The Spanish-language television news anchor, Mirthala Salinsa, who has been outed for a two-year affair with Los Angeles mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, (shown pictured, right) continues to make headlines around the world.
Ms Salinas has been condemned for a serious breach of ethics - basically that reporters don't sleep with sources. I've been around long enough to know that this is not the first, or last time this will happen. Politico-journo marriages and affairs have been a staple of reporters' bar room gossip for hundreds of years. News is sexy; it's exciting and there's always plenty of hormonal "juice" in the air.
However, that's no justification it seems. This is because the other side of journalism is quite nasty. If there's blood in the water, or a sniff of scandal in the air, all bets and confidences are off.
The bottom line though, is that the noise and blather about this case is hypocritical. The unwritten code has always been, "Don't ask, don't tell," but when the rumours are confirmed, like in this story, "move in for the kill."
Unfortunately, the mayor will probably survive - after all he's a bloke who can't keep it in his pants (entirely excusable in the topsy-turvy world of sexual politics). She on the other hand is obviously a sl*t who's an insatiable Latina nymphomaniac and she deserves to be burned at the stake like the obvious witch she is (I'm being sarcastic here, just in case you can't read between the lines).
To follow this story, try these links:
- The Guardian (London)
- Steve Lopez in the LA Times (has a bit of a go at the mayor)
- Full coverage from the LA Times (the history of the story)
- A compile of blogs and news from Technocrati
- Dogpile (all that needs to be said)
Communication and New Media: From Broadcast to Narrowcast, co-authored with Dr John Harrison 
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