Former North Carolina TV newsman Jon Robinson is more interesting than most TV newsmen: "What I really wanted to say [on air] is, 'I shot heroin last night and smoked crack and watched eight hours of pornos.'"

He's more honest than the average TV newsman, at least. The Charlotte Observer profiles Robinson's heartbreaking life story, from childhood sex abuse to basketball stardom to a successful broadcasting career in Charlotte and Charleston—all while pursuing an increasingly vicious crack and heroin habit.

He says one night he smoked crack between the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. He later looked at the tape. Although he could tell he was jumpy on air, no one else seemed to notice.

That probably says more about television news these days than about Jon Robinson? Anyhow his story gets much worse, and—bonus—does not even have a happy ending. He's opened up now, but he hasn't gotten sober yet. Good luck to you, Jon Robinson. If you clean up you have the potential to be the next David Carr and/or Jayson Blair.
[The full story. Pic via]