Aaron Pero is Probably on Thin Ice at KRON. Here's Why.

WEDNESDAY REPORT

Aaron Pero has survived his asshole-ness at KRON mainly because he was considered a good ND and nobody in charge--be it whatever KRON owner (take your pick) bothered to check on staffers clearly affected by his crazy outbursts and intimidation. The toxic atmosphere got worse because nobody put a check on Pero's reign of terror.

One such outrageous incident, even more jarring today, involved a KRON vet, anchor/reporter, Justine Waldman, who had a personal confrontation with Pero in his office; Pero was heard yelling and screaming to the point, Waldman left his office and was crying. Visibly shaken. Waldman wasn't the only person at KRON who received Pero's wrath. But Waldman's was unique in this respect: she and Darya Folsom were bitter enemies and Folsom was just at the beginning of her relationship with Pero. Put two and two together. Conflict? You don't say.

Pero was known to humiliate other personnel, not just off-air people but on-air as well. He openly bragged to staffers he "ruled" the newsroom and was free to manage by intimidation. The little people at KRON dared snitch on him or report him to corporate and even if they did, their complaints were tossed in the wind. Nobody up above sseemed to care or have the chops to do anything. Sometimes it was just a case of laziness.

Today, there's a new sheriff in town, Jim Rose, the VP and GM hired in May. Rose hasn't implemented much of a policy yet, on the programming level, concentrating on getting his bags unpacked and looking over the inventory. KRON, via Nextstar, probably asked him to FOCUS in on Pero and his relationship with Darya, finally, even if it was years late to the party.

Officially, Pero is suspended. How long is anyone's guess but it might as well be indefinite. Rose and KRON/Nextstar people are more than likely buying time to do something far more punitive, like, say, blowing out Pero? It wouldn't be totally shocking. In fact, there's just enough rancor and division in the newsroom to warrant such a move. Pero's relationship with Folsom is the least of the issues but make no mistake, it's at the forefront.

A possible Pero blowout comes with trepidation; I'm sure he's got a lot of stuff written down (and so does Darya) but KRON, I'm sure, has lots of crap on him. I'd love to see his personal file. Which is all the more evidence that Rose is about to show what he's made of; he's suspended Pero, now he has the ammo to do the ultimate: send Pero, the ultimate Napoleon, out to pasture. It might be just in time to save the newsroom.