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Tempers Flare at WLNE - Shouting Matches in the Newsroom


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http://www.golocalprov.com/business/exclusive-tempers-flare-at-channel-6/

 

Apparently tempers are flaring among the staff as a shouting match took place between anchor John Deluca and the new owner in the middle of the newsroom shortly before the newscast on a recent night.

 

It has also gotten so bad that many reporters and other staff are trying to get out as fast as they can, only to be locked in by contract.

 

Ratings have also been deplorable. WLNE scored a 1.8 (about 11000 viewers) on a recent night at 11, compared to numbers which regularly pass 50000 for the other stations in town.

 

To add fuel to the fire, the new owners cut the rent payments by moving the master control equipment from the basement to the second floor, taking up the areas where reporters used to sit. This means that WLNE's jam packed newsroom will become even more crammed. Word is that these reporters were not even notified that they would be relocated before it was done.

 

All of this is amid more layoffs this month from the already bare-bones staff. The owner's promise to go HD first is also going to flop, with WJAR set to launch from a new set within a week and WPRI prepared for full HD by summer. WLNE is expected to be ready in the fall at best.

 

http://www.projo.com/tv/content/HD_TV_LOCAL_05-10-11_AINJ27E_v33.21a9edf.html

 

My prediction: at the rate that this is going, I will be shocked if WLNE still has a news department 5 years from now.

As far as the newscasts go, with WLNE having so many problems, they should probably shut down the news department and have another station produce newscasts for them. I think it would be the best decision they would ever make.

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