Beruflich Dokumente
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Q
Were you finished with your answer to the
question could you provide some -- could you describe
your training -A
No, I was not.
Q
-- specifically about conflicts of interest?
Could you finish your answer?
A
If youre in a situation where you are -- you have
intimate knowledge of a story to the effect that youre
-MR. FLOWERS: Objection, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Overruled.
THE WITNESS: Youre covering someone who is
a personal friend of yours and you want to give them
positive glowing coverage, thats a conflict of
interest. You shouldnt -- you shouldnt do that. If
you have a financial stake in a project that youre
doing a story on, you should not do that story. If
someone close to you has a financial stake in that, you
should not necessarily do that story. Im talking
about traditional ethics in traditional journalism as
Ive seen it. And that -- and that includes the radio
stations Ive worked for, the cable television
operations Ive worked for and my current employer.
Im talking about specifically traditional journalism,
traditional journalistic ethics in the roles that Ive
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A
They involved stories that involved political
figures in Hoboken that were airing on 1010 WINS.
Q
Both instances?
A
Both instances. Yes.
Q
Were you told to recuse yourself or did you
know to do that?
A
I was told. I knew to do that -MR. FLOWERS: Object.
THE COURT: Overruled. Overruled. He can
answer it.
THE WITNESS: I knew to do that and I was
told that that was something that I should do. And
thats how I know all the ethics that Im bound by by
my bosses explaining to me exactly what the ethics are
for the organization. And the ethics in this
organization, as explained to me, if theres a Hoboken
story, you dont do it. And you are to tell the editor
on duty to remind that editor on duty that they should
be taking another look at this and seeing if it can be
covered in a different way.
BY MR. COHEN:
Q
Have you ever -- in your career, have you
ever worked with someone who you believed should recuse
themselves from a story due to a conflict of interest?
A
I monitored journalists below me who had -- for
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223
instance, there are -- Ive had people work for me who
graduated from college in the same community that we
were covering news when there were controversial issues
related to that college. Say they wanted -- the
instances where they wanted to buy more land and or
they wanted reroute streets or things of this type, I
made sure that the coverage was right down the middle
and attempted to have people who didnt graduate from
that college reporting on that colleges activities.
Thats an example of when I was a news director I would
do that. I would try to take that out of the hands of
those who, you know, might even...
Its not so much that you go into it
expecting that youre going to side to one side or
another, but you dont want any biases that are deep
down inside to come out. And you also dont want
somebody to err on the other side saying, well, I went
to this school and I dont want anybody thinking that
Im protecting them or helping them in any way, so Im
going to help the other side more or make it -- or make
it seem that way. Thats why we have an understanding
of conflicts of interest and we address them.
Q
So, Lane, correct me if Im wrong, have you
provided actual -- have you provided guidance or
instructions to people where youve worked on
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journalistic ethics?
A
I have.
Q
Was it within your official job description
to train?
A
Yes. I was the news director which is the manager
of the new department.
Q
And how many employees worked under you as a
news director?
A
Full time, depending on the time, three to four.
With part timers that could also be three to four
additional.
Q
Now, this time where youre testifying when
you were the news director and you trained people on
ethics, has it only been once that youve been news
director or was there another time?
A
Its only once that I held that title.
Q
Okay. Have you -A
Ive held other titles, but.
Q
Yes. Have you served in another position,
other than news director, where you trained
subordinates on journalistic ethics?
A
Only less formally. It would -- it would come up
in conversation as you -- in journalism, there are many
people who want to be in electronic journalism in
particular. They go to many of these schools, and they
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229
Radio/Television Digital News Association, they have an
ethics -- these are ethics frameworks that are put out
there so employers can put together -- and news
directors can put together their own set of ethics for
their particular organization. The set of ethics for
1010 WINS is not going to be the same in entirety as
CNBC or the Huffington Post. Its -- there are basic
tenants and then there are company policies.
MR. COHEN: Thats all I have, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Cross?
MR. KATZMAN: I have no cross, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Booth?
MR. BOOTH: Yes.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. BOOTH:
Q
You indicated that -- well, first of all, how
far did you go in school?
A
High school.
