You probably know by now that KGO-TV (ABC7) veteran news reader, Cheryl Jennings, is leaving the anchor desk. She says she wants to pursue "more of my long-term, in-depth stories." And if you believe that, I have some nice oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.
The gullible Chronicle and Leah Garchick bought it.
The real story? Jennings has been on cruise control the past few years. She's only stayed at KGO because she's been there since cavemen were existent.
Jennings has seniority and she's a woman. So she wasn't thrown out of 900 Front. She was merely told by ABC that she wasn't going to be anchoring anymore but if she wanted to stay (for a lot less money) she was welcome to stick around in her twilight years and do her Sunday work and occasional "in-depth" reports.
Apparently, Jennings chose the ABC directive. She's lucky: I actually thought she was history a long time ago but her bosses had a change of heart. It wouldn't look good to throw a late 60's woman out the door.Bottom line is Jennings got the heave-ho. That's the story in a nutshell --Jennings can spin it all she wants and has Leah Garchik to spread the falsities --but Disney (which owns KGO) is quite known for lowering the boom on high-paid air talent who've reached the end.
*MEANWHILE --Jennings' fate wasn't the biggest news at KGO Tuesday---apparently the mood inside the building wasn't too peachy--why?
Veteran 6 PM producer, Bill Green, is retiring and management wanted to throw a party for him.
Sounds reasonable only the staff was caught off-guard by the News Director.
From my KGO-TV spy (and backed up by a local station source) we have this item: According to the spy, ND, Tracey Watkowski, is strong-arming the staff into paying for a going away party for the respected producer who is leaving.
The producer of the dominant 6 o'clock News is retiring after decades with the company and Trixie is 'suggesting' newsroom employees 'give' a set amount. The staff knows that means pay up or else.
Furthermore, what is really ticking off the staff? Seems Watkowski just returned from an out of town get away and it is widely believed she took her newsroom union Boy Toy and billed the station for her out of state soirée!
*Don't expect any immediate changes at Cumulus-owned stations in the city. Or, more to the point, any noticeable changes you can hear on the air. The new boss will take inventory and that takes time. She's got a lot on her plate.
Locally, there are impending issues like KGO Radio's imminent switch to a less news--more talk hybrid format. Looks more and more likely that the Afternoon News will be discarded in place of talk.
Then there's Ronn Owens. I'm already hearing that Owens is done at the end of the year--he'll turn 70 later this fall and come November will have spent 40 years at KGO. Owens finally has his Radio Hall of Fame trophy and seems destined for retirement --we'll talk more about that later in the coming weeks.
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Let's hope the flies on the wall of the KRON and KGO shit-hole of a place to work gab some more soon.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Cheryl Jennings could do a little part-time duty at KRON. It sounds like both KGO and KRON are becoming a dysfunctional family together. Is it something in the water?
ReplyDeleteDo they all share the same restrooms?
DeleteHow creepy!
Place your bets on how the musical chairs at the anchor slots at KGO will end up.
ReplyDeleteUgh! that hideous Cheryl Jennings! How dare she very ably cover rape, murder, mayhem and more as a KPIX reporter, surviving as a single mom. Then she had the gall to report and anchor at KGO ABC7 for all those years, and be a major part of their legendary ratings success? Who the hell does she think she is, growing older, unlike the rest of the folks here? I think you should be giving Cheryl Jennings hurrahs for a career well done, not brickbats. Imagine that.
ReplyDeleteChristine, if you're giving Cheryl Jennings hurrahs for her "stellar reporting", then I'm giving you a shovel for all the oral horseshit you give us on a regular basis. Start shoveling.
Deletedear 11:47...I don't know where you were in the late seventies when Cheryl impressed all of us at KPIX with her reporting abilities. I saw her many times, hustling the stories, sourcing them, getting them edited and on the air, and then going right back out and getting the next one. Apparently, you do the job better? really? shovel that.
DeleteKGO newsroom worker...you use quotes(") to attribute the phrase "stellar reporting" to me. If that's an example of your journalistic skills, I'd think KGO ABC7 would be well-advised to replace you with someone who knows what a quote is and isn't.
DeleteChristine, you aren't perfect yourself. BA broadcast was very entertaining when you chastised someone who posted "with bated breath" and you said it should be "baited". Pwned.
DeleteI guess you were on assignment when they covered Shakespeare. You have no grounds to correct anyone on journalistic skills.
I don't get all the antipathy here for Christine...especially since every word she wrote about Jennings was true.
DeleteThank you Christine for reminding us all, yet again, why you ended up where you are today, living in a van, down by the river, correcting grammar.
DeleteYou are toxic to any cause you embrace.
Big CJ fan. I'll miss her.
DeleteChristine Ward, only you will give a ten-dollar answer to a ten-cent question. There's a reason why you're basically irrelevant now. Think about it.
Deletedear 2:41 re: your accuracy and journalistic skills
DeleteI don't own a van, nor have I ever owned a van. Ayan el rancheria. I don't live near a river and have never lived near a river, only on ocean beaches in, Carpinteria, Montecito, the north shore of Oahu and Carmel. What "causes" exactly are you talking about?
