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Were we hosed?
SPY REPORTER
IS UNDER FIRE
Newspaper unable to verify Nollie Tangere's claims
By Geoffrey Dawson
of the Board of Editors
Spy City reporter Nollie Tangere, shown during one of her visits to the Upper Sludgebury Fire Station
A review of articles appearing in the Spy over the past year outlining the supposed shortcomings of the Old Sludgebury fire department do not appear to have met the Spy's notoriously high standards for accuracy and integrity.
The year-long review was triggered by reports, in the form of anonymous notes signed "A Friend" left on the editor's chair, questioning the credibility of the articles, all of which were written by Spy metro reporter Magnolia "Nollie" Tangere, Yale '03.
The notes further asserted that the articles failed to take into account the intimate relationship between Tangere and Old Sludgebury fire captain James Q. "Jimmy" Burke. A newspaper as old and distinguished as the Spy of course would never second-guess a reporter based on anonymous letters.
However, a review of videotapes and digital photographs provided to the Spy leave little doubt that Tangere and Burke were romantically involved.
In my view:
Nollie must go
By Bella Whiner
Spy columnist
I should have known from the first day that Nollie Tangere walked into the newsroom that she'd be trouble.
She flounced in with her Yale sheepskin in her hand, bubbling with enthusiasm and oh-so-willing to work next to those who had not been able to attend Ivy League schools due to prejudiced guidance counselors and sexist SAT's. I remember her saying that she wanted to learn from "old hands" like me.
Almost immediately she was assigned, or assigned herself, to the prestigious Fire Department beat. Some of us, not so blessed with long willowy legs and lustrous blonde hair or so willing to put on display our claims to fame, so to speak, remember covering recipes and quilting bees when we were cub reporters.
Shortly thereafter, the newsroom became aware that Ms. Tangere's interest in Fire Department equipment (especially the hoses!) was no longer strictly professional. Of course, none of the senior editors would listen to the repeated warnings of a veteran middle-aged (but still fabulous!) columnist that this nubile totty was putting the Spy's 235-year reputation for unbiased reporting at grave risk.
It was not until the Spy's editors were confronted with videotapes of the possibly- bulemic Ms. Tangere cavorting with firemen clad in nothing more than her first-amendment rights did they take action. Even now they have moved Ms. Tangere's desk directly outside the editors' offices, apparently willing to let this spinner of tall tales produce copy for publication in this newspaper.
It's one thing to compromise yourself to make up for lost time at Yale (and we have to admit that some of those firemen are darn cute!), but it's quite another to compromise this venerable newspaper and the livelihoods of all who labor for it with their blouses buttoned.
They also demonstrate that Tangere was a frequent visitor to the Upper Sludgebury Fire Station and ingratiated herself with the firemen by sliding down the station's pole wearing nothing but a chief's hat and turnout boots. Persons over the age of eighteen wishing to review the photographic evidence should contact the Board of Editors.
When Tangere was first asked by her editors whether she was in fact involved with Burke, the source for her reports that all six of the city's pumper units were in imminent danger of catastrophic explosion, she denied the accusation. Provided the opportunity to review the video evidence, Tangere explained that "there was no romance involved. It was just sex. Just look at him, my God!"
This regrettable lack of candor on the part of Tangere, who had been hired by the Spy immediately following her graduation from Yale largely on the strength of her popular sex column in the Yale Daily News, led the Spy's editors to revisit her coverage of the Old Sludgebury Fire Department.
Independent fire safety inspectors hired by the City of Old Sludgebury have confirmed that all city fire engines are in perfect working order. They have further contradicted Tangere's supposedly exclusive scoop that the Sludge Valley station was in imminent danger of plunging into the Sludge River.
Further, the Spy checked with the management of the Foxwoods Resort and Casino. They are not aware of any three-day fire in October 2004 or any other time that required the assistance of the Old Sludgebury Fire Department, notwithstanding Tangere's 3,000-word page one account of fireman Burke's heroic struggle to extinguish a smoky blaze in the buffet's barbeque pit.
After review of her case by the entire Board of Editors, including careful and repeated examination of all of the available evidence, the Spy has determined that Tangere should no longer be permitted to cover any matter related to the Old Sludgebury Fire Department. She is now working on the obituary desk. Although some staffers were reportedly miffed that Tangere was not terminated outright by the Spy, Editorial Board member W. R. Hearst explained that keeping the young reporter, known for her short skirts and plunging necklines, in the newsroom under the eyes of the editors would be "good for morale."
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Volume CCXXXV, Number 100 October 31, 2005
