KCRA & the Safeway Meat Scandal (15)
I told Paul everything I had at that point: the full extent of the charges, as well as my confirmation that the meat issue was tied to lettuce.
He came to attention at the mention of the tie-in. Make sure to include that in whatever I wrote, he said. Probably use it as a "tag" for the anchorman after a sound cut of Waldie. After all, he said, any organization--even our own--commits occasional minor sins that a vengeful investigation could blow out of proportion.
I reminded him that the alleged infractions by Safeway were hardly minor: labeling non-inspected meat "USDA Prime" or "USDA Choice" would be enough by itself to indicate a serious degree of cynicism.
Thompson didn't respond.
Why didn't we at least shoot a hundred feet of silent film, I asked? Even if we didn't use it that night, we could always use it later--either in a followup story, or in some generalized high-price-of-meat story. And it was getting late. We'd have to shoot it soon if there was even a chance we might be using it that night.
No, said Paul, that would have to await a final decision on station policy. And it was by no means certain that we would run more than a sound cut of Waldie. We'd better hold off on it for now.
