Going after the competition in Fargo

The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead ran a story on a former anchor of a TV station filing an age-discrimination lawsuit. Forum Communications also owns a rival TV station in Fargo.

I have no doubt the powers that be at the paper would kill this story if the anchor worked at the company's own station. Besides running the story, it's one of the top stories on the paper's website, with a large headline in red pointing out she's suing the former station.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/344552/

 

It is an interesting story, though. The red headline seems like too much, but I'm not familiar enough with the market to say.

 

Red headline was taken off the front page of the website. You have to wonder if the TV station will suddenly look at doing an expose on the paper.

 

Come on, Stitch. What's The Forum's crime?

The powers that be would no doubt kill the story? So now the paper's guilty of a hypothetical crime? The Forum has owned WDAY - the rival you talk about - for about 60 years. Go through the paper's archives and check out all the stories they've written about WDAY. I'm guessing there are plenty of controversial ones that weren't killed off by Joe Dill, Lou Ziegler, or now Matt Von Pinnon. Yes, The Forum owns WDAY. Yes, newspaper reporters appear with TV personalities and on the radio. No, the TV station does not dictate editorial policy at the newspaper. When the reporters gather around each night to watch the newscasts, they make just as much fun of the WDAY people as the other stations and would have no problem writing stories on those folks and the powers that be aren't going to be killing stories.

The fact is Huebner was a "media celebrity" in that area, for what that's worth. It's a story, just as it was when Tom Ryther sued KARE in Minnesota.

The story also includes this line:

What's the crime again? Are they not allowed to report on TV stations or radio stations? Seriously, this is a bizarre thing to be worked up about.

 

I think the anchor in question also used to be a national-class gymnast who was one of the state's best-known athletes in the late 1970s.

 

I think they used a wood chipper.

 

Before anyone asks and seems like a legit story. Filing a federal lawsuit is a little bit newsworthy then factor in the local celebrity angle and it seems like a slam dunk,

 

I wonder if the local stations (the NBC and CBS affiliates simulcast local newscasts) are moving to HD newscasts? I know in Salt Lake, there were a couple of anchors who left just as local HD newscasts were launching.

 

Let's punish them for a scenario you created!