statement said. “WWJ does not favor any candidate, party or issue.
“While we encourage employees to exercise their rights as citizens, we expect them to be on guard against any actual or perceived conflict of interest when covering news stories.” (Source)
