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NBC 5 reporter Amy Jacobson (pictured, right, with NBC 5 weekend anchor Anna Davlantes), who's been covering the story of missing Plainfield woman Lisa Stebic, was caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place over the weekend. Video footage surfaced of Jacobson in a bikini at the home of Craig Stebic, Lisa's estranged husband, on her day off. Before we go any further, kudos to the headline writer at the Tribune for not stooping to the tired "hot water" cliché.
The tape, which was the talk of newsrooms since last Friday, shows Jacobson, Craig Stebic, Stebic's sister, and Jacobson's two children. When asked by her bosses at NBC 5 to explain how she and her bikini found their way to Craig Stebic's, Jacobson said that she was on her way to the East Bank Club with her children when she received a call from Stebic's sister, asking Jacobson to come over and talk about the case. Jacobson was immediately taken off the Stebic story while NBC 5 executives investigate further into what, if any, ethics lines Jacobson crossed.
You mean, just being at Craig Stebic's house in a bikini with her kids wasn't enough? Simply being caught in in this delicate position puts her work in the Stebic case into question. After seeing the footage, Northwestern journalism professor Michele Weldon quoted the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics, which states that reporters "remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility." At the very least, Jacobson exhibited a lapse of judgment. If NBC 5 officials find anything further in their review, she could lose her job.
Image via NBC 5.
UPDATE 7:15 p.m.: Phil Rosenthal of the Tribune reported at 5:13 p.m. this evening that Jacobson negotiated her release from NBC 5. Thanks for the tip, guest #25, although it'd be a lot easier to give you a name if you registered for a commentator profile.
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YIKES.
That is really poor. Also a totally lame excuse- she couldn't run home first and put some clothes on? Seriously, I would sooner die than even have pictures of myself in a bikini show up at work. How could she possibly consider that appropriate behavior?
SCANDALOUS!
"...she was on her way to the East Bank Club with her children when she received a call from Stebic's sister, asking Jacobson to come over and talk about the case."
Next thing she knew, she was wearing a bikini.
Where did Craig hide the body? That is what I want to know.
This makes so little sense ... did Jacobson have a prior relationship with the family? Why would she put herself in such an obvious predicament? It's just incredible.
I'm going to miss seeing her in her funky fur hat this winter.
Dang! Stebic murders his wife, hides the body someplace no one will ever find it, has a party on the day of a search AND is having relations with the lead reporter on the case.
These are the days of our lives folks.
Isn't that standard "workout" attire at the East Bank Club, anyhow?
Guest #6 did you actually read the article? There is nothing about "relations" with mr.stebic.
Wouldn't that be a story if the body was under the pool?
Could be worse? Wasn't Judith Miller, formerly of the NY Times, known to trade sex for access to government officials?
I'm sure Ms. Jacobson was just developing her sources.
Unfortunately, reporters getting too involved with their subjects happens. You spend time with people, you wait with them while a search is going on or before a press conference and get to chatting ... and your guard comes down and the line between source/personal life gets fuzzy. However, Amy should have either told the family no, she couldn't come over with the kids, or she should have told her bosses that it was becoming more than just a working relationship. Because, yes, when you lounge in a bikini at a source's pool, it is a relationship.
Amy should have known better and apparantly her journalism classes were a little lite in the ethics area.
You guys might want to read Eric Zorn's blog at the Tribune website for his take on this story before considering it such a scandal. He's got an interesting spin.
You don't think she might be cultivating a source to get more information? Why is she automatically having an inappropriate relationship?
Guest 10: Any evidence that Miller was trading sex for access?
No, I'm not a fan of her role in the Iraq War, but let's see some proof before you defame somebody.
guest 14
just google search Saddam Hussein swimming pool party and Judith Miller bikini. Therein lies your proof
AP,
Have you ever seen Thank You For Smoking? That has a fantastic media/relationship storyline.
I think the husband did it. But where is the body. Maybe she was working for the FBI wearing a wire. LOL
I bet his house is bugged.
Sorry, guest 15, but I did what you instructed and found no proof.
I've been following the Miller story for a while and saw nothing that says she traded sex for access.
Any links?
I think it's some smart reporting. Put "The Jake" in a bikini in front of me, and I'll tell her anything she wants to know.
guest 19 would "the Jake" be amy or walter??
Will he kill her next????
This guy is so obviously guilty it is sickening.
Regardless of what was "actually" going on there, the point is that she lost all credibility when she was photographed at his house in her bikini.
