TEELE'S SUICIDE STIRS UP RUMORS OF GAY AFFAIRS

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TEELE'S SUICIDE STIRS UP RUMORS OF GAY AFFAIRS

by: Coralie Carlson, The Associated Press



MIAMI (AP) - Former city and county commissioner Arthur Teele Jr. has long been regarded as the political force behind a public transportation system and many minority-owned businesses, but his legacy is now overshadowed by corruption charges and his public suicide.

The Vietnam veteran and longtime political powerhouse shot himself in the head in the lobby of The Miami Herald building Wednesday, the same day another newspaper published lurid accusations against him. He was 59.

"I think he'll be most remembered for his exit," said Marvin Dunn, a psychology professor at Florida International University who has studied Miami's black community.

Hours after Teele's death, the Herald fired columnist Jim DeFede for secretly taping a phone conversation with him -- a possible violation of state law and the newspaper's ethical standards. Police were investigating, but no charges had been filed Friday against DeFede, who said he believes the firing was unfair.


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http://www.outinlodi.com/home/news.asp?articleid=9257

[FreedomAngel82]

1. Wow

How horrible. :(

[Salviati]

2. Heh...

I couln't tell from the snip if he was a Democrat or Republican. Since it didn't label him as a Democrat right away in a story about alleged contacts with drug dealers, reputed homosexual affairs and corruption, I figured he was a Republican, and what do you know, 5 paragraphs in, it mentions the fact that he was a Republican. I wonder if they would have mentioned it if it wasn't for the the fact that he was a black Republican...

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3. A Punishment Too Harsh?

A Punishment Too Harsh?
A stiff suspension without pay would have been the way to go in the case of fired Miami Herald columnist Tom DeFede.

By Rem Rieder
Rem Rieder is AJR's Editor and Senior Vice President.

Does every ethical transgression require the death penalty?


Journalism has been battered by a seemingly endless string of scandals in recent years. Commendably, the profession has moved aggressively to crack down on the malefactors and come clean with the public, often in excruciating detail.


Clearly, serial fabricators and plagiarizers like Jayson Blair and Jack Kelley need to be shown the door--as quickly as possible. But there are times when the ax seems like overkill. And then there are some really tough calls.


Which brings us to the saga of Miami Herald columnist Jim DeFede. DeFede recorded a telephone conversation with a troubled Miami politico, former Miami Commissioner Arthur E. Teele Jr. Teele initiated the call and made clear that the conversation was off the record. DeFede never asked for permission to record it. But he thought Teele seemed to be in a very troubled state of mind, so he recorded it anyway, even though he may well have been violating Florida law.


After Teele committed suicide in the Herald lobby later that day, DeFede told Publisher Jesus Diaz about the recording. Soon DeFede was a former Miami Herald columnist.


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http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3935