17 MAR 05: WALK ON THE WILDMAN SIDE

"I got a girl pregnant when I was in high school...." This unexpected confession came Wednesday in court, from a former Columbus and current Macon TV news director. And no, this does NOT explain how one of his former producers became pregnant three years ago.

BLOG EXCLUSIVE, DAY 3: Mark Wildman felt compelled to mention a high school indiscretion, as he testified in the
discrimination suit against former employer WRBL. Producer Melissa Schultz Miller claims Wildman suggested she abort her fetus, if she wanted a reporting career. For one thing, hidden camera video inside the clinic would bring big ratings....

Wildman admitted in federal court he talked about abortion with his teenage sex partner more than 30 years ago. But asked if he asked Miller about getting an abortion in April 2002, he replied: "Absolutely not. I'm vehemently opposed to it.... I've changed my views since then." This may also reveal Wildman is a new Georgia Republican.

Miller's lawyers may have been ready to poke more holes in Wildman's character [7 Feb] - but U.S. Judge Clay Land refused to allow it. He sent jurors out of the courtroom to tell the attorneys: "Trashing this man based on any problem he had.... I'm likely to find it not relevant." For the judge, maybe -- but I don't think it would stop Jay Leno.

(The Judge may have limited what Miller's attorneys could say about Wildman - but Clay Land added: "I'm not binding you from trashing him, as it relates to her." So there you have it! Under some circumstances, it's officially OK to trash somebody in federal court.)

Once jurors returned, Wildman denied Miller's claim that he made fun of her pregnancy weight gain before the entire WRBL newsroom. "I may have told an obese joke," he testified, "but never in front of the staff." How loving of Wildman to save his best comedy material for dinnertime, with his wife.

Wildman rejected suggestions that he might have discriminated against pregnant reporters Roslyn Giles and Anna-Marie Gregory. He said when Giles was expecting, "we talked about it on the air" - and WRBL's only show for making fat jokes back then was "Showtime at the Apollo."

Did Wildman try to retaliate against Miller, by requiring her to work an overnight shift for a week in 2002? The former News Director said no, and said a doctor told him there was no medical reason why a pregnant Miller couldn't work those hours. Of course, that misses the point - because a fear of rats is psychological.

Wildman admitted he could have filled in on that overnight shift, and he "loved working overnights" when he was forced to do so. But he told the court he preferred the day shift because "hard decisions" had to be made then. For instance, many more restaurants are open at 12:00 noon than at 4:00 a.m.

Mark Wildman sent an e-mail to Media General executives in Virginia, admitting he didn't plan to renew Miller's contract in 2003. "After the baby," he wrote, "she should consider looking for another job." Miller admitted she was already looking - so maybe she missed her calling as a mind-reader.

Wildman was asked to review Melissa Schultz Miller's personal resume tape - but before that could happen, Wildman attempted to help a stumped deputy set up the courtroom's video display system. Neither of them could figure it out right away. But the good news is that it has ten inputs - so maybe I'll get to watch college basketball during the trial today.

About that resume tape: Wildman caught something I missed the first time it played in court. In a report on Columbus Water Works, Miller says water is "ten times more cheaper" today than it was 100 years ago. He noted that's not proper grammar - and I assume he refuses to watch the musical "Mo' Better Blues."

"You should never use bad grammar," Wildman told the jury. He was talking about TV news reports, and he has a valid point. After all, Black Entertainment Television never has presented a newscast in "Ebonics."

Wildman revealed in court other tips you might not know about television news:

+ He tells new reporters to put their "focus and attention on the story," not their few "stand-up" seconds when their face appears on the air. If only Dan Rather had heard this advice last fall....

+ "News is not only telling the story, it's selling the story to the viewer." So why doesn't WRBL have a station store, where I can buy a couple?

+ He claimed one of Miller's reports had "too many ideas in the story," and each report should have only one. Some people would say that's why Fox News Channel is successful - you only get the Republican idea about things.

Wildman testified he showed Melissa Schultz Miller's reporting work to a news executive with Media General in Richmond - who agreed Miller wasn't good enough to be a reporter. But the defense's case was hurt a little, when Miller didn't race out of the courtroom crying about this statement.

Miller was the voice of "Project Preserve" environmental reports on WRBL for a while. Wildman testified the reports stopped for a time because it had no advertising. So this station seems to care about "being green" only when they can make some green from it.

Wildman also testified when Miller was passed over for Candace Cook as a reporter in 2002, Cook "showed more in three weeks than Melissa did in her six to eight months." Yes, he said "showed more" - and Cook wasn't even pregnant.

