Unfair Firing for 'Miami Herald' Columnist Who Taped Interview? [RE Teele suicide in Miami]

EditorandPublisher.com ^ | July 28, 2005 | Joe Strupp

[summer]

And, of course, it all depends on what written policies the Miami Herald has. Otherwise, they can fire with no reason in Florida.

[summer]

Correction, as Defede says here, Teele was upset: "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 was quoted in the Herald as saying I thought I read elsewhere he had a ddifferent impression of Teele while on the phone. Maybe not.

[summer]

Also, here is the full last paragraph of this article: DeFede had a long-running relationship with Teele, according to the Herald. He even wrote a column that defended the troubled politician last year after Teele was charged with threatening undercover police.

[summer]

I've always opposed 2-party consent law...Linda Tripp...

That's right; now I remember how that 2-way consent thing came up in her case. But I always thought these were good laws, especially if one party does have an expectation of privacy in the subject conversation.

[Porterville]

Poor crooked politician............. ( refrain from further commenting) ah hell:

There once was a political mad man,
Who thought he was in charge of the sun land,
Trucking money away,
He was king for a day,
And now he's six feet under beach sand.

[summer]

Did you write that ditty yourself? Very appropo!

[Porterville]

Two minutes....

[summer]

Wow...

[summer]

Yet, despite your witty ditty there, this is still a tragedy....

[Gideon7]

Does the law specify that consent can't be inferred or implied, that it has to asked for and given?

The law doesn't say anything one way or another about implied vs explicit consent:

It is lawful under ss. 934.03-934.09 for a person to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication when all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent to such interception.

Florida Statue 934.03

[Porterville]

That is true. He stole lots of money from Innocent tax payers who will never see a dime.... that is the king of tragedy.... The enslavement of man by taxes and then the squandering of that enslavement on personal gain.

[debg]

Defede stated that during the convervation with Teele (less than 2 hours before he shot himself) he (Defede) was physically shaking from the conversation and decided to start the tape. So, I'd say that Defede knew he was getting gut level info from Teele and decided to tape it.

After talking with Defede, Teele walked over from his home to the Miami Herald building, talked to Defede to ask him to tell his wife he loved her...then shot himself.

[KC_for_Freedom]

That's right; now I remember how that 2-way consent thing came up in her case. But I always thought these were good laws, especially if one party does have an expectation of privacy in the subject conversation.

I personally believe single party consent makes more sense. People might just watch what they say. Perhaps it is realistic to require two party consent for taping when the taping will result in court evidence or in the publication of an article. But what about the boss who tells you your are going to be fired because of your race or religion. What if you had a tape running then?

[summer]

Sounds like you'd win the case with that evidence!

[summer]

You know, the more I think about this, the bottom line here is this: The Miami Herald can fire him for no reason. They can say their policies are in the midst of being "updated" or whatever they want.

However, the Miami Herald may not like that a lot of people in the news business, and their community, have been signing that online petition. That petition is very bad press for the Miami Herald, and its existence does a lot to damage the Herald's reputation.

So, regardless of whether this was legal or illegal what Defede did, the Miami Herald might take Defede back just because of the pressure the Herald feels. And, someone on the petition is complaining about a violent photo the Herald ran in this Teele matter, saying the editor who allowed school children to see THAT on the fron page should be fired!

[section9]

Jim DeFede is a good, muckraking reporter. What he did was a violation of statute. Period. However, the Herald cut him loose because they were looking for a scapegoat in the immediate aftermath of the Teele suicide.

DeFede should have been brought up on the appropriate charge, and the Herald should have cut him loose after having been found guilty by a jury of his peers. Cutting him loose prior to a trial smacks of the scapegoating that this was. Shame on Tom Fiedler. I expected more of him.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[mewzilla]

Thanks for the link! I looked at Chapter 934's definition listings and they've defined everything but consent. If that's the case, maybe they should go back and define it.

[summer]

Hi Chris, Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I hope Jim Defede find another job soon because like you said, he is a good muckraker reporter. I think the Herald's management has already made enough bad decisions to have dented their reputation. And, Jim Defede will be able to find another job, I have no doubt.

[OldFriend]

It is my understanding that the only exception to the law of taping without permission is with BUSINESS.

Clearly this was a personal call, not business.

[KC_for_Freedom]

You know, the more I think about this, the bottom line here is this: The Miami Herald can fire him for no reason

Agreed, the rest is just scapegoating. And I like Chris's post too