Dallas Reporter Rebecca Aguilar, who won a Journalist of the Year award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists just two weeks ago, has been suspended by NBC affiliate KDFW-TV after viewers objected to her handling of an interview with a man who had shot and killed two alleged burglars at his business in separate incidents just three weeks apart. On D Magazine's website, contributing editor Trey Garrison wrote, "This is her idea of journalism? Ambushing a 70-year-old man who has been through life-and-death twice in three weeks? [Asking him,] 'Are you a trigger-happy kind of person? Is that what you wanted to do? Shoot to kill?' Good Lord, I hate the people in this field." But the NAHJ has disagreed and its president, Rafael Olmeda, has fired off a letter to KDFW-TV General Manager Kathy Saunders saying, "What [Aguilar] did was obtain an exclusive interview for your station in a professional manner. This is far from the 'ambush' that has been portrayed in the blogosphere." She accused station management of being "unduly influenced by the emails received from the station" from viewers who do not have "journalism principles as their main concern." The station has not responded.




19/10/2007