Jeff Burnside, the investigative reporter who was fired several months ago from NBC owned WTVJ, has landed a job with Seattle’s KOMO.

WTVJ fired Burnside for placing an edited version of George Zimmerman‘s 911 call in his story about the Trayvon Martin case.  Martin was the 17-year-old who was shot while walking through a gated community near Orlando.  George Zimmerman faces second-degree murder charges in the case.

Burnside is now the Seattle ABC affiliate’s senior investigative reporter.

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Chad Matthews has been hired as assistant news director at WTVJ, a spokesperson for the station confirmed to TVSpy today.

Matthews joins the Miami NBC O&O from WABC, the ABC O&O in New York City, where he is a senior executive producer. WABC is a powerhouse in the New York City market: in the just-finished May sweeps period, the station’s newscasts won in every time slot but one, according to our sister site FishbowlNY.

“By recruiting someone with Chad Matthews’ skills and experience, we continue to position the NBC 6 News Team for growth,” WTVJ vice president of news Migdalia Figueroa told TVSpy. “Chad will work with us to continue improving our content and ratings performance and will play a key role in our all-new investigative unit.” Read more

Jeff Burnside, a special projects reporter at WTVJ, was fired from the South Florida NBC O&O last Friday after it was determined he selectively edited audio of George Zimmerman‘s 911 call in the Trayvon Martin case. Two weeks ago, a Miami-based NBC News producer lost her job in a similar situation, using an almost identical, sloppily-edited 911 call related to the Martin/Zimmerman case.

In a report on the 5pm newscast in mid-March, Burnside used the following audio of Zimmerman’s 911 call:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good or he’s on drugs or something. He looks black. Read more

George Zimmerman has replaced one Orlando television analyst with another as his legal representation in the Trayvon Martin case.

Zimmerman has hired Mark O’Mara, a legal analyst for CBS-affiliate WKMG. Zimmerman was dropped as a client on Tuesday by Hal Uhrig, a former WOFL legal analyst, and Craig Sonner. Zimmerman faces a second-degree murder charge.

In a WMKG interview on Tuesday night — before he was hired by Zimmerman — O’Mara said Uhrig’s decision to step down presented a serious challenge in the case. Read more

At the top of its 10 p.m. newscast on Saturday, Orlando Fox O&O WOFL reported that a “civil rights group” was starting to make its presence felt in Sanford, FL, where racial tensions have escalated following the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

The “civil rights group” at the center of reporter Jennifer Bisram‘s piece: the National Socialist Movement, an apparent neo-Nazi organization.

WOFL’s labeling of the National Socialist Movement–which has a swastika in its official insignia–as a “civil rights group” has drawn the ire of social affairs activists and bloggers, who believe that the station was negligent in its characterization of the organization. Read more

Hal Uhrig, a Florida attorney and television analyst, has joined George Zimmerman‘s legal team.

Uhrig appeared frequently on Orlando Fox O&O WOFL during last year’s Casey Anthony coverage. According to the Orlando Sentinel, he is not a station employee and he will not be contributing to the station in an analyst role until his involvement in the Trayvon Martin case is over. He and Zimmerman’s other attorney, Craig Sonner, appeared together on WOFL’s evening newscast yesterday. Read more

The City of Sanford has rescinded its controversial warning that members of the media covering the Trayvon Martin case could be arrested, following pressure from local news outlets who argued that the threat was unconstitutional.

On Wednesday, the City of Sanford, which has enlisted the help of a private PR firm in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, issued a press release stating that law enforcement officials would “not hesitate” to arrest members of the media who approach city employees outside of working hours.

After receiving complaints from Orlando stations, including WESH and WFTV, the city issued a follow-up release on Thursday evening, rescinding its threat. Read more

As reporters continue to crowd the sidewalks of Sanford, FL, covering the Trayvon Martin case, the city is warning members of the media that they could be arrested.

The City of Sanford issued a press release on Wednesday requesting that “members of the media refrain from approaching, phoning or emailing city employees when they are in their roles as private citizens.”

“It has come to light that there have been a few incidents where city staff were followed and approached at their home or in settings outside of working hours,” the press release states.  “Law enforcement officials will not hesitate to make an arrest for stalking.”

In his first interview since the Trayvon Martin shooting, George Zimmerman‘s father told WOFL that Martin beat his son and threatened his life.

Robert Zimmerman‘s face was not revealed in the 20-minute interview with Valerie Boey, which aired on the Fox O&O’s 10 p.m. newscast yesterday (watch above). Read more

After making the rounds as the de facto press representative for George Zimmerman, former WESH anchor-reporter Joe Oliver backed away from the popular characterization of him as Zimmerman’s “close friend” in an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” on Tuesday night.

“I’ll clarify my relationship with George because the characterization has been as a close friend. I’m being described as a close friend because I’m the only one speaking out for him,” Zimmerman said. “But my relationship with George is more of an older uncle. I’m old enough to be his father.” Read more