Gasparino's Tampa roots

Walt Belcher, the television critic for the Tampa Tribune, writes Thursday about Fox Business Network‘s Charles Gasparino, who worked at the paper 20 years ago.

Belcher writes, “When Fox Business Network hired him away from CNBC two months ago, he told them the same thing he told the editors who hired him at the Tribune: ‘My job is to rip the lungs out of the competition.’

“‘This is a competitive business, and breaking news is what I thrive on,’ says Gasparino, who delights in scooping rivals and even co-workers.

“Since joining Fox Business, he has broken several big stories that have embarrassed Republican and Democratic lawmakers who were privately courting favor on Wall Street.

“He debuted on the network in February with a breaking story – his business sources tipped him that Tiger Woods was going to make his first public apology.

“‘I am paid to produce, and I work hard at it,’ he says. ‘I care about issues that affect the pocketbook.'”

Read more here. DISCLOSURE: I replaced Gasparino on the Tampa Tribune business desk when he left in 1990.