WAMU news director claims ‘firewall’ transgression

WAMU announced the departure of news director Jim Asendio. WAMU held an event to bring together donors and WAMU staffers. Those two events are connected, says Asendio.

The 60-year-old newsman says that he learned a little while back that a couple of the reporters under his supervision were scheduled to hobnob with the donors at the breakfast affair. Asendio voiced his objection to the arrangement: Under no circumstances should reporters be meeting with donors; that was a task for managers. On that premise, Asendio signaled that he would not attend the event. He says that he then received an e-mail from WAMU General Manager Caryn Mathes. Asendio recounts the wording of the e-mail: “My refusal to attend a major station event would send an irreversible and permanent statement on whether I was a member of our team.” Strong message right there. “So, seeing the handwriting on the wall and not wanting to get into any kind of job difficulty, I felt it best to stand on my journalistic ethics and resign.” The get-together between donors and members of the editorial staff, says Asendio, was something that the station’s development office had put together. “This was put on by the major donor office,” he says, noting that he was “led to believe” that it was a “meet the producers” theme. He wouldn’t have had significant objections to that setup, but the involvement of reporters set him off. “When it comes to crossing the firewall, that’s where I draw the line. That questions our credibility and trustworthiness,” says Asendio.