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Friday, April 07, 2006

Green got screwed 
I rise in defense of ABC's Good Morning America Weekend director John Green.

Sometime back during the '04 Presidential campaign, Green sent out a mass email to GMA Weekend staffers saying "Bush makes me sick."

Green did nothing wrong, in my view, and should not be suspended. There is nothing that says that journos and execs cannot have personal views - even strongly held ones. People go into that field because they have a strong interest in current events. To expect bright people to go into that field not to discuss their views with others is simply ludicrous, and the decision to suspend him was cowardly and reactionary on the part of ABC's executive management.

As I posted at the time, John Green is not the problem. The problem is that the coastal media's recruiting has created such an intellectually stunted, inbred echo chamber that someone like John Green thought he could send such a mass email and expect a sympathetic audience. It's honestly written like he expected everyone on the distro list to agree with him.

Obviously, someone didn't, and eventually leaked the email. So why didn't Green know about this individual? I'll hazard a guess - because ABC news is - like most other coastal media outlets - so congenitally liberal that the leaker actually feared for his career if he spoke out openly.

That isn't John Green's doing. That's a much bigger problem than Green.

Green is the symptom of ABC's dysfunction - not its cause.

He should not have been suspended.

I'm not going to say he deserves to have his job back, because he called the White House press office to apologize. Apologize for what? Being a Democrat? Expressing his opinions behind the scenes to his coworkers?

If Green had half a spine, he would not have gone groveling. Green should not have apologized for shit. It's not his job to make the White House happy.

Green should have resigned rather than grovel to the White House press office on ABC's behest.

And ABC management should have backed him up on this.

Splash, out

Jason

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