“So which is the real Bernie Kerik? Is it the one who pleads not guilty before or is it the one who pleads guilty after he cuts a deal that he’s comfortable with?” - NY1 caller Dalton, from the Upper East Side, to "The Call"
Those were the questions that cost NY1 reporter Gary Anthony Ramsay his job, after calling into his own station under a false name. The station deemed it an exceptionally poor judgment and fired the reporter (though they told the Daily News that Ramsay left to pursue other opportunities). From the New York Times:
Mr. Ramsay said he was at his Upper West Side home watching the program, when he became frustrated with some viewers’ comments, including those who said they believed that supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton had a role in the investigation.
It turns out the host of The Call, John Schiumo, called Ramsay afterwards to say he recognized his voice! Ramsay says he apologized and admitted that it was a bad idea to call in under a false name, but that they would have been completely acceptable in a different forum. Ultimately, he said, "I am continually apologetic for smudging that journalistic line, but I’m a human being, and I’m subject to the same frailties.”
Ramsay was fired after 15 years at the station. The departure wasn't that abrupt - he was scheduled to leave the station because his contract ran out in the summer. Last year, a co-worker accused him of sexual harassment.