Is it standard practice for a reporter to show up with her kids on any story? Maybe on a Toys For Tots run or something, but not with a potential murder suspect. Her judgement on this point alone is enough to get her fired...and if I just heard CBS2 they are indicating she is in fact fired, though not confirmed yet. And point two, showing up in a bikini? Excuse me, does her husband approve? Isnt he the famous Spanish Musician Sax player?...hmm, Most husbands of any ethnicity wouldnt take too kindly to their wife showing up without them and they attired in a bikini. Amy is a smart, attractive and aggressive reporter---but she's crossed the line and will now become a case study for future reporters on what not to do.
All day I have been trying to figure out just what the uproar was all about for this story - how can one do investigative journalism without going into unsavory places or meeting with unsavory characters? I do think that Zorn is right on the money with this one. A word would not have been said if it was a male reporter with his kids sans wife at the pool party. Just looking at the comments above stating that this reporter was wrong as soon as she put on the bikini only prove Zorn's point more.
And, guest #23, if you're married, do you approve everything that your spouse does at work before (s)he does it? Get real. Does your spouse have that same approval system in place for you? Get real and get out of the stone ages.
looks like she's out.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070709jacobsonjul09,1,6178857.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=3&cset=true
Amy will find a better job with a network that can afford to pay and that runs real programs instead of news and Law & Order reruns. This will be a good thing for her and a bad thing for them. She's a good reporter and has a real empathy for the people she interviews. What did you do on YOUR day off that
you would't want the world to know about?
She is jobless for the moment, hopefully the killer dumped her to round out one hell of a Tuesday....
Sorry, folks...NO excuse for taking her kids to Stebic's. And as a woman, it's not sexist--it's common sense! Children's Services should be the next in line to take a look at Ms. Jacobson. To argue that the uproar is only because she's a woman is silly and naive. Remember, this tape was shot after reports from neighbors of REPEATED visits to Craig Stebic by Ms. Jacobson w/ no camera crew or fellow journalist along...reports that must now clearly be presumed true. And, puh-lease!! She just happened to be driving around with (or in) swimsuits for all three when Sis Stebic called and invited her over for a swim?? Yeah, and I got a bridge I wanna sell ya'...
Finally, NBC5 let her go too quickly: would seem there's got to be more to this for them to have done so clearly with no fear of retribution or liability.
I can tell you what I DIDN'T do on my day off. I didn't take my two children to the home of a suspected murderer and parade around in a bikini. Good grief, ever hear of "ETHICS"?????????? Or "MATERNAL INSTINCTS"????????
And who is gonna hire the gal who will go down (every pun intended) as the one who swam with the one who sent his wife to swim wit da' fishes??? OH, yeah...that little one-person radio staion in KY, that's who!
>dolt
I don't think she's an irresponsible mother, just an irresponsible "reporter." If she was involved with him, we'll soon find out. I personally wouldn't get involved with a man with a missing wife. We don't know if she's dead, but if she isn't, Jacobson is really way off base.
I can't think of anything much more irresponsible as a mother than taking your 2 & 3 year old children to the home of a suspected murderer. Yep, gotta be right up there in the "Top 5 Things Not To Do As a Mother".
If Ms. Jacobson wanted to rub elbows with people in the Stebic case, too bad she couldn't do it just a day later--when the huge search for Lisa was planned/carried out. Just makes it even sicker, if possible.
What's next? A few rounds of topless Putt-Putt with the kiddies and OJ? WOO-HOO!
After all, he IS still looking for the 'real killer'. Gotta' work those 'sources'!
Meghan Kelly of FOX News reports on The Big Story that a source very close to the case expressed questions/concerns to her RE: the Jacobson/Stebic relationship "weeks ago".
(source: search foxnews.com for 'stebic' then click 'reporter: indecent exposure?' under video--right hand side of page.)
The bikini is nothing compared to the fact she showed up to house of a man who in the eyes of many, is a suspected murderer, WITH HER CHILDREN. They all could have wound up buried near some hunting lodge in the U.P . -Joe-
Chicagoist, please stop bitching about people posting as guest. YOU're the ones that made signing in a bloody requirement! If you don't like it, REMOVE IT.
(I hope you don't, though, as referring to ourselves as the collective Guest is quite fun. Know what I'm saying'?)
Does anybody remember when former WBBM-TV reporter Giselle Fernandez held a party on a boat for a "fugitive drug kingpin"?
Here
"(I hope you don't, though, as referring to ourselves as the collective Guest is quite fun. Know what I'm saying'?)"
Ha! Yes, Guest thinks Chicagoist is getting a little taste of Chicagoist's own medicine.