Your blog chatted with Wildman during a break in the trial. He came to court Wednesday wearing a CBS News sport shirt - but he admits his current job in Macon is at an NBC affiliate. Don't the TV networks have online stores anymore?

Mark Wildman says he's "having a lot of fun" at his new job with Macon's WMGT. But if he's as nit-picky with the reporters there as he was with Melissa Schultz Miller, I'm not sure how much fun THEY'RE having.

The pace of the trial quickened a bit after Mark Wildman stepped down. The next witness for the plaintiff was a former WRBL producer, who said Wildman's truthfulness "depends on the situation." But doesn't that happen with all of us from time to time - say, after you're pulled over for speeding?

Carol Gantt now works at CNN, after producing news at WRBL. She openly admitted in court she was unhappy to be dragged down from Atlanta for this trial, saying: "I've been up for ten hours, and you've had me in a room for, like, six." Thankfully, none of the jurors applauded in agreement.

Miller's attorneys called Gantt to the stand to "trash" (the judge's word) Wildman's character. But Gantt's mouth exploded in the plaintiff's face, when she declared Miller's environmental reports were "not very good.... all of them pretty much were weak." Next time, lawyers should buy that woman a nicer lunch.

Gantt revealed during cross-examination after one of Miller's "Project Preserve" reports aired in a 6:00 p.m. newscast, she told News Director Mark Wildman: "pull her off or work with her." So are all these news professionals right about Miller - or was Gantt part of a big multi-state conspiracy racket?

Gantt held nothing back in her statements about former WRBL co-workers. In her words: "This is a criticizing business. You either take it or you don't." I should have stopped Gantt after she testified, to talk about being a fill-in blogger.

After Gantt's fire came a calm, older corporate executive. Media General's Rick Roberts told the jury he prepared the company's discrimination policy. But he admitted he wasn't sure if pregnancy is specifically mentioned in company policy books. Miller may rank among the five percent of employees who actually bother to read those things.

Rick Roberts is Vice President of Human Resources for Media General. But he says others in the office investigated Melissa Schultz Miller's complaint of pregnancy discrimination, and he received only weekly or biweekly updates. With an approach like that, maybe he should be on the 2008 Presidential list.

Roberts was asked why some WRBL executives never seemed to know Miller's complaint involved pregnancy discrimination. He explained during investigations, "sometimes you don't want to tip your hand in what you're looking for." Hey, there's an idea for a new TV show -- "Law and Order H.R.U.: Human Resources Unit."

Plaintiff's attorney Maxine Hardy went after Roberts over a December 2002 corporate e-mail about Miller's complaint. It suggested "plotting strategy from an H.R. point of view." Hardy made "strategy" sound so negative, she might try to convict any college or pro football coach of having one.

Rick Roberts interpreted the word "strategy" to mean a discussion about how to handle Miller's complaint. But Hardy implied there might have been a corporate pattern by Media General to discriminate against Miller. The strange thing is, Miller's lawyers keep expressing concern about having to reveal their "legal strategy" - so can Miller sue them, too?

The lead investigator of Miller's discrimination complaint is expected to testify in court today. Former WRBL General Manager Matt Browning may appear as well. But no news reporters have shown up yet - and sadly for them, nor have any "News 3" groupies.

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: We plan to be back in court Thursday for this trial -- especially since no other journalists are there.)

E-MAIL UPDATE: Perhaps you already knew about this, but I didn't until a reader sent this message:

FYI - Two more cop-killers will be kept behind bars. The individuals responsible for the murder of Officer Thomas M. "Spanky" Bowen and Clois W. "Sonny" Lamb both came up for parole this week and were denied. God Bless these officers and their families.

Both these Columbus Police officers were killed during the 1980's. Bowen was shot pursuing a suspect, after a robbery at the old "Bombay Bicycle Club" on Macon Road. That place is gone now - as no one thought of holding a "Tour de Georgia" bike race back then.

Columbus Police organized a petition drive to deny Lonnie Botts parole, for the killing of Thomas Bowen in 1984. With the Georgia parole board saying no, Botts must stay behind bars until at least 2009. So can we photocopy those petitions, and file them away for four years?

In the other case, Kalvin Bailey murdered officer Clois Lamb at the old police headquarters downtown in 1989. We're a little surprised the Springer Opera House didn't organize anything in this parole matter - with performers singing, "Don't You Go Home, Kal Bailey."

COMING SOON: Who is "Spanky Frankie?"....

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