"have never lived near a river, only on ocean beaches in, Carpinteria, Montecito, the north shore of Oahu and Carmel." I see one unneeded comma following a preposition and none in front of a conjunction where one should go. And a whole lotta arrogance about beaches where someone lives.
DeleteOh that's priceless....
DeleteClueless Christine, boasting about all the impressive places she's been to disprove "living in a van down by the river."
Make that toxic and humorless.
Hopefully you will never have to deal with the incredible toxicity of living on a beautiful beach. I want to know more about this imaginary river and imaginary van. Could it be from an overly-medicated, humorless mind of someone who thinks they are a comedian? Have you ever noticed just how many comedians aren't funny, and how few are?
DeleteMake that toxic, humorless, clueless, and pedantic.
DeleteI find the person or persons making comments about Christine's living accomodations to be filled with humor. And no, Christine, I did not spell accomodations correctly. Berate me...
DeleteWhat are my living accomodations?
DeleteLOL Boy Toy. That explains alot !
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more, 10:27!
ReplyDeleteRich, if Ms. Jennings wants to put her "spin" on it, that is absolutely her prerogative! How about writing about some of her triumphs and challenges over the years--you have a vast store of Bay Area media knowledge and would be doing a real service to your readers and Ms. Jennings by providing something more interesting and informative.
Almost 40 years--the lady probably would like to reduce her workload and smell the roses--and she deserves it! Your mean-spirited rant was unnecessary and beneath your talent.
Cheryl Jennings is a household name in the Bay Area. She will be missed anchoring the 11am and 5pm newscasts! At least she will remain with KGO-TV, just like how former "World News Tonight" anchor Diane Sawyer is focusing on special projects.
ReplyDeleteBye, give me more AMA DAETZ.
ReplyDeleteYou probably won't get more Ama Daetz. Instead you'll probably get more Natasha Zouves...especially if her hiring was a GM pushed deal as Rich has said.
DeleteWhy so much venom toward a long-time Bay Area stalwart, Cheryl Jennings?
ReplyDeleteTalk about friends with benefits ! Trixie and Boy Toy; aka the Hump Buddies.
ReplyDeleteWho is this boy toy?
DeleteI freelanced on the desk at KGO for a while. Cheryl was one of the only people that smiled at me and treated me with kindness. I'll never forget that. I hope she enjoys retirement and being away from that snake pit.
ReplyDeleteRich,
ReplyDeleteYou're being a little rough on Cheryl, don't you think? It's terrible the way that older women are disregarded and disrespected. A lot of us have grown up watching her on the news.
Don't assume Garchick bought the story unthinkingly. She may have been *told* to spin it that way. More and more reporters are told--by both their own media congloms and others--what to say. There's even a chance LG didn't write any of it: it could have been faxed to the newsroom by Disney PR and printed with her name put on top. That's how it's done nowadays.
ReplyDeleteKGO as we knew it is slowly dying. It started last year. Carolyn Johnson walked. Now Cheryl is taking a reduced role in what has all the signs of a "take it or leave" deal. And I'll go back even further and throw Leigh Glaser in as well since her out of nowhere hastily arranged departure from KGO looked like she got eased out too.
ReplyDeleteIt's inarguably the biggest changeover to happen in Bay Area TV since Doug Moore, Maggie Scura, and Mary Babbitt got bounced by KNTV.
I was watching Carolyn Johnson on KNBC a few days ago. Jeez, I hardly recognized her. There's something about LA anchorwomen - they seem very distant and Stepford Wife-ish.
DeleteAt least she's still on the payroll. Better than being out of a job.
ReplyDeleteRich was quite complementary of Ms Jennings April 7, 2010. No need for the aggrieved feminist rant. Some of these titan ego's like Owens won't let go so fortunately for them management eases the transition with special little projects. We will probably hear something like Dunbar's editorials from Owens next year. My goodness, be grateful for the longevity in a ruthless business. Best of wishes to Ms Jennings.
DeleteAs long as we're talking Circle 7 - at first I thought Natasha Zouves was a breath of fresh air over Katie Marzulo - and I still think she's an improvement over Katie - but frankly she talks and comments too much - she said something over the weekend related to Drew Tuma which I won't repeat here - but it was highly inappropriate even if correct - and if I were Drew, I would not have been pleased.
ReplyDeleteWhat, that Tuma plays on the other side of the fence. Talk about obvious.
DeleteWhat did Natasha say?
DeleteI prefer Cheryl to Diane Sawyer. Diane hunched over towards the viewer when she was reading the news. I couldn't help but think she had osteoporosis of her shoulders. Poor posture!
ReplyDeleteDid Jennings get in a car wreck her face looks worse than Christine craft
ReplyDeleteDear 5:20...I"m cute as hell. Chlorine is a great preservative.
ReplyDeleteYes, Carolyn Johnson seems a little Stepford Wife-ish on camera
ReplyDeleteOnce while doing a positive story about Tuna on the regular KGO news (television), Carolyn will then turn around and make a comment off camera to the crew saying something in the neighborhood of
"America's favorite poisonous fish." I used to view KGO news (television) on-line and sometimes the mic wasn't immediately cut off. I heard that particular comment during one of those times.
Carolyn Johnson doesn't seem like the nicest person in the world and phony.