Mrtraveler01 737 Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Some drama unfolding here in Market 21 this week as KMOV fires veteran anchor Larry Conners unceremoniously over some controversial comments he made on Facebook regarding his issues with the IRS and his interview with Obama last year. http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2013/05/larry_conners_kmov_out_irs_comments.php http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/columns/joe-holleman/larry-conners-fired-from-kmov/article_eca2b7fc-92a3-5578-b866-914639a3da6c.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Oh, you got to be kidding me, Larry Conners fired at KMOV?! That's cold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Oh, you got to be kidding me, Larry Conners fired at KMOV?! That's cold! Why is it cold? Did he not make those comments? He knew what he was doing, he knows that as journalist he is held to a higher standard of integrity/impartiality. He made his opinions public and basically lied in regards to his situation with the IRS. He did this to himself and no one else. It gets tiring to hear about journalists inserting themselves into stories for publicity and it gives a bad rap to those who do the right thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted May 23, 2013 Author Share Posted May 23, 2013 Why is it cold? Did he not make those comments? He knew what he was doing, he knows that as journalist he is held to a higher standard of integrity/impartiality. He made his opinions public and basically lied in regards to his situation with the IRS. He did this to himself and no one else. It gets tiring to hear about journalists inserting themselves into stories for publicity and it gives a bad rap to those who do the right thing. I wouldn't recommend going to their Facebook page at the moment. A lot of people seem to think that Larry got fired because he criticized Obama. They also think KMOV is run by liberals. *rolls eyes* (Fun Fact: Belo also owns the Dallas Morning News, a right-leaning daily newspaper) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 They could have given Larry an opportunity to give a proper on camera farewell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted May 23, 2013 Author Share Posted May 23, 2013 They could have given Larry an opportunity to give a proper on camera farewell. I agree it wasn't handled very ceremoniously. But you're right, at least Dan Rather had an on camera farewell after his Bush/National Guard debacle. I think KMOV was anxious to get rid of him for quite a while now and Larry Conners gave station management the perfect excuse to fire him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I agree it wasn't handled very ceremoniously. But you're right, at least Dan Rather had an on camera farewell after his Bush/National Guard debacle. I think KMOV was anxious to get rid of him for quite a while now and Larry Conners gave station management the perfect excuse to fire him. But I heard that they had just given him a renewed long-term contract earlier this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted May 23, 2013 Author Share Posted May 23, 2013 But I heard that they had just given him a renewed long-term contract earlier this year? I heard that too but they also demoted him to the 5PM newscast and Steve Savard took his spot at 10PM. So they probably wanted to keep him on but at a less prominent position than before. I think this is another chapter at the ongoing drama that keeps unfolding at KMOV. The turnover at that station has gotten ridiculous lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I wouldn't recommend going to their Facebook page at the moment. A lot of people seem to think that Larry got fired because he criticized Obama. They also think KMOV is run by liberals. *rolls eyes* (Fun Fact: Belo also owns the Dallas Morning News, a right-leaning daily newspaper) Doesn't surprise me. Everything in this country is becoming so political, its just ridiculous. As for an on-air farewell, maybe they didn't want to bring any more attention to issue and decided it was best to move on in the manner that they did. I'm surprised that he nor his reps at the very least did not make a written statement, but who knows what went on behind closed doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hathawaynson2 38 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I heard that too but they also demoted him to the 5PM newscast and Steve Savard took his spot at 10PM. So they probably wanted to keep him on but at a less prominent position than before. I think this is another chapter at the ongoing drama that keeps unfolding at KMOV. The turnover at that station has gotten ridiculous lately. I thought Larry Conners was terminated because of the comments he made about the IRS and second of all, what do you mean by the followng statement 'The turnover at the station has gotten ridculuous lately'? I've heard of layoffs or people not having contracts renewed by their managers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted May 23, 2013 Author Share Posted May 23, 2013 I thought Larry Conners was terminated because of the comments he made about the IRS and second of all, what do you mean by the followng statement 'The turnover at the station has gotten ridculuous lately'? I've heard of layoffs or people not having contracts renewed by their managers. He did get fired from KMOV because of his Facebook comments. But Larry has also taken less and less of a role at KMOV lately by being demoted to the 5 PM newscast while Steve Savard takes over his spot at 10pm. I think they were just waiting for the perfect excuse to fire him. KMOV has also had a lot of people come and go lately for