Tuscaloosa News: Cecil Hurt had UA booster co-sign loan

Re: Tuscaloosa News: Cecil Hurt took loan from UA booster

The thread title is wrong. According to the story, the booster co-signed on a loan. The booster did not give money to Cecil.

"I am troubled by what we've learned," said Doug Ray, executive editor of The Tuscaloosa News. "Cecil is a straight-shooter and a conscientious journalist. As our lead columnist and reporter on UA sports, he also is very influential within collegiate sports in Alabama. That elevates the importance of maintaining independence from his sources and the institutions he covers. Appearances matter. In this situation, he made some bad decisions. He should never had Keller co-sign a loan for him. Once that happened, he should have disclosed it.

"It is important to note that there is no indication that Keller gave Cecil any money. Also, from what I understand, all of this transpired before Keller became part of the NCAA probe."

 

Noted and corrected

 

John, while you are right and that the distinction is important, I'm still troubled by a reporter going to a potential source to co-sign a loan.

 

Absolutely no question about that.

 

Re: Tuscaloosa News: Cecil Hurt took loan from UA booster

NYT papers take parking ticket equivalents very seriously nowadays, and they should. Also, there are A LOT of writers in Alabama who would love to see Hurt knocked down a peg or two because he's damn good at his job - keep that in mind when talking about objectivity on this thread. I have never known Hurt shy away from a hot topic and I wouldn't expect him to shy away from this one.

On another note, apparently the NYT should also improve their health insurance coverage.

 

That's my other point on this. Why should a respected journalist have to scrounge up money to pay for medical expenses?

 

Agreed. If Cecil's not the best reporter on the beat, he is certainly the writer of record. A lot of people would have much easier jobs if they didn't have to compete with him.

I thought that, too, but I had always heard NYT had among the best benefits package in the biz.

 

I never had any complaints during the two years I was an NYT employee. But that was recently. I don't know what it was like back in 2000.

 

you have to suspect this was the tip of an iceberg. just the way the IRS nails a big fish by targeting one small item. why should anybody think this was an isolated incident?
by the way, this confirms my worst fears about college writers in the south. sorry, it's just a nasty stereotype i can't seem to shake.

 

At first glance, I'm not comfortable with this setup, but I'll point out how impossible it would be to find anybody in Tuscaloosa with enough money to of co-sign a loan who is *not* a UA booster.

 

I don't know anything about Hurt. Does he have a wife and kids? If so, maybe the medical expenses were for them.

Yes, there can be ethics questions raised, such as notifying his bosses. But if I needed four grand for medical expenses for my family, I wouldn't care where I got it from (as long as it was legally, naturally). Jobs come and go, but your family is your family, and your health is your health. Would it be considered a conflict of interest if he fell, broke his leg and went to the hospital? After all, hospital employees could become sources too. (player injuries and such).

I just have the feeling there may be more to this story than what has come out so far.

 

Yea, sorry about that Henry. Just an FYI, every black person is stupid, every jew is cheap and every white person is in the KKK down here. Just wanted to confirm those, too.