Aug 3, 2007 12:41 am US/Eastern
Reporter Suspended Over Affair With L.A. Mayor
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa admitted to an affair with Telemundo Anchorwoman Mirthala Salinas.
CBS
A Spanish-language newscaster who had an affair with the mayor of Los Angeles has been suspended from her job for two months for violating conflict-of-interest policies, her network said Thursday. She has not been fired, reports KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.
Mirthala Salinas was having the relationship with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa when she announced the news of his separation from his wife of 20 years on local Telemundo station KVEA, Channel 52.
Salinas was suspended without pay. The findings of Telemundo's three-week investigation were reported on its national newscast.
"Her reading of copy during newscasts... regarding the Mayor's separation from his wife was a flagrant violation of these guidelines," network president Don Browne wrote in a memo to employees.
Telemundo's parent company is NBC Universal.
Salinas, 35, was placed on leave July 5 while her employer investigated whether her romantic relationship with Villaraigosa breached journalistic ethics.
She also had romantic relationships with assembly speaker Fabian Nunez and former city council president Alex Padilla, now a state senator. It's not clear whether Telemundo investigated whether those relationships constituted conflicts of interest as well.
Salinas has said station managers knew of her relationship with the mayor before she announced the news of his breakup. Salinas led into the story by saying, "The rumors were true."
Telemundo reported that others disciplined included KVEA news director Al Corral, who was suspended without pay for two months, and the station's general manager, Manuel Abud, who was removed from his post and will be transferred to a new position still undetermined. Ibra Morales, president of Telemundo stations, will be reprimanded.
Messages left with Telemundo and Salinas' representative were not immediately returned.
Villaraigosa, who said last month that he believed that Salinas did not act inappropriately, issued the following statement: "I regret that decision I have made in my personal life have been a distraction for the city and I am deeply sorry that I have let so many people down, especially my family.
"Now that Telemundo's internal review has reached a conclusion, it is my hope that we can all move forward. I intend to do that by working as hard as I can every day to deliver results on the critical issues we face as a
community."
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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