UPDATE

MOVIN’ ON UP TO THE WEST SIDE?

ERSNews.com has exclusively learned that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and suspended Telemundo Anchor/Reporter Marthala Salinas may be doing more than playing tennis and taking afternoon tea at Getty House. Getty House, the official residence of the Mayor of Los Angeles, is a mansion in the Hancock Park area complete with a tennis court.

Aerial Courtesy of GOOGLE MAPS

Reliable sources have told ERSNews that Salinas is spending so much time at Getty House that she may be living there. Several weeks ago the Mayor’s family moved out of the 6th and Irving estate and apparently moved back to the Mayor’s Mount Washington residence on the east side of Los Angeles.

Since ERSNews has extensively reported on the relationship between the Mayor and Salinas, she has rarely been seen.  Although, when ERSNews went calling on her Studio City condo, the only sound from inside was a barking dog.

As the story has unfolded, the Mayor has tried to dodge questions about the relationship with the suspended anchor/reporter. Although the Mayor and Salinas have been out and about in Southern California and dining in a studio city restaurant near Salinas’s condo it has all been mostly in secret.

Now the Mayor appears comfortable appearing with Mirthala in public and TMZ.com cameras caught them recently at the Fashion Square Mall in Sherman Oaks doing what boyfriends hate most: Shopping!

TMZ Has Exclusive Video Of The Mayor And Mirthala Shopping.

http://www.tmz.com/2007/08/10/the-mayor-and-mirthala-step-out/

 

 

 

 

EXCLUSIVE

THE PHOTO

THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SEE

ERSNews.com has exclusively obtained a photo of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa issuing then Telemundo General Manager Manual Abud KVEA-TV52 in Los Angeles an official City proclamation honoring the Telemundo station on November 9th, 2005. 

Abud was removed from his position as General Manager just last week. At the same time Mirthala Salinas was suspended for 2 months without pay, along with other Telemundo employees who were “disciplined” for violating the NBC/Universal (owners of the station) Standards and Practices in relation to Salinas’ affair and coverage of Mayor Villariagosa from late 2005 through June of 2006.

Mayor Villaraigosa was on hand in 2005 for the Telemundo proclamation ceremony.   According to a published report at the time Mayor Villaraigosa “thanked KVEA for its dedication and accurate reporting of local, national and world news, which is worthy of public appreciation and recognition”. 

Just days before this proclamation, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Mayor was seen visiting Salinas at her then Sherman Oaks, CA residence around 9pm with a bottle of wine and some takeout food.  The Mayor could only stay a few hours that night and would later leave his girlfriend and jet off on a late night private jet, provided by campaign supporter  “Ameriquest”.  The Mayor trip that night was to participate in the funeral of civil rights icon Rosa Parks in Detroit. MI the next day.

ERS has been attempting to obtain the original photo since late last week.  A Los Angeles City Council’s official photographer took the original photo.  But the Major’s office has refused to return calls seeking the release of the photo, which was previously released in 2005 and used in promoting the Telemundo’s Los Angeles affiliate. 

When contacted by ERS earlier today, Los Angeles City Council president Eric Garcetti’s spokesman told ERS that he would look into the situation and get back it us.  ERS sought assistance in having the previously publicly released photo, released again. At press time ERSnews was still waiting for a response from Garcetti’s City Council spokesman regarding the release of the 2005 photo from the councils own photo department.

UPDATE

TGIF!
A THREE DAY WEEKEND
TELEMUNDO STYLE!

NEWS DIRECTOR
STILL IN HIS OFFICE TODAY

TELEMUNDO SUSPENSIONS
“IMMEDIATE”
ACCORDING TO SPOKESMAN

(August 3rd, 2007 12:01P PST)

by Eric Longabardi

ERSNews has learned that despite the official press releases and well planned PR posturing, Telemundo News Director Al Corral has been at work all day today (8/3/07). Although the nature of his presence at the station is unknown, Telemundo spokesman Victor Franco confirmed to ERS today that the suspensions handed out to reporter Mirthala Salinas and her news director Corral yesterday of 2 months without pay, was effective “immediately”.

We can report that Salinas herself is not at the station today with Telemundo executives, so we're guessing that that Poytner Institute ethics training to be done at the station in the future, may be having an effect. ERS attempted to speak with Ms. Salinas last night directly via her cell phone seeking comment, but she has yet to return our calls since this story broke.

KVEA's former GM Manual Abud and NBC's Paul Madison

Here at ERS we don't like to do stories based on spoon fed press releases like the LA Times does, but according to our math, “effective immediately” would have been yesterday, when they were suspended.

In addition, if Mirthala Salinas happens to read ERS, we want to let you know again if Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters or maybe Katie Couric are to busy to talk with you, we here at ERS are still leaving our offer on the table to do an unedited live webcast interview, whenever you've got the time in the next two months.

