WCCO has been loudly silent in the wake of its infamous Chinatown dog meat story, sticking with a firm “no comment” as damaging details about the investigative report continue to emerge.
The latest: Minneapolis alternative weekly City Pages reports that the person from the Chinatown meat market who spoke to WCCO’s James Schugel told him that he didn’t speak “very good” English and WCCO vice president and general manager Brien Kennedy may be protecting Schugel from the fallout because they’re “fraternity brothers and go to the same church.”
In the special “I-Team” report, Schugel spoke with a worker at the Dak Cheong Meat Market, who informed him that they sold “dog”–when in fact he meant “duck.”
A WCCO source told City Pages that Schugel’s phone conversation with the meat market worker started out with him asking the man if he spoke English. “No,” the man responded, according to the source, “not very good.”
Also, it looks like Schugel is tight with station boss Brien Kennedy, who joined WCCO in June 2010.
Schugel was reportedly a part-time reporter when Kennedy started but was quickly promoted to full-time after bonding with his frat brother.
Read a transcript of the Chinatown dog meat story here.
[h/t NewsBlues]