KOMO fires three veteran TV reporters

[uppityperson]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/314930_komo09.html

Fisher Communications-owned KOMO/4 pink-slipped three of its veteran reporters Monday morning. Breaking news reporters Kevin Reece and Joe Furia and North Puget Sound reporter April Zepeda were let go without warning and, curiously, in the middle of the May ratings-sweep period.
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The firings came days after Furia and Zepeda volunteered to assist the newsroom's bargaining unit. KOMO's newsroom is part of the Seattle chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Employees reached an agreement for a new contract in mid-March, but station management has not signed off on it.
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"This stinks to high heaven," said John Sandifer, executive director of the Seattle local of AFTRA. Furia confirmed that, in response to volunteering to help Zepeda, he received an e-mail from management he described as "unnerving." He and Zepeda said they do not know if their union-related actions had anything to do with their dismissals.
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Reece said he was surprised by how cavalierly it was handled. "I worked there for more than eight years and they give you 15 minutes to get out of the building. That's a bit of an insult," he said, "but that's the way it is, and you move on, I guess."
(more@ link)

With KOMO 11 yrs, 8 yrs, told to clear out in 15 minutes, after volunteering to assist bargaining unit? WTF?

[eridani]

1. Any of the unions doing anything about this? n/t

[uppityperson]

2. searched on, yes. Here. FOX makeover?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2003699694_webkomo09.html

Union to investigate firing of 3 KOMO-TV reporters

By Florangela Davila

Were cosmetic reasons -- how reporters should dress as well as deliver the news -- behind Monday's firings of three longtime reporters at KOMO-TV? Or are the firings of April Zepeda, Joe Furia and Kevin Reece connected to an ongoing labor dispute between the station and a union?.
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"I can't be sure if there is any connection, but the appearance is certainly there," Zepeda said when reached at home Wednesday. "I don't know if it's retaliation or a case of monumentally bad timing."

Clayton said any assertion that the two things are related is "ludicrous."

The firings are the latest in a string of station makeovers ushered in by Clayton, who arrived at the local ABC affiliate last summer from FOX-TV in New York City. But the firings -- three in one day -- eclipse the other changes: a new set, a new logo and new music, as well as new faces for different newscasts. Sports journalist Eric Johnson was promoted to the 5 p.m. anchor slot.
...(more@link)

"FOX" makeover?????????

[LisaM]

4. Dang it! KOMO was the nightly news I watched

I did notice they'd moved Eric Johnson, but I just assumed that he wanted to be moved.

I mainly watched them because they deliver a bit more actual news, and they don't have to pat themselves on the back about breaking every story like KIRO does, but I guess I'll have to switch.

I hope they fight back.

[SeattleGirl]

3. In a way, I'm not surprised.

I knwo someone who worked at KOMO a number of years ago. He had literally worked his way up from the mailroom to floor director of one of KOMO's local shows. He was fired for what sounds like a bogus reason. He filed suit against them and won.

[LisaM]

5. KOMO and union issues

A few months back, they did a piece on Seattle school bus drivers and how some of them were driving with suspended licenses. I wrote the reporter and asked her why she didn't include in her piece that the Seattle Public Schools had switched to First School, which does not unionize its drivers (to me, that seemed the obvious thrust the story should have taken - I knew there would be problems if they didn't have a union). She wrote back immediately (it wasn't April Zepeda) and told me that she "only reported on one thing at a time" but that someone else had raised the union issue and she was looking into it and might do a follow up piece. I never did see a follow up piece.

[philosophie_en_rose]

6. And yet Northwest Afternoon still pollutes the airwaves. . .

I'm sure these reporters will go on to kinder and more lucrative positions. I wonder if KOMO violated labor laws by (allegedly) retaliating against union activity.

KOMO isn't the worst channel in the state (that's the NBC affiliate in Spokane), but it employs the five most annoying people on local television. (NW Afternoon hosts + Elisa Jaffe + Ken Schram). If they employed Robert Mak from King 5, they'd have a monopoly on suck.