If the charges against Mark W. Kandel prove true, including sending a 17-year old boy a picture of him in his underwear, he is one sick man.
Now we all know that this alleged pervert is married to WNEP-TV anchor Marisa Burke.
I don’t know Marisa Burke, but I sure feel sorry for her. And I’m guessing that many in her viewing area also didn’t know that Kandel, who is accused of heinous crimes similar to those which brought down Jerry Sandusky, was her husband.
But some in the media, including The Citizens’ Voice, felt we needed to know that. Next to Kandel’s picture in the CV’s account was a caption, “Husband of WNEP anchor Marisa Burke. Low blow, CV.
The Times Leader article made no mention of Marisa Burke. Maybe the TL didn’t know. But I’m guessing that it intentionally left out that tantalizing tidbit because it wasn’t relevant and decided it was wrong to humiliate a high-profile news anchor when surely she if suffering enough.
Kandel, a former Scranton area school director, admitted he does “engage in sexual communications with teenage boys,” the CV reported, and that he “acknowledged that he becomes overwhelmed with sexual feelings” when texting teenage boys.
The Citizens’ Voice said in its article Thursday that it doesn’t identify the victims of sexual abuse. Doesn’t Marisa Burke deserve equal anonymity? She wasn’t involved in any of this, yet she’s been cast in this humiliating spotlight because of something her husband may have done.
Of course, the public deserves to know that Mark Kandel was a former school director and former curriculum specialist with the Northeast Education Intermediate Unit 19. But do we have the right to know that he’s married to a well-known news anchor? I say no.
Put yourself in her shoes. If a member of your family was charged with a despicable act, would you want to be identified in a newspaper article or television broadcast? No one would.
What if you were a teacher or an executive, whose wife was just charged with prostitution, and your name appeared in that news account? Imagine walking into your classroom or your business the next day, your co-workers trying to act normally when you walked by?
Now imagine Marisa Burke going on the air to report the news now that she has unfairly been thrust into this horrific news story.
Was it interesting information? Yes, it was. Did we need to know about it at her expense? No, we didn’t.
- Betty Roccograndi
For too long, the media has used, (pick one) former Marine, Policeman, Church elder, Scout leader, Teacher, Minister, Priest, etc to embellish an otherwise everyday happening,What they were has little or no bearing on present circumstance?
In the same vein being related to someone who commits a crime against society should not be painted with the same brush..
Of course it’s relevant that his wife is a well known news anchor for a local news station !! News is news ! Marisa Burke is a “local celebrity” ! With this position comes an amount of exposure above the average citizen. It comes with being in that line of work. Although I don’t know Marisa personally, she seems like a very upstanding and respectable woman in her business ! My heart pains for this hard working lady !! My question to the rest of the readers here is more intrusive to Ms. Burke but it’s necessary. Why is she still with this man who has already been convicted in the past for doing inappropriate things with minors ?? He was convicted years ago for buying alcohol for minors !! She must be aware of that because it was in the news !!! Channel 16 is always referring viewers to get professional assistance for personal matters via their “websites mentioned” part of their website !! It is important for viewers who are in similar situations as Marisa to know that people working in the professional news industry are “victims” as they are in spite of the fact that they have additional resources at their disposal by being in the news business !!! This is a learning experience for everyone involved, including the viewers !! I asked my friend the other day why someone as skilled, professional, and eligible a woman as Ms. Burke has stayed with a man that would buy underage kids alcohol ??? Her husband needs professional help. Help which most likely can be gotten easier by the fact of her being in the news business that reports similar stories and victims every week !!! There are more important issues than infidelity as reasons to initiating a divorce and pedophilia is definitely one of them !!!
I wish Marisa the best. I’m sure she has her reasons for staying with a man who has had a past as he has, but she deserves better than that. Much better !!!
It’s hard to say why a professional news anchor, or any woman for that matter, would stay with a man like this. But, then again, some women stay with men who abuse them physically and mentally. That’s hard for the rest of us to understand. If WNEP-TV did not report this story in order to protect Marisa Burke, that would have been wrong because like you said, news is news. The news was that a local former educator and school board member has been charged with sexting teens. Marisa Burke wasn’t.