Fake Reporter

[rkmsuf]

Part of me thinks this was awesome.

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Man posed as sports reporter, Queens D.A. says
By JANET PASKIN AND BILL HUGHES
[email protected]
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: April 14, 2005)


Mark Sabia, yellow-flagged microphone in tow, has been a regular in press boxes at Yankee Stadium, Shea and Madison Square Garden for years. He pushed his way to the front in post-game interviews, button-holed players for one-on-ones, and complained when he felt he wasn't being treated fairly. In other words, he was indistinguishable from the rest of the small-market television sports reporters in New York's locker rooms.

Except the outlet Sabia represents — Westchester Cable Services — doesn't exist, according to the Queens County District Attorney. Sabia, who lives in Ossining, was arrested Monday when he showed up to cover Opening Day at Shea and was charged with scamming season passes for almost all of New York's professional teams, as well as for several World Series and League Championship Series dating to 1998. He was charged with five felony counts of falsifying business records and 16 misdemeanor counts ranging from petit larceny to criminal impersonation.

"Isn't that wild," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "That's sick, man."

But according to Sabia, he's a veritable David among broadcasting Goliaths, an entrepreneur who has been carving out a niche for himself for the past 23 years as an independent videographer who sells short feeds to small television and cable shows throughout the region.

"I'm just a little guy trying to make a living, and I would never intentionally or unintentionally hurt or defraud anyone," Sabia said. "I will tell you this — I have worked very hard since I was 17 years old to earn a living in this business, and I've never lied or misrepresented myself to anyone."

Sports media representatives, however, disagreed.

"It's extremely disappointing and frustrating," said Patrick Courtney, a spokesman for Major League Baseball. "I think this is a very, very rare instance. He is someone that, because of longevity, it was assumed that he was doing legitimate work."

Teams' media liaisons and regional sports reporters assumed he was from a small-time fringe outlet. The Giants challenged his credentials in 2002, but Sabia successfully lobbied to keep it.

"He said he had been covering the team since 1983, and he listed three stations upstate that he claimed he was stringing for," Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said. "We investigated and got enough feedback that we credentialed him."

Many television and radio stations don't travel with New York's pro teams, so it wasn't unusual that Sabia showed up only at home games. He rarely did "stand-ups" after games — the live reports you see on the evening news — but many smaller outlets don't. Sabia, 39, with a predilection for garish shirts, did what reporters do in locker rooms, which is ask questions. And it was easy to blend in. Journal News sports reporters saw him all the time.

"I never saw him to be obnoxious in the clubhouse," said John Delcos, who has covered the Yankees for The Journal News since 1998. "I thought he was legit. He dressed nice. He was serious about what he was doing. ... He always seemed to be up there in the middle of everything, so he was aggressive. I thought he was a small-media guy, somebody trying to hustle to make a buck."

Courtney said Major League Baseball did not plan to make any changes to its credentialing process, but underscored the importance of diligence when issuing credentials. Delcos and others expressed disapproval of Sabia's alleged fraud and suggested maybe it should be harder to get a press pass.

"I think there's a lot of people in locker rooms, reaching over and climbing around that don't necessarily need to be there," said Mike Dougherty, who has covered the Knicks for six years for The Journal News. "I'm a little disappointed that somebody, for their own personal gain, (might) impersonate a member of the media."

Sabia said he was puzzled by the sudden scrutiny of his credentials. He was also concerned because he said he can't afford a high-priced attorney and he's reluctant to "fight this out in the papers."

Sabia has almost no online presence, which is rare for a media professional, and his business was not legally incorporated under New York state law.

A Google search for Westchester Cable Services produced one hit yesterday afternoon.


hxxp://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050414/NEWS02/504140360/1020/NEWS04

[Ksyrup]

Sabia, 39, with a predilection for garish shirts...

"I never saw him to be obnoxious in the clubhouse," said John Delcos, who has covered the Yankees for The Journal News since 1998. "I thought he was legit. He dressed nice..."



Someone has bad taste in clothes...

[Franklinnoble]

Awesome.

Back before 9/11, it was remarkably easy to score press credentials for sporting events. I'm not surprised that this guy got away with it for as long as he did - I'm more surprised that he actually got busted. He must have pissed somebody off, or just gotten sloppy.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

"I'm a little disappointed that somebody, for their own personal gain, (might) impersonate a member of the media."

Someone takes his job a little too seriously.