Take it from WFAA8's Gloria Campos: "I know what happened first hand, because I was there!"

WFAA8 anchor Gloria Campos tells an all-ears John McCaa on Tuesday's 10 p.m. newscast that Sarah Palin in fact wasn't booed during the previous night's Dancing with the Stars. Photo: Ed Bark
By ED BARK
Hmm, let's hope this isn't what Dallas-based WFAA8 means by "Crossing state lines . . . Bringing home the kinds of stories no other local station can."

That's the message in an eye-catching new black-and-white promotional campaign detailed previously in these spaces. And anchor Gloria Campos indeed ranged all the way to southern California Monday, skipping newscasts to attend ABC's live Dancing with the Stars broadcast with one of her sons in tow.

Sarah Palin also was there, in support of her daughter/contestant Bristol. Some off-camera boos could be heard just before Palin talked briefly with co-host Tom Bergeron while seated in the studio audience. Some blogs said they were directed at Palin. Others questioned whether they were carryover jabs at the judges' 24 score for an enthusiastically received dance by Jennifer Grey and her pro partner, Derek Hough. In reality, no big deal. Enter Campos anyway.

"I know what happened, because I was there!" she exclaimed to co-anchor John McCaa. "That's right. What actually happened was we were booing because we were told to be vocal for one thing. And we thought those scores should be higher, that there should be some nines in there."

Arrrgh. Since when is it a news anchor's role to play along in this manner? But we tarry.

"So, being instructed to be vocal, I started shouting out 'Nine! Nine! Nine!' " Campos continued. "And then many others started shouting out that they agreed with me, that she should get some nines in there. So that's what really happened. Sarah Palin was actually very cordially received."

I'm feeling compelled to shout, 'Nein! Nein! Nein!' " in memory of news anchors who would never think of doing something like this -- let alone calling attention to it on a subsequent newscast. But that's probably antiquated thinking. Many of today's anchors not only ride the tricycle in the parade but toot their own horns after doing so.

The Palin "controversy," touted in WFAA8 promotions preceding Tuesday's 10 p.m. newscast, gave Campos a chance to spotlight her own role in the festivities. Reporters and other anchors at WFAA8 may not even be bothering anymore to discuss the propriety of all this. After all, what's the point? Ethics and comportment increasingly are yesterday's news. The new mantra: It is what it is.