I went to high school with Amy, although she was a few years older than me. The story going around then, and later mentioned to me by a former teacher is that she had an inappropriate relationship with one of the teachers while she was a student.
I used to comment a lot around here, but after the stupidness of all this "guest" crap, I just gave up on chicagoist for the most part. That and they post like every other day now...
chicagoist has never seemed more naive than when trying to analyze and put into perspective this 'story.' ask around even a little bit and you'll find plenty of folks with amy stories.
unfortunately i don't think she'll have any trouble at all finding work -- bet she'll wind up on Fox next.
oh by the way, stebic lives in palatine. the east bank club is at kingsbury and hubbard -- so i suppose she was in the neighborhood?
"I can't think of anything much more irresponsible as a mother than taking your 2 & 3 year old children to the home of a suspected murderer."
Um, guilty until proven innocent? I thought it was the other way around? They haven't found a body. How do we know she didn't run off?
guest 39, you can hide guest comments by clicking the button at the top of the thread.
I really liked Amy Jacobson, and am sad to see her in this situation, but I have to say it's her own fault, and sexism has nothing to do with it.
Sure, maybe she was trying to cultivate sources, but this is exactly the wrong way to do it. There is a line in journalism you just don't cross, and Jacobson went way past it. Were she taking her kids to a pool party with a source in a political story or a business story, that would be one thing ... still wrong in the objective sense, but okay if done a certain way, with the support of editors and other journalists. But to cultivate what appears to be an actual friendship with several people in a missing person case, especially one with such a cloud of suspicion is just beyond the pale. It damages the credibility of everything Jacobson reports ... and it would have been the same if it had been Rob Elgas or Warner Saunders cavorting half naked by the pool.
The worst part is that I think the credibility question makes it very difficult for any station to hire Jacobson, especially in a large-market like Chicago. Everywhere she goes, this will follow. She torpedoes her career with a syupid, pointless move.
Oh, and Guest thinks #35 and #37 are hilarious. Light-fonted guests unite!!!!
I think Zorn only has a point to a degree- of course people wouldn't be *as* up in arms if a man had been visiting Craig Stebic, because there would be no suspicion of impropriety. Conversely, if Craig disappeared and Lisa was a suspect, people wouldn't be as up in arms over Amy Jacobson hanging out at her house in a bikini- again, not as MUCH appearance of an inappropriate relationship.
Having said that, if Mark Suppelsa had been in Craig Stebic's backyard in his swim trunks, I'd still think it was unethical and inappropriate- how can he possibly report objectively on the case if he's friends with the man?
Amy Jacobson told Spike O'Dell this morning she made a horrible mistake, but didn't think it should be a career-ender.
the real question is, where can we see the video of amy in a bikini?
Also, according to an interview she gave with Feder, the video doesn't show a bunch of other moms and kids that were there -- still a bit inappropriate, but it doesn't sound like the intimate gathering that's being implied. And all this talk about immodesty... look how high she's wearing that towel!
Why couldn't a male reporter be having an inappropriate sexual relationship with this man? Why aren't those things leveled at a man when they meet with a suspected murderer? Tell me that's not gender bias.
And the kids thing - actually could be quite the angle - sure she would definitely be using them, but I think we all know that kids know what's going on even if they don't have the best ways to express themselves yet. Don't you remember a certain 2-year old implicating his dad in his mom's murder? "Mommy's sad. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in the rug." Hmm.
Some of these postings seem to be a bit of pot/kettle. The most IMPORTANT facts are being overshadowed by seemingly trivial talk.
Where is Lisa Stebic? What is best for her and her children and her family?
Why are we talking about "the body" and not the person?
No matter the outcome of Amy's career or what happens at pool parties or the East Bank Club - Lisa Stebis is missing. Her children don't have their mother. Her parents don't have her daughter.
Maybe this diversion keeps us from focusing on the horror that preceeded us even knowing Craig Stebics name. Yet another weapon of mass distraction.
#48 -- Which is part of the problem with what Amy Jacobson did ... she became a part of the story, thus distracting the public from the story that needs to be told.
People seem to be getting hung up on the supposed sexual aspects of this, when sex isn't part of the equation. ANY relationship between a journalist and the people s/he covers is inapproriate, even a relationship in which a journalist mom takes her kids to a pool party with a lot of other kids and moms related to the subject of the case. Replace Jacobson with Rob Elgas in swimtrunks towing his kids (if he had any) behind him, and it's the same thing ... journalist at a pool party with the subject of the story. It's still inappropriate, and still damaging to the reporter's credibility.
"...ANY relationship between a journalist and the people s/he covers is inapproriate..."
