Such occurrences have become typical in News 12 newsrooms, according to sources. Changes were made for, as you mentioned earlier, economic reasons. Like the individuals who spoke to TVNewsCheck about the News 12 New Jersey newsroom, these sources have opted to remain anonymous, some on background, partly out of fear that Altice, Natz and/or Gruber will retaliate with lawsuits or other actions that could threaten future career opportunities. Ken Evseroff, the White photographer plaintiff, said in his suit that he was fired over false accusations from colleagues of racist behavior directed at a colleague, who is Muslim and a Bangladeshi-American. Since acquiring News 12, we have invested in the network with the goal of growing its audience and viewership and so they can provide the news and information to our local communities across the tri-state.. KCRG in Cedar Rapids Promotes Kristin Rogers to Morning Anchor. I endured abuse for a very long time.. That day, reporter Kevin Vesey covered a Long Island protest of state-issued mask mandates during the initial spread of COVID-19. Singleton, hired from a Lexington TV station in 2015, had his disagreements with WCPO-TV management. Words like respect and trust are tossed around with regularity in descriptions of the News 12 newsroom culture under the previous regime. Malibu, CA. Topics you care about, straight to your inbox. Altice also says that News 12 remains home to a number of long-time anchors and reporters who are mainstays of our local communities while also bringing in new talent who are quickly becoming familiar faces to viewers. Around 40% of News 12s full-time employees have been with the network for more than 10 years, the company adds. This week four News 12 Long Island anchors and reporters have announced their employment with the Altice-owned news station is ending. The move of news into marketing. 24/7 Hyper-local breaking news, weather, traffic, politics, investigative and more. And so what I think is, Altice made changes based on economics, but beyond that, I couldnt comment. "I am heartbroken beyond measure. As with the hiring of Gruber who one source calls the most condescending woman Ive ever encountered sources say there were further problems with the hiring of Amy Waldman, who became the Long Island branchs assistant news director in February 2020, a few months prior to Natzs hiring. This act and others meant that Altice had failed to maintain the legacy and quality of News 12, according to the Dolan complaint. Leaving was "my call," says Singleton, the glib sportscaster probably best known for filming . A new multimillion-dollar newsroom complex in Bethpage, which will include five studios and an expansive newsroom, is under construction. As former employees note, management clearly did not consult with weather forecasters on its branding because thunderbolts are not meteorological phenomena at all. We are in, certainly, with the concerns about terrorism, with the concerns about our safety, its an uneasy period were in right now, and I think thats why journalism is so important. At least four anchors and reporters are out at Altice owned News 12 Long Island after a reorganization. Erin Colton is an American award-winning news reporter who is currently serving at News 12 Long Island and MSG Varsity. Furthermore, sources say action plans were also generated, outlining required steps these supposedly poor-performing employees needed to take or else theyd be terminated. I enjoyed anchoring San Antonio's #1 newscast for the past decade, and I especially took pride in representing my culture and community as the city's most tenured Latina news anchor currently on English-language TV.". The company said. Evans has worked in major markets at top broadcast stations around the country. Sources say managers at News 12 have since made light of the incident and are quick to point out that though News 12 received multiple Emmy nominations for Hurricane Ida coverage, many of the employees responsible for that reporting 11 months ago have since left. By Kevin Eck on Jan. 12, 2022 - 9:36 AM. By: News 12 Staff. Matthew Eisman/Getty Images. When is news 12 finally going to be taken off the air., When a group of on-air talent left News 12 Long Island in January, multiple Facebook users criticized the channel and its parent company for a decline in quality, and after News 12 Long Island recently posted an image on Instagram promoting a story about energy reducing tips, one user commented with a tip of their own: dont believe anything #new12 spews [sic]., Last month, News 12 Long Island produced a story about two dresses that were returned to their owner after she lost them on a local train. However, News 12+ consumption strictly between 8 and 11 p.m. have dipped in the past two years. When News 12 Westchester announced in 2016 that it was moving the bulk of its production facilities from Yonkers to Long Island, several bastions of local news, including Emmy-winning anchor and political correspondent . Primary Anchor for 5 PM broadcasts. Police responded just after 9 p.m. on Feb. 25 to . Sep 2011 - May 20153 years 9 months. When former News 12 Networks owner Pat Dolan sold News 12 Networks to Altice for a price he couldn't refuse in 2018, the longtime and loyal news executive fought for the jobs of his original team.. Ana started college at the University of Arizona but ultimately graduated from Texas A&M in 2018. I learned everything I needed in the News 12 newsroom.. In a Facebook post, Romero revealed she had been let go from the network. Sources say at News 12, Waldman has also mimicked her behavior toward Evseroff from her days at WPIX. We come to work to tell stories, not to become the story. Elliot, who has been a CBS daytime anchor for about a year, had first shocked . Einhorn is out after nearly three decades at News 12 Long Island, while Lukas is out after more than 15 years at the station. Adrienne Pedersen, morning news co-anchor at WISN-TV (Channel 12) since 2018, is leaving the ABC affiliate and TV news. What Noreaster? wrote one person in a