Cleveland Station Hires Kidnapped Woman as Reporter
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Even for TV news, this seems a bit sleazy....
WJW announced that they have hired Amanda Berry to be their new Reporter that reports on "missing people."
Berry is one of the 3 women that was kidnapped and held for over a decade in a Cleveland home by Ariel Castro.
WJW announced their new hire yesterday during the Feb book (coincidence?) The station teased Berry's hire during the Super Bowl.
Berry was paraded on the set for the station's morning show and said she was "happy and healthy." "I want to give people hope," Berry said about joining the station.
Berry's beat will be missing people. She will host of the daily "Missing" feature.
The segment will report the identity and provides details about a known missing person from Northeast Ohio. A different missing person will be featured each day, Monday through Friday, with Berry's "Missing" report airing on newscasts throughout the day.
"I'm thrilled to be joining the Fox 8 News team for this important segment," Berry was quoted saying in a statement released Monday morning by Channel 8. "When I was missing, the people who were looking for me never gave up. My wish is that this segment will not only help find those who are missing but offer hope for the loved ones who are looking for them."
Channel 8's news director, Andy Fishman, said Berry was the natural choice to host the station's "Missing" segment.
Fishman met with Berry and her lawyer about three weeks ago to discuss the possibility.
"We sat around for about an hour and instantly knew this was going to work," Fishman said. "We hit it off right away. She is so passionate and well-spoken, and this obviously is something that means a great deal to her. When you hear the segment begin with 'I'm Amanda Berry,' you're going to look up and pay attention."
And let's be honest, that's all the station wants. Amanda Berry has no experience as a Reporter and has never taken a Journalism class. She was a victim of a horrendous crime and now she is being made into a Reporter in a big market, all for the sake of ratings.
Are station's going to give up on J-School grads and just start hiring crime victims as their Reporters. Will the woman that had a gun put in her face in a bank robbery, be hired as the "Bank Robbery Reporter"?
Sorry, but it seems like this woman is being exploited in an effort to raise the station's ratings.
But maybe that's just me....
