(Former) Miami Herald reporter Jim Defede wrote many stories that were offensive to powerful Miami interests,right wing Cuban-American extremists, and even the Herald's parent company, Knight Ridder. He accused them of cutting staff to increase profits. A couple of days ago he was fired in the midst of a bizzare series of events that included a former county commissioner walking into the lobby of the Miami Herald and putting two bullets into the back of his own head - read the story by following the links on this page (note how many Herald staffers signed their names) -
http://journalistsfordefede.blogspot.com/.
A Washington Post story detailing the suicide and firing of Defede is here - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/28/AR2005072802095.html
A New York Times story here - http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/national/29miami.html
Call the Herald (www.miami.com), especially if you live in Miami. Add a comment to: journalistsfordefede.blogspot.com
The "crime" of tape-recording someone without their permission is not, as the Herald claims, a felony - it's a misdemeanor (unless the recording is used for blackmail, which was not the case here.)
Call the Herald, especially if you live in Miami. Add a comment to: journalistsfordefede.blogspot.com
A couple of days ago, Jim Defede wrote an article about a man named Rodriguez who was the pro-union front desk clerk at a condominium on Miami Beach that SEIU is organizing. Rodriguez was fired for union activity, and the management company spread false rumors that he was fired because he raped his wife (his wife made up the story during a messy divorce and a judge immediately threw out the charge.) The current condo manager used to own a lawn service that cut my Dad's lawn back in the late 70s - he used to run over and break my Dad's sprinkler heads and then tell my Dad that he was responsible for the damage to his mowers - to give you an idea of the kind of guy those scab companies hire.
