Posted on 06/22/2019 8:53:45 AM PDT by simpson96
Five anchorwomen at NY1, one of the country’s most prominent local news channels, sued the network on Wednesday over age and gender discrimination, alleging a systematic effort by managers to force them off the air in favor of younger, less experienced hosts.
The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, portrays a newsroom at odds with the friendly image that has made NY1 a beloved institution among New Yorkers. And it publicized tensions that have long afflicted the TV news business, where older women’s careers often fade as male counterparts thrive.
The plaintiffs range in age from 40 to 61 and include Roma Torre, one of the channel’s longest-serving anchors. “We feel we are being railroaded out of the place,” Ms. Torre said in an interview. “Men age on TV with a sense of gravitas, and we as women have an expiration date.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Roma Torre has been around forever. I always liked NY1; hope she gets rehired.
Now, Ladies, everybody knows that TV is a visual medium.
It’s only natural to show someone at their most attractive, as a way to interest viewers. Men go through this too, though in more subtle ways. Why do you think people like Brett Baird keep having to lose weight every so often, or the older guy on Fox & Friends wears that Daniel Boone-ish toupee?
I’m not a lawyer, but I wonder if these networks can practically exempt themselves from most age and gender discrimination lawsuits by re-classifying their work force so they operate like a couple of the only industries where age, gender and even RACIAL discrimination is perfectly legal: the entertainment and advertising industries. Call them “actors/actresses” instead of “news anchors,” and the whole legal environment changes dramatically.
Same thing happened at WSMV in Nashville. Older respected and liked news presenters let go to hire younger people.
Couldn’t get the woman to smile. I know that they are dealing with a serious subject, but that picture isn’t helping their case.
They had no problem with the issue when they were young and cute. Sorry ladies, 25 is the limit in Hollywierd.
-—...alleging a systematic effort by managers to force them off the air in favor of younger, less experienced hosts.-—
Correction - younger and prettier.
As is often admitted, the object of any tv show is to get as many eyeballs watching the paid advertisements as possible. That is the hard reality of that business.
And by the way, who needs experience? They all read off a teleprompter anyway.
I watch local news to.......wait for it.........wait for it.........GET THE NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t give a crap what they look like as long as they can speak understandable English....
If they weren’t attractive young eye-candy when they were hired, they would not have been hired in the first place.
Now that they are older and no longer as attractive, they complain.
One solution, going forward, would be to have the contract explicitly state that they would be hired for no more than 5 years, and that there would be no renewal. And for the channel to stick to that.
Brett who?
C’mon, gotta make room for those younger, more attractive, less well compensated news readerettes. It’s all about the ratings & ad revenue...and of course, the boobage.
;)
Those are some cranky-looking ladies.
Watching them would depress the living snot outta me.
And I’m a chick.
Where’s a bubble-headed bleached blonde with a gleam in her eye when ya need one?!
Added one of the more important reasons for the "change". Most of these local cable stations run on a shoestring. If these ladies were that good, most of them would have been snapped up by the bigger stations in the area or even a national cable outfit. If they aren't that good, they just become a bigger drain on salary expenses as they age.
The women have a point.
Hell, for the 2016 election, ABC dragged out the corpse of Charlie Gibson and NBC, after applying a little air freshener, put Tom Brokaw on the air.
To say Gibson was hard to look at is an understatement.
And, Brokaw did nothing but mumble. I swear, I thought his dentures were going to fall out at any moment.
Lol, good point.
That's exactly what they are. Who considers some 20-something to be an authoritative source on world politics? They just read the words given to them and try to look serious and smart while doing it.
“Where’s a bubble-headed bleached blonde with a gleam in her eye when ya need one?!
When I read that, the first person I thought of was Ainsley Earhardt.
Bubble Headed Bleach Blonde sums up Mika Brzezinski nicely.
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