Grace Lee leaving KPIX; More Murky Times at 855 Battery; Update; Headed to 'Hawaii News Now'



Grace Lee/CBS5 photo

Grace Lee, a KPIX, (CBS5), general assignment and political reporter is leaving the station and has taken a position back in Hawaii at an undisclosed Honolulu station, according to a reliable station source. Friday is her last day at 855 Battery. (Here's Lee's new destination) .

When Lee was hired at CBS5, she believed she was promised an anchor job, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the nature of the story.  Lee co-anchored the morning show for a time and was then made the station's political reporter.

Although she has a master's degree in international affairs and is well-liked and respected by many, if not all, on the staff, management blocked her from anchoring because of what was claimed to be a decision by CBS O&O executives in New York. Some in the newsroom suspect the company was looking for a "minority" other than an Asian female.

BACK STORY

*It has been an altogether disappointing start for CBS5's new GM, Bruno Cohen, with prospects for improvement on an unrelenting slide downhill. Newsroom staff had been hoping for a purge of an undeniably bloated mid-management bureaucracy. Reporters, writers and producers dread coming to work, not knowing who they must answer to or why. Worse, they may tumble into the loopy gravity of one or two of the managers who have so little comprehension that any information the managers are given causes their eyes to cross and becomes scrambled or forgotten almost immediately. Cohen, however, doubled down in a recent meeting and essentially told staffers that poor ratings were their own fault. Only the most Pollyanna-ish among them still believe Cohen has a plan to fix the glaringly obvious waste of money on executive salaries and expensive, inoperative and incompatible equipment.


*Rich Lieberman 415 Media Exclusive

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KPIX Moves; Stan Bunger and John Madden; Matier and Willie Brown; Have you heard this before? 95.7 FM is in Trouble; KGO-TV's Carolyn Johnson is the First Guest on Lieberman Radio Show Monday; Friday Buzz

New KPIX GM, Bruno Cohen, hasn't made any significant moves since he took over at the local SF O and O, but if a few sources are correct, expect something down the pike. The password is "sports." And keep in mind that the corporate people in NY in charge of the money have been doing a lot of cutting to people who make too much money.

By the way, there are those who insist to me that the current news boss should keep his resume updated.

*KCBS' Stan Bunger: just when you think he's slipping a bit, you get a dose of Bunger at his best, like on Friday morning...lobbing some good openers for John Madden and making the most of Matier and Willie Brown interesting when time interferes. Speaking of which, when it's obvious that there's really little, if any traffic this week, (which is the case), do we always needs a traffic update every 10 minutes? More Madden, less traffic. Every now and then it makes sense.

*An industry wag with about 30+ years in the biz tells me 95.7 FM The Game is in trouble. We've been down this road before haven't we? The wag offers this: "Listen to their ads--mostly all are national spots. Very little local box retail." He went further: "The A's, (the all-sports flagship station carries them), have begun looking for another station after next year." Plus this: "when you can never get a '1-rating and you have a weak signal it's a problem."

*No, I'm not going to suddenly tame down the critique on this site just because I'm about to do a daily talk show. If you'll notice, naysayers, trolls, the guests have been A-rate, some of whom I've been more critical than others, (see: Dan Ashley and Ralph Barbieri). There's a reason why they do the show: Because, like it or not, I'm a damn good interviewer and my show has staying power and will only get better. That's not chest-bumping, just the facts. Deal with it.

*Speaking of the radio show, the first guest to lead us off on Monday is KGO-TV's Carolyn Johnson, straight up at 1 PM PT. If you can't listen live, podcasts will be up the next day.

*Dear KRON: A source close to veteran newsman, Tom Sinkovitz, tells me he would be willing to come back and work with Pam Moore and/or Catherine Heenan and Gary Radnich. And money probably wouldn't be an issue. Food for thought.

*Raj Mathai and Janelle Wang on KNTV, (NBC Bay Area): an acquired taste that is getting much better with time.

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