New Media from a Journalism Veteran
Blog entries | Deja vu all over again
Marc Lamarre’s sudden fall from grace at WSLS-TV Channel 10 is a sad story about an all-too-common problem in society — drug abuse and attempts to hide it from friends, employers and others.
Lamarre, a meterologist at Channel 10 until he nearly died from a heroin overdose on February 2, has a long-running cocaine addiction that was among the worst-kept secrets in Roanoke but everyone — including Channel 10 — ignored the problem.
Now Lamarre’s problems are out in the open and a lot of questions need to be answered about how and why it happened. It’s also not the first time Channel 10 has had a problem with a weatherman and drugs. Back in the late 1960s, another on-air personality, Floyd Countian Marty Hall, was arrested for marijuana possession and canned by the station. Hall went on to other jobs, including a stint as a partner in an ad agency, and died in 2004.
Doug Thompson
February 12, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Jim:
That’s a very good idea. I’m sure Vance is aware of the situation (both stations are NBC affiliates although WSLS is not networked owned). I’ll send him and email.
Jerry
February 12, 2006 at 5:01 pm
What are the questions you need answered? What else needs to be known about this man’s private health issue? If there is any question to be answered, it’s about this interstate drug ring that snared Marc in the first place. Now that his MEDICAL issue has been reported… what else, ethically, does the story about Marc need? Now… if Marc gets indicted, that’ a different story… but as it stands right now, everyone knows far too much about Marc’s personal life as it currently stands. By wanting more juicy info… you are delving into sensationalism and not news. Question: Is it more newsworthy that Lamarre was a closet junkie or that there’s two suspected drug dealers from an “organazation” based in Ohio sitting in the city jail?
kharris
February 13, 2006 at 8:43 pm
Does anybody think WSLS would hold back on its reporting if this were a City Councilman with a drug problem? When my nephew was killed by his school bus a WSLS reporter followed my sister into the courthouse bathroom, where she went because she had just sat through the medical examiner’s testimony. I don’t remember WSLS caring about her privacy.
Jim Brodhead
February 12, 2006 at 1:44 pm
Doug,
If you have a conact with Jim Vance and you think it appropriate, maybe he can offer some support to Mr. Lamarre. There’s nothing like “been there, done that” to lend credibility. As I’m sure you recall, he has fought the fight, twice.
Doug Thompson
February 12, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Jerry:
I think a main question is whether or not Channel 10 was aware of Marc’s drug problem and, if so, what — if anything — they did to help him? I’ve run into too many cases where those in a position to help have looked the other way. I hope that’s not the case here but it has been too often in the past.