Posted on July 17, 2014

Ousted TV Reporter Who Made Comments About Young Black Men Appears on Fox News

Snejana Farberov, Daily Mail (London), July 17, 2014

A white TV reporter who was suspended for claiming that an ‘anti-cop mentality’ is caused by fatherlessness among young black men appeared on Fox News Wednesday for the first time since his ouster, telling Megyn Kelly that he knew what he was doing when he made his remarks.

Sean Bergin was reprimanded by News 12 New Jersey because he voiced an opinion rather than remained objective after an interview with the widow of a black man who shot dead a rookie Jersey City police officer.

The widow, Angelique Campbell, told Bergin that Lawrence Campbell should have killed more officers, but she later apologized for her statement.

During his appearance on The Kelly File Wednesday, Bergin shed some light on what preceded the incendiary interview with Angelique Campbell, saying that before News 12 New Jersey aired the segment, the station had been ‘besieged’ by phone calls from local police officers asking them not to run it.

According to the veteran reporter, he went to his producer and suggested to shelve the interview with the widow, but since it was a News 12 New Jersey exclusive the station made the decision to air it.

After the interview, Bergin concluded his Sunday night report by saying that the underlying cause of an anti-police mentality is young black men growing up without fathers.

He said: ‘It’s important to shine a light on this anti-cop mentality that has so contaminated America’s inner cities,’ Bergin said. ‘The underlying cause of all of this, of course, young black men growing up without fathers.’

Speaking to Miss Kelly on Fox News, Bergin explained that his goal was to provide some balance and context – but he was well aware of the risks.

‘There’s no doubt that I went off the reservation,’ he said. ‘I made a couple of rogue remarks at the end… I knew what I was doing.’

He added: ‘I knew there would be some consequences; I knew there would be some ramifications. I thought maybe I would get a reprimand, maybe a temporary suspension…’

Bergin, a contracted employee, said the station told him that his assignments would be cut to one a week and he declined to remain in the position.

The ousted reporter has reiterated that he decided to address the subject of young black men in the context of the officer’s killing because he wanted to send a message.

‘This has got to stop. Somebody has to have the guts to stand up and point at this and say, “Hey man, we gotta start talking about this.”

‘I know it’s a touchy subject, I know it’s a sensitive issue… there is shame involved here. Nobody wants  to be known as the man who abandons his children.’

The National Association of Black Journalists’ president, Bob Butler, challenged Bergin’s connection between young black men growing up without fathers and anti-police sentiments and said that Bergin went beyond the standards of a news reporter by inserting his views on the story.

‘Are there problems in the inner city with kids without fathers? Yes. But does that make kids violent? No,’ Butler said. ‘There are a lot of kids without fathers who go to college, graduate and become upstanding citizens.

‘He’s talking about a social phenomenon where there’s lack of opportunity in communities.’

But Bergin brushed off Butler’s criticism, insisting there there is a clear link between fatherlessness and the negative sentiment many black youths have towards police.

‘I think you can certainly draw a connection between fatherless young men and this feeling of anti-authoritarianism,’ he told Kelly.

Asked about the message his ouster from News 12 sends, Bergin responded: ‘Don’t speak out. Just stay silent. it’s safer that way. You’ll keep your job.’

When asked if he would have been demoted had he spoken out in support of gay marriage, Bergin replied that it is a question he wishes his former news director would answer.

Kelly later posted a message on Bergin’s Facebook page, writing that she had asked Dr Ben Carson, a frequent Fox News contributor, about the reporter’s suspension.

‘Dr. Carson’s response: “Pretty soon people will be afraid to express themselves about anything,”’ she wrote.

In an interview with the Associated Press Tuesday, Bergin sounded a defiant note, saying: ‘If I had it to do over again, I would do the exact same thing.

‘I broke the rules. I knew I was breaking the rules. But sometimes you have to break the rules to do the right thing.’

He said that the issue of young black men without fathers deserves more media coverage.

‘Replacing husbands and fathers with government checks created this mess and that’s why liberal media refuse to look at it,’ Bergin wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday in response to a comment by one of his numerous fans.

News 12 New Jersey viewers have been leaving messages on Bergin’s ‘wall’ thanking him for taking a stand on a controversial issue.

A Facebook page created in support of the ousted journalist has drawn nearly 3,200 ‘likes’ as of Wednesday night.

Sean’s sister, Trish Bergin Weichbrodt, wrote online that a veterans’ motorcycle group and several police organizations are holding a rally in support of her brother Thursday outside the studios of New 12 Long Island in Woodbury.

The TV station said that the response to Bergin’s report was being handled internally and that it doesn’t comment on personnel matters.

‘It is News 12’s policy that reporters must be objective and not state personal opinions on-air,’ the station said in a statement Tuesday.

The National Association of Black Journalists’ president, Bob Butler, challenged Bergin’s connection between young black men growing up without fathers and anti-police sentiments and said that Bergin went beyond the standards of a news reporter by inserting his views on the story.

‘Are there problems in the inner city with kids without fathers? Yes. But does that make kids violent? No,’ Butler said. ‘There are a lot of kids without fathers who go to college, graduate and become upstanding citizens.

‘He’s talking about a social phenomenon where there’s lack of opportunity in communities.’

Bergin, 49, said that he has worked for News 12 as a freelance reporter for seven years, for six or seven days a week. He said he made about $1,300 a week working on stories in New Jersey and in New York’s Long Island and Westchester County.

He said the station told him Tuesday that if wished to remain he would be limited to one story a week on Long Island for $300. He declined.