ERSNews has learned Al Corral and Paula Madison, Corral's senior management superior at NBC/Telemundo at the time, are both recent participants of something called the "The Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Television Journalism". According to the journalism organization's website. "The mission of The Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Television Journalism, Inc. (CKP) is “to assure ethics and excellence in local broadcast news." The Project provides intensive training and education, building solid television news leaders, teaching Carole's collaborative style based on ethics and standards. As was Carole, we are determined to help improve local television news in America. As ERS reported yesterday Madisons role in the Salinas affair has yet to be addressed by NBC Universal and she received no disciplinary action according to Telemundo's announcement made public yesterday. (7/2/07)

Corral, a 2006 graduate of the program is even quoted on the site extolling the programs benefits:

“I’ve been in the business a long time, and have been a news director in several shops. I left Kneeland with a fresh perspective, and with concrete operational ideas I put into action the day I returned. It is a must-attend not only for rookie News Directors, but for the seasoned leaders who are smart enough to know there is a real growth opportunity at Kneeland.” - Al Corral, News Director KVEA-TV

ERS wonders if the Poytner Institute journalistic ethics and integrity training Telemundo announced its newsroom would be undertaking and possibly a return trip to the Kneeland program may be in the cards for Salinas, Corral, Madison and a few others? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

ERS sought comment from Telemundo's spokesman on why the "internal investigation" only covered Salinas' actions while engaged in a romantic relationship with LA Mayor Villaraigosa and not all her previous "political" boyfriends", so far all we've got in response is "no comment".

BREAKING NEWS

THE MAYOR AND MIRTHALA:
"THE SUMMER OF LOVE"
A FALL/WINTER ROMANCE?

NBC/TELEMUNDO DECIDES TO KEEP REPORTER SALINAS
DESPITE CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ETHICAL VIOLATIONS
OTHERS AT TELEMUNDO ARE "DISCIPLINED"

NO INVESTIGATION OF SALINAS ACTIVITIES PRIOR TO LATE 2005

A "FATAL ATTRACTION" FOR ETHICAL CREDIBLE JOURNALISM

(August 2st, 2007 8:30PM PST)

BY ERIC LONGABARDI

The results of the internal investigation conducted by NBC/Telemundo of Mirthala Salinas are in. The actual investigation itself is not being made public.

The result; Mirthala Salina, reporter and sometime anchor at Los Angeles Telemundo station KVEA-TV52 and the current girlfriend of the Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa will keep her job. The network announced late tonight (Thursday 8/2/07) that Salinas would be get a two month unpaid suspension. As they say in the news business, End of story. Or is it?

A source familiar with the investigation at the network told ERS that "a clear violation of the standards and practices and conflict of interest provisions of NBC/Telemundo were committed" by Salinas and others. The appropriate punishment according to the network for Salinas is a two month unpaid suspension.

The internal high ranking Telemundo source also confirmed to ERS that the official investigation of NBC/Telemundo covered only the actions and issues occurring between late 2005 and July 5th 2006. When asked whether the investigation covered additional potential ethical and conflict of interest issues related to Salinas prior to her relationship with Mayor Villaraigosa, including other notable Los Angeles area politicians, such as California State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, former Los Angeles City Councilman and now State Senator Alex Padilla and others, the source said, "it did not."

The source familiar with the investigation said the internal probe focused primarily on the issues of the June 8th reporting by Salinas of Mayor Villaraigosa announcement that he and his wife Corina were separating. And an additional report on June 11th in which Salinas also covered the Mayor was also scrutinized according to the source.

ERS can exclusively report that in addition the already named "relationships" of reporter Salinas, the list goes much longer, including another Los Angeles area politician and a former Assistant News Director at KNBC-TV as well as known Spanish language radio personality Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo who organized and played a crucial role in immigration rallies and protests that took place in Los Angeles.

Additional punishments were given to Telemundo executives. KVEA's news director Al Corral was given a 2 month unpaid suspension as well. Telemundo's station group president Ibra Morales was "officially reprimanded" and KVEA-TV General Manager Manual Abud is being reassigned to a different job within the network and will no longer oversee KVEA-TV Telemundo's affiliate in Los Angeles.

In addition ERS can report exclusively that two Telemundo producers will face "disciplinary action" still to be determined by the network.

A source familiar with the internal investigation conducted by the network confirmed to ERS that former KNBC-TV General Manager Paula Madison was the NBC executive responsible for removing Salinas from her role as a political reporter at Telemundo, as ERS first reported weeks ago. Her role in the scandal was not addressed, nor was she included in any punishment dealt out by the network. Madison is now the head of "diversity" at NBC Universal.

In an official statement on the investigation put out tonight by Telemundo the network reported it had consulted with the Poytner Institute, a well regarded organization that trains journalists and consults with media outlets on issues of ethics and integrity in journalism.

