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A female intern who was on the news site with Vasquez and the cameraman returned to the station and complained she was offended by the crassness and insensitivity of the exchange. The cameraman was given a suspension for his part in the incident.
I am not going to defend crassness and insensitivity. I have to wonder, however, whether an instance of bad taste, no matter to what level is was carried, negates a person's value to a television station or warrants the dismissal of one of the better talents Channel 10 put on the air.
Vasquez was especially likeable in his role as weekend anchor for the NBC station.
No one wants a young woman, or anyone else for that matter, to be offended. Yet it's worth asking if the fragility or sensitivity of one person should constitute grounds for interrupting the career of another. Current law and practice says it should.
Vasquez is as much a victim of a trend where the slightest offense to someone causes more than a mountain, but turns ever a rhinoceros hill into K-2 or Mt. Everest. Especially when we're talking about words, as opposed to sticks and stones or other physical actions.
I have worked in journalism for a long time. I also work in another field. In both jobs, there is a lot of pressure and lot of difficult situations to know about or witness. The result to veterans of occupations that bring one in touch with tough situations on a frequent basis is "M*A*S*H* humor," a term I coined based on the jokes the characters in "M*A*S*H*" used to make about their jobs, their patients, and the Korean War. Not all of the situations the characters in "M*A*S*H*" commented on were funny, but the humor helped them relieve the tension of dealing with medical situations and being in the middle of the war.
Maybe what Vasquez said was horrible beyond belief. Maybe it was more crass than the average person would deem passable. But maybe it was something to shrug off and tell someone to be careful about rather than a firing offense.
Maybe some perspective and a sense of humor is needed. A college intern of either gender is rarely worldly, and people younger than age 30 tend, in my experience, to see the world as much more rigid shades of right and wrong that their more jaded, more experienced elders.
Maybe the right move was to calm the young woman who was offended while admitting some inappropriateness and cautioning those involved to be more professional and judicious in the future, "M*A*S*H*" humor or not.
In dismissing Vasquez, I think Channel 10 over-reacted and set a bad precedent about knuckling under to political correctness, a blight the confining effects of which we must all fight to turn back.