various reason. If there is one thing KMOV is good at, it's consistency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 He did get fired from KMOV because of his Facebook comments. But Larry has also taken less and less of a role at KMOV lately by being demoted to the 5 PM newscast while Steve Savard takes over his spot at 10pm. I think they were just waiting for the perfect excuse to fire him. KMOV has also had a lot of people come and go lately for various reason. If there is one thing KMOV is good at, it's consistency. Well, I guess it is safe to say that I'm predicting that Steve Savard will succeed Larry in the anchor desk at 6 & 10pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hathawaynson2 38 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Well, I guess it is safe to say that I'm predicting that Steve Savard will succeed Larry in the anchor desk at 6 & 10pm. That is a very good prediction that Steve Savard will be the next anchor replacing Larry Conners in doing the newscasts at 6&10pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Prepare for a lawsuit, Conners is suing KMOV. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/fired-anchor-larry-conners-explores-legal-action-against-kmov_b91498 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted May 24, 2013 Author Share Posted May 24, 2013 Prepare for a lawsuit, Conners is suing KMOV. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/fired-anchor-larry-conners-explores-legal-action-against-kmov_b91498 I'm not sure what he could sue them for unless he can prove that he got fired because of his age. Because you can get fired for political views or something you post on Facebook. Either way it looks like it's going to get ugly. He also sat down with an interview with KTVI today as well: http://fox2now.com/2013/05/23/larry-conners-opens-up-about-being-fired-from-kmov/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10Viewer 319 Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 Future role at KTVI?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oprah 10 Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 I think the bottom line is that he wasn't fired over his theory about the IRS or whatever...as ludicrous as it was. ...it's the fact that he knew the theory to be false (or damn well should have). It's inaccurate information, and having the face of your station disseminating inaccurate conspiracy theories (a bit of a redundancy, no?) is bad PR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 The Saga continues: http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2013/05/larry_conners_vickie_newtown_kmov_complaint.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5275 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Could somebody please give this crotchety old man a Snickers bar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIXfan 34 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 The Saga continues: http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2013/05/larry_conners_vickie_newtown_kmov_complaint.php Well, I can easily say that after reading this article, Larry Conners' broadcast career is all but over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronQ 259 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/larry-conners-now-files-age-discrimination-suit-against-kmov_b92149 And now he filed a lawsuit against KMOV for age discrimination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hathawaynson2 38 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/larry-conners-now-files-age-discrimination-suit-against-kmov_b92149 And now he filed a lawsuit against KMOV for age discrimination. Nicely done on the age discrimination suit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5275 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/larry-conners-now-files-age-discrimination-suit-against-kmov_b92149 And now he filed a lawsuit against KMOV for age discrimination. "You can't fire me! I'm just a crazy, old man who says things!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Nicely done on the age discrimination suit! I dunno. Based on the quote, he seems to be complaining that he got paid less because he wasn't an African-American female (ie: "Reverse Discrimination). "Beginning in December 2010, I have complained to KMOV management about the disparity in pay between me and my previous co-prime anchor, Vickie Newton, an African-American female; I claimed that I received less compensation than Newton because of my race and gender." I never realized what a whiny petulant brat he is off-camera but I'm starting to see why station management might not have been too fond of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I dunno. Based on the quote, he seems to be complaining that he got paid less because he wasn't an African-American female (ie: "Reverse Discrimination). "Beginning in December 2010, I have complained to KMOV management about the disparity in pay between me and my previous co-prime anchor, Vickie Newton, an African-American female; I claimed that I received less compensation than Newton because of my race and gender." I never realized what a whiny petulant brat he is off-camera but I'm starting to see why station management might not have been too fond of him. At this stage of the game, people in his position start throwing sh*t on the wall to see if it sticks. Who had been at KMOV longer: Larry Conners or Vickie Newton? I could maybe side with Larry if he said that he was paid less than Vickie and having more seniority but throwing the reverse race card is stupid and makes him sound desperate-not to mention racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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