Sacramento’s Fox 40 fires producer who condemned local Border Patrol raids | Opinion
During the U.S. Border Patrol raids last week at a Home Depot in South Sacramento, a Fox News journalist out of Los Angeles named Bill Melugin was embedded with the masked Border Patrol agents who were carrying out the kidnappings.
It’s both unsurprising and disgusting that a Trump-friendly Fox News reporter was along for the ride. Fox News is, at best, the greasy undercarriage of modern American journalism, though I hesitate to use the word “journalism” to describe what they do there.
Even the words Melugin uses in his posts are so blatantly biased that his social media pages reek of obsequiousness to the current administration, calling the arrested men “illegal immigrants” without proof, and backing up any information the Border Patrol gave him without question.
A real journalist questions power. We afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. We don’t help the feds chase the afflicted around parking lots.
Jodi Bacon certainly agreed — and she said so on her X account last Thursday after the raids, tagging Melugin’s X post in a quote post of her own:
“SOOOO grimy… of COURSE Border Patrol had a Fox News reporter ride along with them,” Bacon wrote. “To be targeted for NO reason is awful. This country deserves better.”
Bacon is a Morning Segment and Planning Producer for Fox 40 KTXL.
Or rather, she was.
Bacon was informed Monday morning that she would be officially fired from the station on Wednesday.
Fox 40’s employee handbook, provided by Bacon, states that “employees are prohibited from posting or submitting harmful, obscene or defamatory content, as well as content that infringes on the rights of others or violates any laws.”
Gary Weitman, executive vice president and chief communications officer for Nexstar Media Group, Fox 40’s parent company, declined to comment.
Bacon had worked at Fox 40 for three years and had never received any disciplinary action, she said. She also said she had recently received a raise.
“I’m upset that this happened the way it did and that the company is not standing behind me,” Bacon told me. “They’re only worried about viewers, you know, as opposed to looking at a high-quality employee and what I’ve done for the company.”
Why is Bacon being fired while Melguin uses his social media platform to promote Trump’s talking points? There could be many factors, and they include the frustrating but simple reason that different media outlets play by different rules.
As an opinion columnist, I’m given more latitude on social media than my colleagues who write and edit news stories. But even opinion journalists here are required by policy to avoid comments on social media that they would not publish in a column. And though in our newsroom of strong personalities, where disagreement is not uncommon, we are still required to abide by the social media policies where we work.
The stated reason for the policy is to avoid journalists making statements on social media that would compromise the objectivity of the newsroom. Many readers don’t know that opinion journalists can express opinions in print and on social media, but news reporters can’t.
Bacon is not the first person to be fired recently for making strong comments on social media. Former ABC journalist Terry Moran was recently fired for referring to President Donald Trump as a “world-class hater” on social media.
“At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism,” ABC said in a statement last month.
I don’t know all the factors involved in a personnel decision that resulted in Bacon’s firing, but I do feel for her. I share her disdain for Melguin and others like him who behave like arms of the state.
As both a journalist and a citizen, I often feel overwhelmed about the state of the world today. Sacramento, my home city, was hurt last week by the raids. It was the first incident to shatter our shared illusion that the capital city might be removed in some way from the chaos currently being wrought by Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Trump administration.
Though it cost her a job for saying so, I agree with Bacon for saying our country deserves better. We all deserve better than gleeful Fox News reporters giving a play-by-play of state-sanctioned kidnappings.
So when I’m feeling overwhelmed and angry, I try to remind myself of two things:
One, that history is cyclical and nothing lasts forever.
And two, that it will take brave individuals to stand up against the fear and intimidation currently being wrought against us.
Bacon ended up on the wrong side of a newsroom policy, but I believe she’s on the right side of history.