Q
What high school did you graduate from?
A
Ketcham High School in Wappingers Falls, New York.
Q
Was there a course on journalism in high
school that you took?
A
There was a radio club, but there was no
journalism course. No.
Q
Okay. And I take it you went right to work.
You didnt go to college?
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Thats correct.
Q
So, you never -- you never went to a
journalism school either.
A
Didnt go to a journalism school and was hired, I
believe, for my first three jobs in journalism by
people that didnt go to journalism school.
Q
Yeah. Theres probably a lot of people in
the industry that didnt go to journalism school.
A
Thats correct.
Q
Okay. Is there a code of ethics, a standard
code of ethics, for the industry?
A
As I mentioned, no code of ethics is adopted
universally. Tenets -- tenets of a code of ethics are
adopted.
Q
So, the anser to my question is no. Theres
no universal code of ethics, right?
A
There are those that are put out there as
universal codes by the Society of Professional
Journalists, by Radio/Television Digital -Q
I take it theyre suggested codes. Theyre
recommended. Theyre not, like, established as
something that youre required to follow.
A
They are established as the benchmark.
Q
And there are more than one. Theres more
than one such code.
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THE COURT: Counsel, your question -- is your
question limited to journalistic training or ethical
training?
MR. BOOTH: In ethics. Journalistic ethics.
THE COURT: Okay. Rephrase the question.
BY MR. BOOTH:
Q
Okay. Did the company ever send you to a
course on journalistic ethics?
A
Not specifically.
Q
Okay. Is Rush Limbaugh -- do you have the
same ethics that Rush Limbaugh might follow in his
radio news program?
A
Absolutely not. He is not a journalist.
MR. COHEN: Thats all I have.
THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Flowers?
MR. FLOWERS: Yes.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. FLOWERS:
Q
Mr. Bajardi, have you written any articles
regarding journalistic ethics that have been published?
A
No.
Q
Have you taught any courses regarding
journalistic ethics?
A
Only -Q
I asked you if you taught any courses.
A
Taught any courses? No.
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233
Q
Have you been asked to speak at any seminar
regarding journalistic ethics?
A
Ive been asked questions about journalistic
ethics at colleges.
Q
No. Answer the question, please. Have you
been asked to speak about journalistic ethics at any
seminar on journalistic ethics?
A
Youre making it more specific than I can answer.
I would have to answer no, if thats the way -THE COURT: Sir, did you -THE WITNESS: Yes, sir?
THE COURT: Let me -- did you understand the
question?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: Answer the question.
THE WITNESS: Not specifically, no.
BY MR. FLOWERS:
Q
Are you generally aware that various
industries have annual conventions or seminars or
continuing education programs?
A
Various industries?
Q
Yes.
A
I focus on my industry, not various industries.
THE COURT: So, youre not aware? Are you
aware or not?
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234
THE WITNESS: Im aware of my own industry.
THE COURT: Next question.
BY MR. FLOWERS:
Q
Okay. Does your industry have any seminars
or any conventions or any meetings where journalistic
ethics are ever discussed?
A
I would imagine they do, yes.
Q
Have you ever been asked to speak at one?
A
No.
Q
Have you ever been asked by anyone to write
or speak about any journalistic ethics issues?
A
Yes.
Q
Who?
A
There was a professor at SUNY New Paltz asked me
to come to his communications class and talk a wide
variety of issues, including journalistic ethics. It
was a long time ago.
Q
So, you went to SUNY New Paltz, and thats
the extent of your public perception or tenure as an
expert in journalistic ethics.
A
No. My tenure as an expert in journalism ethics
is my time in journalism and -Q
Do you have anything objective other than
your personal opinion as to how you qualify? Is there
any third-party validation of your testimony about your
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235
ability to speak as an expert on journalistic ethics?
A
I dont -- I dont know -- I dont know if one
exists.
Q
You dont understand the question.
A
A third party -THE COURT: Have you been recognized as an
expert in the field of journalistic ethics, to your
knowledge?
THE WITNESS: I dont have any certification
to that effect. No.
MR. FLOWERS: I dont have any other
questions, Judge.