comment. A Los Angeles news anchor has been fired after going off-script and calling out his own television station live on air over the departure of his beloved co-anchor.. Mark Mester, 36, of KTLA, was . "As you can imagine, the past two weeks have been filled with tremendous sadness, and words cannot fully express my emotions," Romero wrote. Oops! In addition, she currently coaches a young ladies' childhood b-ball group. We need to tell the stories that people need for information, for education, in some cases, for entertainment as well. If youre going to be a journalist, dont expect to be a millionaire. I have spoken to several people who have left or have been forced out of the organization so Altice can hire less-experienced, lower-compensated future employees, the recruiter says. You guys missed another one as usual. Wrote another: Stop the drama News 12 Long Island.. Cody has worked as an anchor on the NBC affiliate's morning show . Local News and Information for Phoenix, Arizona and surrounding areas. One particular piece of sponsored content from 2019 that staffers found in poor taste revolved around Jon Steinberg, CEO of Cheddar, a News 12 sister news brand, delivering Dunkin Donuts to a News 12 set. Theyve noticed a dearth of hard-hitting stories and a rise in irrelevant content. Sources say that the reason the team member entered the call anonymously was out of fear of Natz and the rest of the Altice-appointed upper management. Though Dolan remained on the Altice payroll for a time, he never returned to a News 12 newsroom. Of course, you had pressures and deadlines, the typical stuff, but it was great.. Due to flooding, Gov. Long Island's News 12 is now suing a meteorologist who caused some high pressure when he stormed off the job. They added that it was unclear why Romero's contract wasn't renewed. The 10 p.m. anchor said the ABC affiliate opted not renew her contract, adding that her last day on air was July 12. Other employees detail events that felt like personal attacks on co-workers considering a departure from News 12. Conspicuous ads were increasingly embedded into newscasts. Video consumption of the network is growing by more than 800% year over year, the company says. I say that all the time, todays news is tomorrows history. The number of News 12 distribution channels and brand exposure may have broadened of late, but the integrity of the organizations reported content has been called into question by current and former employees. Sources say the whole affair was demoralizing for Dolan. KSAT audiences took to Twitter to express their thoughts on Romero's departure from the network. Ramos joined the News 12 team in September 2019. According to sources, Natz blamed a COVID outbreak at News 12 Long Islands headquarters on workers eating in control rooms. I will be forever grateful.". So Cablevision saw the opportunity to reach out into the suburbs and provide the local news that everyone wanted. ABOUT THE SHOW. Hill had a reputation for defending controversial figures and was fired by Fox. He just tried to help them keep their jobs for as long as possible so Dolan filed a lawsuit and it stalled the firing . Veteran anchor Jackie Lukas, sports anchor Jamie Stuart . But after a few months, employees began to see what they call the writing on the wall.. When the reporting day was done, many workers slept on the stations floor, others in their own cars as Ida pummeled the area. However, across News 12 platforms emerged the Storm Watcher logo with a lightning bolt piercing through the middle of the team branding, suggesting a major weather event was on the horizon. This week in Made in Connecticut, News 12's Becky Surran takes you to Wilton for an inside look at one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world, ASML. According to Altice, consumers are responding positively to the new News 12. A manager encouraged the source to take the time off and, the source says, all the manager wanted to make sure of was I was OK with the amount of overtime I was getting.. I had a wonderful career at Cablevision and News 12. 1,869 people checked in here. Its basically newsmakers on the radio. When your ass is on the line because youre in charge of these multi-, multi-million-dollar assets, you sometimes have to get down in the weeds, especially if youre trying to move a ship thats been going one way for years, the source says, noting they are also in touch with a few News 12 employees who are having the times of their lives working for the network. After Waldman showed up, employee performance review scores of veteran workers plummeted, multiple sources say. She was hired to anchor Cablevision News 8 in 1985. We decided to call it This Week with Janine Rose because people do know me, and theyve been asking where I am. Miller has been fired . These former staffers also take umbrage with claims by News 12 upper managers that their team members are leaving the network en masse because they cant handle the grind of news any longer. Mix comfort and convenience at Comfort Inn. If you have that love, you have to pursue it. WM: Could you describe that rise and some advice for younger journalists, especially in the contemporary environment? Those whove earned the highest salaries at News 12, after accruing lengthy track records of quality work and trust in the markets they serve, have borne the brunt of toxic management in recent years, sources say. Generally, middle managers at the company like Stellato are concerned about worker safety and well-being, sources say. So stupid," one viewer said. Trouble for the News 12 New Jersey team began in May 2020 with the hiring of Jacques Natz as GM, sources say. And I wanted them to know that Im back on the air, on radio. Pat was really great to us, says one former employee. I was given a chance to grow. Ed Henry dropped his defamation suit. Holmes has been with ABC News since 2014 and has co-anchored GMA3 since 2020. Isis Romero was one of the most recognizable faces on KSAT 12 San Antonio for over a decade. A news anchor has been fired by a local Los Angeles television station after he apologised to viewers for the sudden departure of his former co-host. He was let go by the company a few months later, and the lawsuit was settled in 2019. Altice says it has also invested in News 12 digital platforms, including its website and mobile apps, as well as the News 12 New York streaming channel, which launched in 2020. