Saturday, September 21, 2013

Exclusive: Ex-KTVU Producer De Wolk Reaches Out-of-Court Settlement With KTVU; Cardoza Confirms Deal To 415 Media

    Roland De Wolk, one of the four fired staffers from KTVU dismissed from the station over the Asiana fake pilot's name gaffe has reached an out-of-court settlement.



"We've reached an amiable agreement," De Wolk's attorney, Michael Cardoza confirmed to me by phone late Saturday.

De Wolk was one of four dismissed staffers fired back in July. He had been an award-winning, highly-respected producer and was considered a "very good news journalist" by many people in the local and national news business. He'd been at KTVU for over twenty years before his termination.

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25 comments:

  1. Well there are at least 4 happy people in the Bay Area tonight. De Wolk is probably grinning ear to ear and the other 3 I am sure am smiling.

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    1. Why would he/they be smiling? From the looks of his pic, I'm guessing De Wolk is in his late-40's. So you figure he has about 15-years of employment until he can retire. Let's say he gets a $200K or $250K settlement. He's gotta give his lawyers a "cut." THen....come next April 15, he's gotta declare this as income. So this $200/$250K is basically down to probaly $100K. Let's say he made $70K a year at his old gig.

      THis means he essentially walks away with about a year-and-a-half's worth of salary.

      Given the shrinking nature of the Bay Area TV news scene, his chances of finding similar employment in another shop is not looking pretty good (look at that other guy who got canned; he's now basically freelancing at 'PIX.)

      I ask again: Why would he/the others be smiling???

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    2. He's already been picked up 707.

      Also, I hope your 70k figure is low. Most guys that are required to wear shirts with their names stitched on it clear more.

      This topic is beauty parlor gossip. It's his business and should remain confidentially his unless HE decides otherwise.

      Delete
    3. @7:07 Winning isn't always about money it can be about principle too. The original poster was suggesting this:: De Wolk might have gotten $1 or $1 million but the idea of getting KTVU to admit they fucked up is probably more satisfying.

      Delete
  2. Well, that was quick...

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    1. I was going to say neither side apparently fought very hard.

      De Wolk didn't get squat. If he had, KTVU's lawyers would have fought tooth and nail. It was more for show, I'm sure..."Don't push Roland De Wolk around or watch what happens! Nuh!" Big whoop.

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    2. KTVU/Cox wants this whole thing to go away. We've seen this already by their attempt to wipe the infamous gaffe off the internet. If anything they probably overpaid just to make him walkaway and not saying anything.

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    3. Ha, like you know what you're talking about. Cox execs wouldn't overpay if all their wives and children were being held hostage with guns to their heads.

      This is more like typical Roland (and I've worked with him): all bluster, nothing else.

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    4. gotta agree with 5:45. They want Asiana in the rear view mirror as fast as possible. They tried to get Tori's screw up erased from YouTube and I know dead guys who talk more than the management team. There wasn't a fight, it was more like how quick can we put this thing to bed before it becomes news again.

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  3. This must be "Fire Media Personnel Without Cause" year..

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  4. I still don't know why he got fired if he wasn't involved in the gaffe. Who are the real staffers at fault? Why is Tori still employed?

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    1. Tori is still employed because she has no class or character. When the others were fired, she should have thrown herself under the bus as well. How can she look herself in the mirror?

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  5. Hey Rich, this has nothing to do with the KTVU story, but I noticed that lately you and your readers have been taking some cheap shots at Amy G.

    Amy G. happens to be very good at what she does and she DOES know baseball and totally gets it, unlike what some of your mean-spirited anonymous posters. They hide cowardly behind their keyboards and cloak of anonymity, giggling to themselves while they skewer her and others such as Kate Scott, Monty, and P-Con. I think they do it because they all realize that none of them have the talent to do what those aforementioned folks do.

    But back to Amy G. for a moment. Besides being a very attractive woman, Amy G. is fun, likeable, and smart. She understands the athlete because she played sports herself, and she asks the questions that the fans want to hear.

    And I love her cute little cut-ins! They help to break up the monotonous action of the game, and she's always got a smile on her face. She won an Emmy recently, so she can't be that bad!

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    1. What a joke! Did Amy's husband write this? Maybe Amy herself?
      The EMMY category was "cute little cut-ins" and the other nominee was Tori Campbell!!

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    2. You must be her PR agent

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    3. To quote 9:35:

      "And I love her cute little cut-ins! They help to break up the monotonous action of the game..."

      So wrong on so many levels.

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    4. Anonymous 9:35 PM,

      If other anonymous posters are hiding "cowardly behind their keyboards and cloak of anonymity," then what are you doing?

      Delete
  6. Amy G is a buttcake. I freelanced at
    "Kids country" aka comcast sportsnet and she was a joke. As a 26
    Year veteran of broadcast and having worked with "real" talent at the network level....to see someone like her flit around that toy station and act as if she was so important was quite entertaining.

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  7. Waaa? No comment of mine of how KRON exploited the suffering of a beaten puppy? Now, KRON and KNBR can do no wrong? Gee,and I thought you cared about animals. Huh.

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  8. To be mad at me for being wrong is one thing,to be mad because I'm right...

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  9. Stan, please stay away. No one misses you.

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  10. Hey,the loving Gary Radnich gave his sincere thoughts on loving you Rich. "Now,I'm the best" he claims you tell him all the time.
    And you thought he wouldn't rub it in your face?

    ReplyDelete