In the news -- and out of a job?

By: Mark Fitzgerald Free-lancer claims he was 'fired' for being in the news

For more than four years, free-lance reporter Paul Scott Abbott said, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Sun-Sentinel gave him so much work he was nearly a full-timer. "My editor told me, 'You've always been great, you've always been my go-to guy,'" Abbott said.
In early March, that same editor, Community News Editor John Chace, told Abbott the Sun-Sentinel would not be using him anymore.
Abbott said the Sun-Sentinel dropped him because he has recently been in the news for his efforts to regain custody of his 4-year-old daughter Ashleigh from the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). The case was the subject of an article in the local New Times Broward-Palm Beach alternative paper, and Abbott said the TV shows "Good Morning America," "Inside Edition," and "20/20" have been arranging to film him for upcoming stories.
"[Chace's] words were, he really didn't quite know how to say this, but with all the media attention I'm getting, we can't continue," Abbott said. "He repeatedly said, 'You can't be in the news and report it, too.'"
Abbott said his usual Sun-Sentinel assignments centered around suburban government meetings, inspirational articles, and features. Abbott said he did not report on DCF or child-welfare topics. "I don't think that because this perfectly tragic thing happened to me and to my daughter that I cannot also do a highly effective job of reporting -- and John himself said as much."
Chace referred questions to the newspaper's spokesman, Rich Pollack, who said Abbott was not being dropped as a free-lancer because he is in the news. What concerned the paper, Pollack said, were "written allegations" Abbott made against DCF Secretary Kathleen Kearney that might cause some to question the paper's objectivity. Before she became DCF secretary, Kearney was the judge who in 1998 issued the order placing his daughter in a state shelter after Abbott, who had custody of the girl, reported he suspected his ex-wife abused the girl during a visit. Abbott has complained about Kearney in a letter to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and in a background sheet prepared with the help of a PR firm.
"That's curious. Why wouldn't they mention that to me?" asked Abbott, who also said the paper supported Kearney editorially.
"You know how newspapers work," Pollack said. "That wouldn't be a factor."
Payment for Sun-Sentinel work was the largest part of Abbott's income last year, amounting to $23,138, he said.

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(copyright: Editor & Publisher May 1, 2000)