WJAR's Taricani Rips Station for Embarrassing Bear Video

WJAR's Taricani Rips Station for Embarrassing Bear Video

The viral bear video produced by WJAR-10 in Providence, RI has been ripped by the station's venerable investigative reporter, Jim Taricani.

Taricani, an award-winning reporter who heads the WJAR's I-Team investigative unit, lashed out at the bear video writing on Facebook late Friday night "...some tv reporters like to draw attention to themselves...its an insult to most of us trying to be professional."

Taricani who has won numerous journalism awards and was widely recognized by journalists when he refused to reveal who leaked a controversial surveillance tape to him during a federal trial. He was later convicted of criminal contempt of court on November 18, 2004, and sentenced on December 9, 2004, to six months of home confinement for not identifying his source.

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Taricani said the viral bear video produced by his fellow news reporter Julie Tremmel was, "...a smudge on our station's reputation."

The bear video has been remixed by a TV station in Michigan to the hit song, "Blurred Lines."