The Larry Kane Report

The luminaries of the regional media in the Philadelphia area have gone into pontification paralysis over the future of NBC 10 anchor Renee Chenault Fattah. They are, collectively, missing the point.

The scenarios: If Congressman Chaka Fattah runs for the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Philadelphia, should NBC remove her from the air? If he wins, should she be taken off?

These questions are absurd. The Congressman has already run for office four times since they were married. Ms. Chenault-Fattah has never wandered into news about him on the air. Why should she now? This is 2006. She has a right to her career and he has a right to his.

What if Jim Gardner’s wife decided to run for State Legislature? Would Gardner be pulled off? No way!

The fact is that Renee Chenault Fattah could do her job without ever mentioning her husband’s name on the air –without ever doing a story on him.

That is a simple fact. Her presence gives him no advantage whatsoever. Several important rules: she stays off the campaign trail and avoids photographs and debates!

If Chaka runs, Renee stays.

Chances are that NBC 10 will never have to face that decision, especially if the Democrats gain control of Congress and Fattah gets a chance to move up the ranks.

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