ERS spoke with Bob Steele at the Poynter Institute tonight who confirmed the institute had indeed been involved in advising Telemundo/NBC in relation to issues involved in its internal investigation of the Salinas matter.

Steele confirmed for ERS the he and another Poynter colleague Al Tompkins advised Telemundo/NBC on the issues surrounding this case. Steele was unable to comment on the specific issues and/or nature of the involvement due to confidentiality provisions that Poynter adheres to when asked to provide their expertise to media outlets. When asked by ERS if Telemundo's investigation included any issues outside of only the Mayor and Salinas relationship in 2005 and 2006 Steele again could not comment. Steele did tell ERS that although he could not comment on anything related to his and Poynter's involvement in the internal NBC/Telemmundo investigation, he did tell ERSNews that he was familiar with ERS's reporting and that of other media outlets related to a myriad of others ethics issues related to Salinas prior to her relationship with the Mayor.

 

 

THE DOG DAYS
OF THE SUMMER OF LOVE:

IN THE EYE
OF A POLITICAL STORM

THE MAYOR, MIRTHALA AND
THE REST OF THE STORY
WAITS TO MAKE LANDFALL

(August 1st, 2007 10:20AM PST)

BY ERIC LONGABARDI

The fate of Telemundo reporter Mirthala Salinas and others in NBC/Telemundo station management still hangs in the balance.

For over two weeks now, overblown reports from the likes of the LA Times and the AP have claimed, based on "sources," that the "internal investigation" being conducted by NBC of its own reporter and others was completed and would be announced any day now. The Mayor confirmed his on going relationship with the sometime anchor and political reporter Salinas on July 3rd, when the Los Angeles Daily News was about to publish a story that would expose the mayor’s affair and relationship. The LA Times, has continued to bring up the rear in reporting on this story.

According to the LA Times the announcement of Salina’s fate was supposed to happen a week ago last Monday (7/23/07). As expected here at ERSNews, the day came and went without any new news. Score another exclusive for the LA Times on this story!

ERSNews, on the other hand, had already reported back on July 16th that Telemundo’s official spokesperson had said the news of Salina’s fate and the results of the internal investigation were "nearing completion" and would come "soon." When asked by ERS what "soon" meant in real world terms, weeks, months or years, Telemundo spokesman Victor Franco declined to comment any further. NBC/Telemundo’s notion of "soon" must have meant weeks.

Meantime, sources familiar with NBC/Telemundo tell ERS that news executives such as Telemundo News Director Al Corral have taken to making light of the situation, going as far to be joking with colleagues as to whether or not they would "see him tomorrow." An obvious reference to the possibility that the internal probe by NBC Universal could roll heads higher than Mirthala Salinas. In addition, sources familiar with Telemundo say three top executives, including news director Corral were not present at the station this past Friday, leading to speculation that an announcement would be forthcoming.

This past Wednesday (7/25/07) ERSNews turned its sights on another "relationship" Mayor Villaraigosa was having with another Los Angeles Spanish language media outlet: Univision’s KMEX-TV/34. The Enterprise Report exposed exclusively that the mayor via his press office had been routinely receiving questions in advance to weekly interviews he conducted on the station.

According to sources familiar with Unvision/KMEX and other published media reports, Univision has launched it s own "internal investigation", not in to the ethical issues related to providing the mayor the questions in advance of his interviews, via his deputy press secretary Diana Rubio, as ERS exposed, but into who may have leaked the smoking gun emails to ERSNews!

We here are ERS would implore Univision and KMEX to call off the "witchhunt" dogs and instead turn their resources and efforts into providing its audience with credible and ethical reporting when it comes to the mayor of Los Angeles. The first amendment, freedom of the press and exposing wrongdoing, applies not only to the people Univison/KMEX covers, but to the people who work in the media and their own newsroom as well.

LA Mayor Villaraigosa: working the media circuit at KTLA-TV 60-year bash
(July 31, 2007)

Finally last night, in a show that Mayor Villaraigosa is back on message and making the media rounds and trying to put the still brewing scandal behind him. ERS caught up with the mayor by chance at a local Los Angeles celebration of the 60-year anniversary of the LA’s first broadcast TV news station KTLA. The event held at the Gene Autry Museum in Griffith Park had a chance meeting of ERSNews Co-Editor Roger Scott and the Mayor. The Mayor, of course the exceptionally talented media savvy politician that he is, seemed to know all about ERSNews.com and the Enterprise Report, which of course is a good thing! We hope he tells all his friends about us. We appreciate the mayor and Ms. Salinas giving us a story, served up at the right time to put ERSNews on the public and media radar because of our exclusive investigative reporting on this scandal. Although we’re still in our infancy on the web, we appreciate all the help we can get. Thanks again Mr. Mayor!