Reporter Who Badgered Elderly Robbery Victim Fired

Rebecca Aguilar of Fox 4 in Dallas has been fired after her interview badgering a 78-year old business owner for lawfully defending his property:

In a telephone interview Wednesday night, Aguilar, 49, said she was checking her mail at mid-afternoon that day when she noticed an envelope under her front door mat. It informed her that Fox4 was exercising an option to drop her at the halfway point of a two-year contract that began on March 6, 2007.

“No doorbell, no knock on the door,” said Aguilar, who had been on paid suspension since Oct. 16th following her controversial interview with an elderly West Dallas salvage business owner who had shot and killed two alleged burglars within three weeks time.

So in other words, she was disappointed that she wasn’t approached with infinitely more patience and respect than the way she blindsides her interviewees.

It could be argued that Aguilar bore sole responsibility for her actions if her interview had aired live on the air. But it was obviously videotaped and edited to air later in the day, since she appears on-camera in the studio immediately afterwards. Her producer(s) demonstrated judgment as equally as poor as Aguilar–actually worse, since, like a print editor, the producer’s job is to have the final say as to what airs under the television station’s imprimatur. Will they receive any punishment for the public relations damage their poor decisions brought to their station?