toledoblade.com --

By RUSS LEMMON
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Lou Hebert saw it as a "hometown girl makes good" story.

"Everybody likes those," he said.

"It had all the makings of a feel-good feature."

But this one cost him his job as news director of Toledo's WNWO-TV, Channel 24.

The 1-minute, 30-second story about Cara Zavaleta, a 1998 Bowling Green High School graduate who was a cast member on the MTV series Road Rules, aired during Wednesday's 6 p.m. newscast. Reporter Rob Packard covered her magazine-signing appearance earlier in the day at Leo's Book Shop in downtown Toledo.

The magazine? Playboy.

Ms. Zavaleta, 24, is Miss November.

You probably know where this story is headed.

A photo of a nude Ms. Zavaleta, from the November issue, made it into Mr. Packard's report. The image was captured as he photographed a man flipping through the magazine while standing in line for her autograph.

Twenty-three hours later, Mr. Hebert resigned.

He refused to say whether the resignation came under pressure from general manager Rick Lipps, but a news director voluntarily walking away from his job five days before an election and a week before the start of a ratings period would be highly unusual.

Mr. Lipps would not say if there is a correlation between the nude photo and Mr. Hebert's departure.

"I cannot comment on why a person is no longer with WNWO," he said. "That's a personnel issue."

The situation is reminiscent of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during this year's Super Bowl halftime show. The singer's right breast was exposed before a national television audience of 90 million. The Federal Communications Commission, which received 500,000 complaints, fined CBS a record $550,000.

Zavaleta

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Mr. Lipps said no one called his station to complain about Ms. Zavaleta's exposure. And he does not expect the Raycom-owned station will report what happened to the FCC.

"This is not what we stand for," Mr. Lipps said. "This is not what we want on the air, and I apologize to our viewing public for that."

WNWO was the only station to cover Ms. Zavaleta's appearance, which attracted 200 people, including Ms. Zavaleta's mother. Steve Latsch, a sales clerk, said Leo's sold 150 copies of Playboy's November issue, which has a retail price of $5.99, during the two-hour event.

Mr. Hebert said an editing error made in haste is the only logical explanation for what happened. Mr. Packard edited the package, Mr. Hebert said. Normally, a different person would have done that task, but the news staff was stretched thin Wednesday because of the live coverage of President Bush's campaign stop in Findlay.

Mr. Hebert said he and Mr. Packard had a good working relationship. When asked if he had any animosity toward Mr. Packard for what had happened, Mr. Hebert responded with "absolutely none."

"I know in my heart that it wasn't intentional," Mr. Hebert said.

But it happened nevertheless.

"There are no excuses for compromising our product, our standards, and our image," Mr. Lipps said.

Mr. Hebert said he understands Mr. Lipps' perspective.

"I was stunned by what had occurred on the air," Mr. Hebert said.

"When it occurred, I was the first one down the hall to tell Rick that it had happened. No one in the newsroom took this lightly. Everyone understood the gravity of it, and the possible consequences."

According to sources inside the WNWO newsroom, who asked not to be identified, Mr. Packard received a one-day suspension, which he served Thursday. He was back at work yesterday. Mr. Packard declined comment.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hebert, 55, has worked his last day for the NBC affiliate, where he had been the top newsroom manager since July 23, 2001.

The highlight of his tenure came in September, when the station was awarded a Regional Emmy for Outstanding Daily Newscast, beating three Toledo stations in the category.

Mr. Lipps told the newsroom after Thursday's 6 p.m. newscast that Mr. Hebert was no longer with the station.

"It's like someone kicked us in the gut," a newsroom employee said.

Mr. Hebert, one of the most respected broadcast journalists in Toledo television history, knows the feeling.

"I feel like God is playing a joke on me," he said.

Contact Russ Lemmon at: rlemmon@theblade.com or 419-724-6122.

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