A gossip writer for the New York Post has been suspended pending a federal investigation into whether he tried to extort money from a billionaire California financier, the newspaper reported today.
Jared Paul Stern, who worked freelance for the newspaper's Page Six column, is suspected of demanding $100,000 and an annual $10,000 stipend from Ron Burkle in exchange for not writing negative stories about him, the Post said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-040706burkle_wr,0,1293466.story?coll=la-home-headlines"Should the allegations prove true, Mr. Stern's conduct would be morally and journalistically reprehensible, a gross abuse of privilege, and in violation of the New York Post's standards and ethics," editor in chief Col Allen said in a statement.