Some staff members at WOIO 19 Action News believe the station hit a new low in pursuing a story this week on an after-hours strip joint at a North Randall coffee shop, according to a published report. The story led to the proprietor's arrest.
In his story, reporter Matt Stevens referred to "a woman who just arrived with a date" paying $20 each to get in and then engaging with a nude dancer in "an hourlong relationship that could easily be used as a definition of obscenity." The man and woman, their anonymity protected, were then interviewed by the Cleveland Plain Dealer about what "our undercover camera" caught.
"We found out immediately that you can get just about anything for the right price," said the woman. Including, it appears, a ready-made sweeps-week story.
The story continued by saying that what the reporter failed to tell viewers was that the woman, who works at a local legitimate strip joint, and a man were recruited and paid several hundred dollars by the station to get lewd undercover video. And they didn't sit there passively in the one-hour session, the story said.
News Director Dan Salamone said he had no qualms about paying "$300, including cocktails," for the undercover work. He said he was forced to find outsiders after he used producers for three previous visits, none of which produced usable video.
"They flat-out didn't want to go back. I ran out of people," Salamone told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The story then asks, "Shouldn't viewers have been told that the interviewees were on the payroll?"
"What was germane to me was what was going on in the establishment," he said.
