Celebrities
Telemundo's Mirthala Salinas Keeps Job Despite Sex Scandal With LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
By Brenda Davis
Aug 3, 2007

Los Angeles television newscaster Mirthala Salinas works for Telemundo and while she was covering LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa she was sleeping with themarried mayor.  For that - she doesn't get fired but she will get suspended without pay for two months.  Many are asking - is that enough?  She was the actual newscaster that announced the news of his separation from his wife of 20 years on local Telemundo station KVEA, Channel 52, while they were involved.

Telemundo's Mirthala Salinas Keeps Job Despite Sex Scandal With LA Mayor

According to Fox News, Salinas was suspended after a three-week internal investigation reviewed by executives at Telemundo and parent company NBC Universal. Three Telemundo employees also were disciplined. Findings were reported on the network's national newscast and announced by executives.

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In an internal memo to Telemundo staff members, Browne said that "while the content and accuracy of KVEA's newscasts were not compromised, our news policy standards with respect to conflict of interest were clearly violated." 

Cue the reps - uh the adulterers™: Salinas, 35, could not be reached for comment. She had been suspended with pay since the scandal erupted three weeks ago. Villaraigosa, 54, did not comment on the merit of Telemundo's decision, saying only that he wanted to concentrate on his job in its aftermath.

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Shouldn't sleeping with the mayor and reporting on him get you fired as a reporter?  The LA Times has this: Media watchdogs assailed not only Salinas for her conflict of interest but her superiors for allowing her to continue reporting on the mayor after they knew of the relationship. One analyst predicted that the scandal would tarnish Salinas' career.

"People will always remember her as the reporter who had an affair with the mayor, and that she got in trouble for that," said Judy Muller, a former ABC network news correspondent and current NPR commentator who now teaches journalism at USC.

"That damages her credibility, and I don't know where she goes from Telemundo," Muller added. "A reporter only has her credibility, and once that's sullied you have lost your value to your news organization.

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In its newscast, 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.