As the FTVLive.com TV news website asks: Scripps is OK with this?
FTVLive broke the story Wednesday Jan. 15 about Jasmine Minor, a reporter for Scripps' WCPO-TV, offering a 20% discount on byCassandre swimwear on her Instagram account.
Minor, a Channel 9 reporter since October 2018, has deleted the post apparently made during a recent trip to a coastal resort in Mexico. The FTVLive screen shot shows Minor on the beach in a black bikini with the text:
"I loved wearing this high quality swimsuit @bycassandre ... a company that celebrates diversity both in race and in body type. Use code "jasmine" to get 20% off #tbt (heart) #blackgirlmagic #tuesday."
FTVLive editor in chief Scott Jones -- a former TV news director, producer, reporter and photographer – questioned how a journalist could have such a lapse in ethics.
"When it comes to a conflict of interest, this one doesn’t cross the line, it blows right past it and obliterates the line," Jones writes.
Journalists' "guidelines are not really that hard. Report the story, tell all sides fairly and keep your opinion out of it. Also, you’re a journalist, not a salesperson or a model," Jones writes. "It seems that someone at Scripps has not explained that to WCPO (Cincinnati) Reporter Jasmine Minor."
Until today, apparently.
When I emailed Jeff Brogan, Channel 9 vice president and general manager, about the FTVLive story, he said: "We’re aware of the post and we are looking into the matter."
Minor has not responded to my email.
Minor came to Channel 9 from WFTX-TV, a Fox affiliate in Fort Meyers, Fla, according to her WCPO-TV bio. She also has worked for ESPN3 as a college tennis sideline reporter and play-by-play analyst, says her LinkedIn profile.
Minor played Division I varsity tennis while earning a sports marketing degree from the University of Oregon in 2015. She also has a master's degree in broadcast journalism which she earned in 2017 from Northwestern University. While in Chicago, she was an on-air NFL draft reporter for CSN Chicago (Comcast SportsNet), now called NBC Sports Chicago.
I'll update this story when I get more information.