That's overstating it a bit. Social relationships that take place between reporters and subjects are very dangerous territory—especially when it happens without the knowledge of the editors or producers. If indeed this was an attempt to secure better coverage—a very dubious claim to begin with—Jacobson should at the very least have told her producers what she was doing. The fact that she didn't made NBC's decision easy.
Really?!? You can't have ANY sort of relationship with the person that you're covering? How is it possible to even ask them the questions that truly need to be asked then? A subject of an interview needs to be willing to answer your questions and have a sense of camaraderie in order to be honest with you. Or should Amy have just speculated what was going on? That would have been great journalistic ethics.
So what this comes down to is that one can't ask questions of someone at a pool party? The whole thing would have been better at a coffee shop? Or maybe a church with a clergyman present? Is it a private location vs. a public location that's the problem?
Amy actually did not become part of the story until a rival news station filmed her and made her the story - probably because they didn't have the balls to create a relationship with the subject so he would talk to them instead of her - thereby creating a situation that looked improper so as not to show the fact that they couldn't get the story that she could. Reeks way more of jealousy/envy than journalistic impropriety. Very tabloid.
The Stebic Family, in their attempt to say something nice about Amy Jacobson, instead said something that only increases the concern that Jacobson might not be objective about Craig Stebic's potential role in his wife's disappearance. If Jacobson is being referred to by Craig Stebic's family as "one of our staunchest allies," they sure aren't helping Jacobson's credibility.
As reported in several outlets, here is the statement in question: "We're very sad because Amy was one of our staunchest allies, she was a champion of the story," said Melanie Greenberg, who acts as the Stebic family spokeswoman. "It makes a difference when you have a dedicated reporter covering the story."
Amy was looking for the wife in the pool. I'll miss her on NBC 5. They've got the hottest women on Chicago news, minus one now.......
Julene, you're still missing the point. Jacobson should have disclosed the off-duty relationship with the family to her producers, thus giving them the opportunity to decide if her behavior was appropriate (hell, she should have consulted them before it even got to that point). It's as simple as that, really. The fact that she didn't makes her claim that she was working for an inside angle highly suspect.
I think Amy's involvement in this (as far as what has been disclosed) is far less improper than say the Washington press corps off-duty canoodling with the people they cover, but we let that slide without disclosure. If her contract states that she needs to disclose every contact she has with a source, fine - she has to do that. But it looks like her station looked the other way several times on that very issue - who wouldn't continue their actions as normal if management never said there was a problem with it? Should she solely be held accountable for the station's dismissal of journalistic ethics? Will her dismissal actually change the station's stance on how they proceed with gathering news?
Julene makes another good point in her last post. What has been the conduct of Amy Jacobson's producers during her alleged (alleged in some of the above posts) past questionable conduct, i.e., her contacts with story subjects over the years?
Has there indeed been such questionable conduct in the past? Did her producers condone the behavior? If so, then they should be held to some level of accountability for the current mess.
Who cares and besides Stebic is innocent until proven guilty. I can't believe anything even came of this.
At least the parents of the child that died at midway who claimed mrs jacobson lied to them to get there exclusive interview are getting a little satisfaction.
Any Jacobson is a miserable twat. She brings new meaning to the term "media whores"
Let's focus for a minute on Ch.2 and why they waited until Tuesday to do anything with the video? They waited with an exclusive story until it was in Feder's column in the Suntimes? So it seems that maybe the folks making the decisions at WBBM don't make decisions, unless it is printed first, by the competition? Take that for what it is, a news operation that wants all of the attention (if it goes good) with none of the responsiblity (when it goes bad).
Ask any other REAL news manager what they would have done in that situation. Didn't take the rest of the media in the world (litterally) to make a decision.
So these are the people that make the decisions for what they think YOU want to see in a newscast...think about it...click (off)
Guest 41: "suspected". Try dictionary.com or your local library, dolt. LOL!
CBS 2 sat on the story until someone else ran w/ it. Damned if they do & damned if they don't. Don't kill the messenger. If Jacobson hadn't have gone over there in her swimsuit w/ her two little ones in tow, there would be NO story, NO issue. And lest you forget, this came on the heels of neighbors complaints of repeated seemingly inappropriate visits. Remember, too, that Megyn Kelly from FOX was told weeks ago while here that there was concern over the 'realtionship' b/twn the two. Awfully odd coincedence, yeah???
I don't think Amy and Brenda are related at all. Even Brenda Starr wouldn't have made such a rookie, bone-headed mistake as Jacobson's. If Amy Jacobson was separated from anything at birth, it was her common sense.