THE COURT: Okay. Any redirect?
MR. COHEN: Yes, Your Honor.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. COHEN:
Q
One of the questions, I think, from Mr. Booth
was he asking are there different codes of journalism.
Do you remember that question?
A
From Mr. Booth?
Q
Yes.
A
Yes.
Q
And your answer was yes?
A
Yes.
Q
Are you aware of any codes of journalism that
say it is acceptable to participate in stories that you
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report on?
A
Not in regards to the fourth estate journalism.
No.
Q
And what do you mean by fourth estate?
A
Fourth estate? I mean the fourth estate
traditional journalism that I participate in as far as
receiving a salary since 1987 with a gap.
MR. COHEN: No further questions.
THE COURT: Okay. Anything further? Okay.
You may step down.
THE WITNESS: Thank you, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Thank you. Okay. Ill hear you,
Mr. Cohen.
MR. COHEN: Hear me on -THE COURT: On why you think you established
that you laid a foundation to elicit a lay opinion from
Mr. Bajardi.
MR. COHEN: Okay. Well, as Mr. Bajardi
testified, he has many years of on-the-job experience
in journalism and has received training on the job in
journalistic ethics, has provided guidance and
instruction to subordinates on journalistic ethics, and
I think thats all he needs to provide a lay opinion on
journalistic ethics.
THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Katzman?
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MR. KATZMAN: My position, Your Honor, would
be that expert opinion is necessary.
THE COURT: Lay opinion.
MR. KATZMAN: I understand. But my opinion,
our position is that expert testimony is necessary on
this witness on this issue and that a party should not
be permitted under this set of circumstances to be
laying -- to setting forth his own lay opinion on the
issue of ethics.
How hes going to be tying this in also
becomes very, very interesting particularly when were
talking about a blog that was written in March of 2012
pertaining to a 2009 election. I just want the Court
to understand that. It becomes even more tenuous when
the witness is now attempting to give his lay opinion
that it would be unethical for him to be supporting a
candidate three years earlier while he is now employed
with CBS.
The whole issue is tenuous. Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. Booth?
MR. BOOTH: Judge, I dont believe that this
is a subject thats ripe for lay opinion. Its not -THE COURT: Because?
MR. BOOTH: Its something that a non-expert
can give an opinion on matters of common knowledge and
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has never written, published or lectured as an expert,
couldnt point to being recognized as an expert in the
field. Clearly, he makes distinctions between news
media, acknowledging, you know, traditional, which Im
not by way of his definition.
Interestingly that the witness indicated that
reporters should not report on stories or organizations
where they have an interest. And almost every night on
the network news one of the networks announce that
their parent company is the subject of a story given
todays climate when four or five news organizations
control most of the media. Its a daily occurrence.
So, I find that opinion, frankly, wrong and
contra to reality these days because organizations do
report on stories in which they have interest in which
their parent companies have interest every day.
But regardless of that, I mean, Im not
satisfied the witness has any specialized knowledge in
the field to give an opinion, lay opinion, certainly
not an expert opinion on ethics. So, the objection to
testifying as to his impression of journalistic ethics
is sustained.
MR. COHEN: Your Honor?
THE COURT: Yes.
MR. COHEN: So, would Your Honor permit me to
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241
blogs made by one of the defendants, okay, thats going
to come in. But, again, what you do with it as far as
your proofs, I mean, thats going to be the issue.
Statements by the parties are most likely going to be
admitted, okay, but you need something to causally
relate or tie that into your case. Okay?
So, all right. Then Monday, 9:30.
MR. KATZMAN: Thank you, Judge.
THE COURT: All right. Have a nice weekend.
MR. FLOWERS: Thank you, Your Honor.
MR. COHEN: Thank you.
(Proceedings Concluded.)
* * * * * * *
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C E R T I F I C A T I O N
I, Karen English, the assigned transcriber,
do hereby certify the foregoing transcript of
proceedings on electronic recording dated 1/29/15,
electronic recording time from 01:28:11 to 03:05:11, is
prepared in full compliance with the current Transcript
Format for Judicial Proceedings and is a true and
accurate compressed transcript of the proceedings as
recorded.
#421
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