Marty Griffin

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Marty Griffin is an American journalist most notable for investigative reporting who has worked in Dallas, Texas and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Marty is married to KDKA-TV anchor Kristine Sorensen.[1]

According to the KDKA-TV Web site, Griffin earned a Bachelor's degree in journalism from Ohio University and has won awards for reporting and investigative journalism, including a Regional Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Reporting.[1]

As an investigative reporter for the television station KXAS in Dallas, Texas, Griffin created an investigative series about the Dallas Cowboys and Michael Irvin. In one story, a topless dancer accused Irvin and teammate Erik Williams of raping her. The dancer was later charged with perjury after recanting. KXAS paid a reported $2.2 million in 1997 to settle a defamation suit resulting from the story. KXAS also had paid an informant $6,000 for information for a hidden-camera investigation by Griffin into Irvin's supposed buying of drugs. Griffin opposed the settlement and later boasted on the KDKA Web site that "Michael Irvin doesn't like Marty Griffin very much."[2] According to Griffin's lawyer, Griffin did not approve the settlement and admitted no wrongdoing. [3]

Griffin began working for KDKA-TV as an investigative reporter in April 2003. In 2006, Griffin began to host The Real Deal with Marty Griffin on KDKA Radio Newstalk 1020.[4] In 2006, Griffin's November sweeps expose of a minister whom Griffin claimed had done "illicit, possibly illegal ... activities which at the very least violated the rules of his denomination." led to the minister's suicide.[5][6] The pastor claimed in letters he left behind for loved ones that a man who claimed to love him had betrayed him by convincing him to leave sexual messages on his answering machine and to meet at an adult bookstore, where KDKA-TV recorded him.[7][2] Although the incident became national news, KDKA did not follow up on the station's pulling of the story or the pastor's suicide; Griffin, however, began a series of "pro-church" stories which Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Television Editor Rob Owen called the "Marty Griffin Reputation Rehabilitation tour." According to Owen, the second story of the series was misinformed and misled viewers, making thefts committed during the course of the previous five years seem as if they had been "recent and within a short period of time." Owen also describes a number of untrue statements Griffin made in the report.[8]Owen later said that he received more e-mails from readers concerning the Griffin story than he had ever gotten on a single story.[9]

As part of an investigative series he was preparing for the 2005 November sweeps period, Griffin ventured into a Port Authority of Allegheny County bus garage and was charged with trespassing. Griffin was eventually found not guilty on appeal.[6] In a KDKA press release, Griffin called the court's decision "a victory for citizens because it allows people like me and you and others to pursue the truth."[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Bio: Marty Griffin. CBS Broadcasting. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Melissa Meinzer (February 15). Crisis of Faith. Pittsburgh City Paper. Steel City Media. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
  3. ^ Pete Slover (July 24). Irvin, Williams settle suits against Channel 5. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
  4. ^ KDKA - The Real Deal with Marty Griffin. CBS Broadcasting. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
  5. ^ Moustafa Ayad (November 4). Pastor takes his life in wake of TV probe. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Rob Owen (November 6). Tuned In: After suicide, stations should rethink 'gotcha stories'. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
  7. ^ Ann Rodgers (December 8). Last letter to flock reflected pastor's anguish. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
  8. ^ Rob Owen (December 1). Tuned In: Griffin's baffling report on church boggles even its stewards. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
  9. ^ Rob Owen (December 15). TV Q&A with Rob Owen. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
  10. ^ KDKA's Marty Griffin Found Not Guilty. KDKA.com. CBS Broadcasting Inc. (Mar 1). Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
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