Posted on 07/28/2005 6:44:27 AM PDT by Happy Valley Dude
Metro columnist Jim DeFede said he taped a phone conversation with Art Teele hours before the politician shot himself. Executives said they fired DeFede because taping is illegal without consent.
The Herald fired columnist Jim DeFede Wednesday because he tape-recorded a phone conversation with Arthur E. Teele Jr. without his knowledge.
Teele had killed himself in The Herald's lobby earlier in the day without ever knowing that the columnist recorded their conversation.
Both Publisher Jesús Díaz Jr. and Executive Editor Tom Fiedler said they fired the popular Metro writer because it is illegal for anyone to tape a conversation with another person without that individual's consent in Florida.
DeFede told them that during his interview with Teele, he turned on a tape machine to record his conversation as the politician confided in him about his public corruption charges, financial problems and other sensitive issues, according to Díaz.
At one point, Teele told the columnist that he was not speaking on the record -- but DeFede continued to record him anyway without his knowledge, Díaz said.
Díaz said that The Herald had no choice but to dismiss DeFede because his conduct was potentially a felony crime and unethical.
''With all of our sources, we have to treat them with respect and dignity,'' Díaz said. ``I don't think we did that in this situation.''
''The public's trust is at stake as a result of Jim's actions,'' Díaz said. ``We have to make sure that the public understands that trust is the most important value that the community bestows upon us.''
Fiedler, who was in San Jose, Calif., at The Herald's parent company, Knight Ridder, said the decision to fire DeFede was difficult.
''Jim has been a strong and valued voice at The Miami Herald and his departure will leave a significant void,'' Fiedler said in a statement. ``I am personally heartsick about this. But we must hold ourselves to the highest standard of integrity if we are to maintain the trust of our readers and those with whom we deal.''
Herald editors decided not to publish DeFede's column based on his interview with Teele because it was obtained under possibly illegal circumstances.
DeFede, a Herald columnist since June 2002 who had previously worked at the Miami New Times, stunned colleagues with the news of his firing as editors were editing the final Teele stories for Thursday's paper.
''As Teele was becoming unglued [on the phone], I turned on a tape recorder because I could tell that he was distraught and bouncing off the walls,'' DeFede told more than a dozen staffers in the newsroom. ``I made an illegal tape and the company decided to fire me.''
DeFede, who did not want to comment further, issued a prepared statement:
''In a tense situation I made a mistake,'' he said. ``The Miami Herald executives only learned about it because I came to them and admitted it.
``I told them I was willing to accept a suspension and apologize both to the newsroom and our readers. Unfortunately, The Herald decided on the death penalty instead.''
DeFede had covered Teele for more than a decade. When Teele was arrested for allegedly threatening undercover police officers who were tailing him and his wife, DeFede wrote a column saying the charges should never have been filed.
It's not illegal in Oklahoma.
Newbie!
Is it also illegal to tape obsecene phone calls or threats to ones life?
Welcome to Free Republic and thanks for the article ...interesting...
Excuse me for a few hours while I regain my composure here - I'm laughing so hard it just can't be healthy.
It's a federal violation - so it's illegal in OK. also.
The Miami Herald is a great paper...
...to wrap fish with.
Their nuts if they think I'll trust them.
We expect the worst from them and they usually manage to fulfill that expectation.
Incorrect. It's perfectly legal in single party consent states. Federal law doesn't come into consideration until the call crosses state lines. If both states are single party consent there's no violation.
The laws on taping phone cnversations vary on a state by state basis. It's not a federal issue.
Happy Valley Dude
Since Aug 30, 2000
Don't think so. Here it's perfectly legal as long a one of the parties is aware of the recording.
This tells you all you need to know about DeFeded. The MNT is one of those ultra-liberal Rags, which doesn't do much more than bash conservatives on every other page. Although I do enjoy reading the "Savage Love" column, but thats the libertarian in me...
The federal law makes it unlawful to record telephone conversations except in one party consent cases which permit one party consent recording by state law. What that means is a person can record their own telephone conversations without the knowledge or consent of the other party in those states that allow one party consent.
Not true. Federal law permits one-party consent, meaning you can record your own conversations, or someone else's conversations, so long as at least one party consents to the recording. Florida is a two-party consent state, though, meaning both parties must consent to the recording for it to be legal under state law. Oklahoma is a one-party consent state, FWIW - read more here.
Where it gets complicated is if the phone call crosses state lines from a one-party consent state to a two-party consent state, but it doesn't sound like that happened here.
It is legal in Texas to record your telephone conversations. But I don't know about calls which cross the State line.
Ease up, Dude:)
No it is not illegal in Oklahoma. Federal law forbids telephone recordings by a third party when neither of the two principal parties on the conversation have consented.
Oklahoma, along with 37 other states, is a "one party consent" state, which means that if one party agrees to the recording (in this case the reporter) it is legal under federal law. Florida, along with 11 other states, is a "two party consent" state.
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