UPDATE: Unethical behavior can get you FIRED!

Well, it took only one day before the other shoe dropped for Armstrong Williams. A CNN article reports that Armstrong Williams, a conservative black commentator with Tribune Media Services, has been fired. A vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists had this to say:

"I thought we in the media were supposed to be watchdogs, not lapdogs," said Bryan Monroe, a vice president of the association. "I thought we had an administration headed by a president who took an oath to uphold the First Amendment, not try to rent it."

Barbara Ciara, another vice president with NABJ said:

"He's lost his credibility," said Barbara Ciara, another vice president of the NABJ. "He's tainted fruit. And he's unfairly indicted all commentators who have their own independent opinion, don't need a script from the administration and don't need to be paid off."

That's it in a nutshell. He's lost his credibility. Just like Dan Rather did with the fake memo about Bush's National Guard service. Rather's problem stemmed from letting his personal politics obstruct his obligations as a journalist. His disdain for President Bush clouded his otherwise better judgement into not waiting until the memo was authenticated before releasing it. Williams set himself up the minute he or his company accepted these funds from the Dept. of Education.

I don't know how many times it needs to be said, but we as citizens, need to demand that the media present the facts and the facts only. Allow US to form our own opinions. Each time that they skew the news to fit their agenda (FOX, CBS, ABC, etc.), it lessens the importance of what they are reporting and makes some of us question its authenticity. This goes for both right- and left-wing news outlets.