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I just saw this Robert Feder story on Marion Brooks. Talk about Unethical! She was sleeping with the Mayor of Atlanta while she was covering him as a reporter! And the guy was married at the time too - so Brooks & her lover were both losers...but it's a "Private, Family Matter." Ha!
Atlanta trial dredges up anchor's past 'mistake'
January 27, 2006
BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Despite her hopes to keep it in the past, a Chicago television news anchor's four-year affair with a former mayor of Atlanta is about to be dredged up in federal court.
Marion Brooks, who anchors the 4:30 and 5 p.m. weekday newscasts on NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, has been called to testify for the prosecution in the corruption case against Bill Campbell, who was mayor of Atlanta from 1994 to 2002.
Campbell, 52, is on trial in Atlanta on charges of accepting more than $160,000 in illegal campaign contributions, cash payments, junkets and home improvements in exchange for city contracts. Brooks, 39, reportedly accompanied Campbell, who was married at the time, on about 20 out-of-town trips between 1996 and 2000.
Before joining Channel 5 in 1998, Brooks was an anchor and reporter at WSB-TV in Atlanta.
Brooks, who is expected to take the stand early next month, declined to comment Thursday. In 2001, she issued her only statement on the matter: "My life and my focus are in Chicago now."
But friends say Brooks, who married Florida lawyer Ruye Hawkins last March and is expecting their first child in May, is devastated by the public ordeal she faces.
"Marion realizes she made a mistake, and she's very remorseful for her lack of judgment," a friend said. "She takes full responsibility for her part, and regrets the embarrassment it's causing her husband and family."
Brooks told friends she paid her own way on some of the trips she went on with Campbell, including a trip to Paris prosecutors claim was a gift from a city contractor.
"Marion left Atlanta to start a new life in Chicago," the friend said. "She's worked hard to build her credibility in the market. Chicago is home, and it's where she wants to raise her family."
Channel 5 bosses issued a statement of support for Brooks, calling her "a valued employee" of the station for the last eight years. "We have discussed this matter with her, and we respect her privacy," the statement said.
Atlanta trial dredges up anchor's past 'mistake'
January 27, 2006
BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Despite her hopes to keep it in the past, a Chicago television news anchor's four-year affair with a former mayor of Atlanta is about to be dredged up in federal court.
Marion Brooks, who anchors the 4:30 and 5 p.m. weekday newscasts on NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, has been called to testify for the prosecution in the corruption case against Bill Campbell, who was mayor of Atlanta from 1994 to 2002.
Campbell, 52, is on trial in Atlanta on charges of accepting more than $160,000 in illegal campaign contributions, cash payments, junkets and home improvements in exchange for city contracts. Brooks, 39, reportedly accompanied Campbell, who was married at the time, on about 20 out-of-town trips between 1996 and 2000.
Before joining Channel 5 in 1998, Brooks was an anchor and reporter at WSB-TV in Atlanta.
Brooks, who is expected to take the stand early next month, declined to comment Thursday. In 2001, she issued her only statement on the matter: "My life and my focus are in Chicago now."
But friends say Brooks, who married Florida lawyer Ruye Hawkins last March and is expecting their first child in May, is devastated by the public ordeal she faces.
"Marion realizes she made a mistake, and she's very remorseful for her lack of judgment," a friend said. "She takes full responsibility for her part, and regrets the embarrassment it's causing her husband and family."
Brooks told friends she paid her own way on some of the trips she went on with Campbell, including a trip to Paris prosecutors claim was a gift from a city contractor.
"Marion left Atlanta to start a new life in Chicago," the friend said. "She's worked hard to build her credibility in the market. Chicago is home, and it's where she wants to raise her family."
Channel 5 bosses issued a statement of support for Brooks, calling her "a valued employee" of the station for the last eight years. "We have discussed this matter with her, and we respect her privacy," the statement said.