Ambel Eikel and the Chaotic Scene at KTVU; Toxic Atmosphere Remains; Internal Corporate Audit Nearing; Fear and Dust in Jack London Square

MUCH AS SHE RULES THE NEWSROOM, KTVU News boss, Amber Eikel, has favorites. It's Ok, everybody does. Only Eikel, in her zest both to maintain and possess even more power, goes overboard at the Fox2 O and O in Jack London Square.

Aikel's position has come under more scrutiny, from both her boss at KTVU and from parent Fox News corporate, which will send to Oakland to investigate the current working climate inside the newsroom and beyond. The investigation, while not binding in scope, will nevertheeless explore the working conditions and overall work atmosphere at KTVU and Eikel's particular managing style--its flaws and growing indifference and complaints from a broad portion of the workforce at the station.

All this comes at a particularly sensitive time for KTVu and Fox. Although its ratings and overall strength--in trms of market share and reach--remains at and near the top, the scene at KTVU is a news organization mired in personnel turmoil; a broadcast org. that teeters on the brink of collapse at any monet; a "siege mentality", as many staffers have described, as toxic and disturbing as all get go. Eikel is at the forefront, the supposed leader, in theory at least, who is thought to have tried to quell the unease, again, in theory, only she seems to have become emboldended.

Whether by nature or a thirst for more power and esteem, Eikel is doubling down. She se

ems hellbent on flexing her will and broadening authority with employee missives and queries. She has made curious hires, many of them male reporters, who seem to offer unconditional loyalty to her whims. She has hired one lone woman reporter, the first in months, who has quickly disapeared from KTVU's air. A majority of the staff, women, are also the leading chorus of her critics at KTVU itself. They complain, to this blogger's e-mail, of Eikel's authoritarian rule, as almost as if she were a dictator and not a news director.

They charge the atmosphere at KTVU is one of fear and toxic stake where any presence of dissent and disagreement is met with stern and derisive response. A question of tactics and governing, not just news assignments and/or quality control, is openly questioned by Eikel herself. A recent common occurence: a woman producer asked for a meeting with Eikel on a news story assignment and instead was asked to meet with HR czar, Chris Nohr. Out of nowhere, a benign request for questions about a story ended up in Nohr's office. This is an everyday event, I'm told.

The current climate, all under Eikel's watch, comes at a most sensitive time for KTVU. Its star personality and leading anchor, Frank Somerville, has been on an indefinite suspension and is all but done at KTVU. Somerville's status has been buried, officially, from KTVU's (and Fox) domain. They don't talk about it, all the while auditioning Frank's potential replacements. While Somerville twists in the wind and remains quiet at his Oakland condo, Fox/KTVU remains mum. Viewers have been left in the dark, much like the newsroom at KTVU.

KTVU is holding together, albeit slightly, with a top-ratings position but that's largely the result of its strong programming and NFL Football partnership. It helps to have a ratings king like the NFL to allow for strong lead-ins and mighty ratings nirvana. It's especially helpful when that lead-in(s) can neutralize trouble in one of the student's (KTVU) home.

Despite a growing, alarming attrition rate, (KTVU has seen reporters/producers/writers leave and retire in amazing numbers of late) Fox2 Bay Area is still operating at the top. The inside is a scene of tenseness and fear. It can explode at any moment and Eikel is at the centerof the storm.