Jessica Mcbride

Friday, June 19, 2009 at 7:46 pm

When journalist Jessica McBride penned a glowing, 5,400-word profile of Police Chief Edward A. Flynn for Milwaukee Magazine earlier this year, many in the Milwaukee Police Department jokingly dismissed it as a love letter to the chief.

Little did they know.

Sometime earlier this year, Flynn and McBride struck up a romantic relationship.

Asked about the affair, the 61-year-old chief issued a statement Thursday acknowledging his indiscretion – without mentioning McBride, 39, by name.

“I have done my wife and family a great wrong, and I profoundly regret the hurt I have inflicted on them and others affected by my conduct,” Flynn wrote. “I accept the personal and public consequences of my private behavior. I have damaged my public reputation and violated the trust and love of my family.”

McBride – a journalism lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a former Journal Sentinel reporter – has refused to respond to numerous messages about the liaison. McBride has been a prominent figure in the community, serving as a talk-show host and political blogger.

With his confession, Flynn adds his name to the list of public figures who have had an affair with a journalist.

This month, the Los Angeles Times disclosed that L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was dating a local television reporter – two years after having an affair with another newscaster that led to his wife filing for divorce. Late last year, a top Miami school official was linked to a Miami Herald reporter who had sent him a series of racy e-mails suggesting they were romantically involved.

No Quarter first became aware of Flynn’s relationship with McBride this month when someone anonymously sent a letter and e-mails purportedly written by the pair to one another.

“Perceived you instantly – knew you were a good person who does things for the right reason,” reads one signed Jessica. “As a result, I began to struggle with the story – having to give time to vitriolic baseless attacks.”

The affair may violate a basic tenet of journalism, particularly if, as the exchanges suggest, the two became involved while McBride was working on the lengthy article for the magazine’s May issue. Reporters are strictly forbidden from writing about individuals with whom they have strong personal ties.

“It taints the nature of the piece,” said Jeffrey Seglin, a national journalism ethics expert from Boston.

McBride, who worked at the Journal Sentinel full time from 1994 to 2004, supervises an online student publication that writes regularly about the Milwaukee Police Department.

Another leading ethicist, Rushworth Kidder, agreed with Seglin but said the bigger issue has to do with Flynn.

“The nature of a police chief’s job, with all due respect to the medical profession, is not like being a dentist or dermatologist, where you can go home and have your weekends to yourself,” said Kidder, founder of the Institute for Global Ethics. “It’s 24-7. More story

Jessica Mcbride

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