The Fire Alarm That Ate ABC's Jim Gardner's Family Bat Mitzvah

Much to my surprise, long time Channel 6 anchor Jim Gardner was nervously pacing back and forth like an expectant father in the lobby of the Arts Condo on Saturday night. His daughter's bat mitzvah was being disrupted by a very annoying fire alarm endlessly repeating "There is a fire. Please evacuate." He was mostly definitely not in a good mood, but ever gracious he posed with the firemen. The good news is that the fire alarm was a false alarm so the party was able to continue.

ABC's Checkbook Journalism -Casey Anthony $200,000, Obama $500

Howard Kurtz at the Daily Beast wrote today that ABC has ended the practice of paying for access. The network had taken much heat after it was revealed that ABC contributed $200,000 to Casey Anthony's legal defense.

As a freelance producer for ABC, I applaud the decision. The practice was preventing the dissemination of important news because the news budget was being allocated to sensationalism.

Casey Anthony was not the only questionable mom that they paid. Back in May, ABC offered $10,000 for the interview with the mom that claimed that she had injected her daughter with Botox to make her more competitive on the beauty pageant circuit. After she appeared on Good Morning America, she admitted that she had made up the whole story and used a false name. Good Morning America rightfully withheld payment.

The payment to the Botox mom caught my eye because I was negotiating with ABC the same week. I had gotten an exclusive from former President George Bush, which I sold to ABC for $500. Bush had revealed the details of his conversation with President Obama after the death of Osama Bin Laden.

More than 1800 outlets linked to the story that I gave ABC. The entire tenor of the debate about the death of Osama Bin Laden changed after the publication of my story. After reading Bush's comments, even conservatives on Fox stopped doubting that Bin Laden was dead and whether Obama had handled it correctly. Sites such as Politico noticed that Bush could not find the time to come to Ground Zero after the death of Bin Laden but had earned $15 million making speeches to well heeled executives.

I also had some exclusive comments from former Secretary of State Colin Powell about the Pakistani government's knowledge of Bin Laden's whereabouts and former Senator Dodd backing away from Dodd- Frank. ABC had the chutzpah to ask me to thrown them in for free even after my initial story had spread like wildfire.

It has always struck in my craw that a mother, who could have murdered her child, and a mother, who claimed to endanger her, were able to outbid me especially when I was selling such an important piece of history.

Couric, Stephanopolous, Rose should follow Prince Andrew's lead

Prince Andrew resigned today as British trade envoy, in part, due to his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was forced to pleaded guilty to soliciting under age girls for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail, most of it served in a work release program. He has allegedly settled lawsuits with 7 of the underage girls, but there are rumors of many more young girls.

Media superstars Katie Couric, George Stephanopolous and Charlie Rose should follow the Prince's footsteps for consorting with him, After Epstein got out of jail, he held a party for Pricne Andrew. Incredibly Katie Couric, George Stephanoplous, and Charlie Rose attended this event at the home of a registered sex offender. It seemed that they all wanted inside dope on the upcoming royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

While the British press made a big fuss about Prince Andrew's friendship with a sex offender, the American media has not said a word about three media superstars consorting with a pedophile. Couric reproached Congress for ignoring the problem of sex trafficking just two weeks later. I am, at a loss, at how she could do this with a straight face.

When contacted, sources close to Couric said, "She was invited to the party by publicist Peggy Siegal. She is invited by Peggy to many events. She was focused on the guest of honor, Prince Andrew, not the host. It is safe to say that she will not be attending events at Epstein's house in the future.

Couric, Stephanoplous, and Rose need to explain and apologize for their attendance at the event or they need to go. Prince Andrew should not be the only one to fall on his sword.