A tough decision for us this week at TV6.
We learned of four lawsuits being filed by current and former employees at the Marquette/Alger Women’s Center. The charges deal with misappropriation of finances, harassment at work, threats, and unjustified terminations.
Most important perhaps, the plaintiffs claim that officials at the Womens Center violated the Whistleblower Act. In other words, when the plaintiffs reported the alleged irregularities, their jobs were either threatened or they were terminated.
On the other hand, Merrilee Keller, the executive director and the Board of Directors claim they simply had to make financial decisions and personnel had to be laid off.
It’s a dispute with two clear sides to it, something you’ll find in courtrooms every day.
The problem for us as a news organization was this: If we reported on it (and we did, as the lead story on Tuesday) we might jeopardize the agency’s ability to raise funds which are badly needed. If the agency raises less money, fewer battered women and families in need will be helped. That’s unfortunate.
But a news department can’t ignore a genuine, newsworthy story because it might hurt someone or some agency. It’s news. Simple as that.
I had a personal interest in this, as well, because I know some of the people involved.
But it was a case of abiding by our journalistic ethics, something that not everybody understands, and we get beaten up about it every once in a while. We had to report on it.
And now my hope, as a news director and a citizen of the community, is that the dispute can be resolved quickly, and the Women’s Center can again focus on its central mission: helping people in need.