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. And I say, whatever you do in life, as long as you have a passion for that, youre going to be great at it. "I want to thank those of you who have supported me with your viewership these past 11 years, and for the incredible love and kindness you have shown me. JR: Ill be honest with you, I think they have a larger responsibility, because there are so many facts and figures coming in every day that they have to sift through, and I also think there is its unfair, but so many deadlines are imposed on people, and theres this belief that you have to be the first one to report something, and I think journalists have gotten into trouble rushing to get a story to air or rushing to get a story on their website or rushing to get on Facebook. Stations manned by interns and inexperienced employees. . There needs to be journalists out there. Once upon a time it was a great place to be.. In October 2021, while News 12 Long Island was once again in Storm Watch mode, covering what the staff called a Noreaster, dozens of locals took to Facebook and hounded the station with critical comments indicating they were experiencing an ordinary rain event. It's one destination for everything you need to know to start your day. When TVNewsCheck presented Altice with the charges raised against the company in this story, brought forth by the 14 current and former News 12 newsroom sources, a company spokesperson responded with the following statement: Altice USA is very proud of News 12s ongoing achievements and continued success, including growth in ratings and digital viewership as well as the receipt last month of 80 New York Emmy nominations, more than any other network in the tri-state, all of which underscore the high-quality hyperlocal journalism News 12 provides. After investigating the allegations of employee mistreatment outlined in the article, Altice fired the station group's general manager, Jacques Natz.However, a bigger picture of network-wide malfeasance, which has not only inspired dozens more departures, but compromised News 12's hyperlocal value proposition in markets with no shortage of impactful stories has emerged. Mark Master has been fired from L.A. television station KTLA days after being suspended for openly calling out his bosses for the way they treated co-host Lynette . Fired News 12 The Bronx anchor Matt Pieper tried to save face a week after he dropped the f-bomb and bashed government assistance on a live mic by pointing the finger at a behind-the-scenes boss. What I would say to people like yourself who are looking to be journalists. A few weeks later, Altice fired Natz as GM. She has been a weekend morning anchor for News 12 Long Island since 2006. Matt Pieper's apology and statement on Twitter which appeared earlier today. This past year, the number hit 470,000. New hires were not provided sufficient training, sources say, which forced more experienced staffers to pick up the slack. Ana Orsini joined the NewsWatch 12 team as an anchor and producer in May 2020. However, they claim Natz who many say is not a newsman made a habit of calling people out on their shortcomings with public shows of frustration that ascended to levels of open disrespect. News 12 reporter Sean Bergin blamed 'anti-cop mentality' on 'young black men growing up without fathers' in a shocking on-air segment following Sunday's tragic shooting death of New Jersey police . Fox 2 news anchor Vic Faust has been fired by the television station after directing a profane rant at a female co-host on a local radio show. The source says treatment like that was the polar opposite of what they and their former colleagues endured at News 12 before they left, and what current employees are dealing with today under Altice ownership. When the micromanaging took hold, everything from on-air performance to edits to employee social media posts and beyond were dramatically scrutinized. To read TVNewsChecks earlier News 12 stories click here and here. Long before the Altice takeover. Among the latest cuts are veteran anchor Jackie Lukas, sports anchor Jamie Stuart, and reporters Christine Insinga, and Shari Einhorn, who took to social media to announce their departures from News 12 over the weekend. Kathy Hochul had closed many state thruways that News 12 Westchester workers relied on to get home. And right now, the country is polarized, but I think that will happen for a while, but if you look at history, I always say, todays news is tomorrows history. We had said [to management] multiple times that we want differentiated branding, says one former News 12 Long Island employee, because there was a day or two where we had legitimate tornadoes in Suffolk County and were using the same branding that we would be if it was raining hard., Weather, in any news station, thats kind of your bread and butter, says another former News 12 staffer. Discussing the News 12 programming changes, one anonymous media buyer supports the staffers complaints. But one source asks, Does it need to be multiple spots in every show or airing every hour?. "It is unjust that Isis Romero was let go from KSAT especially in light of @saahj's report on the lack of Latinx anchors on San Antonio TV news stations," another said. They worried that, like Vesey, they would also become public targets of vitriol and, potentially, violence. News anchor Natasha Exelby was caught off guard while doing a live news report in Australia. Initially, management responded with an email to News 12 staffers, obtained by TVNewsCheck, instructing employees not to engage with hecklers on social media and to alert Altice security if they felt physically threatened. The ouster came 13 years after an accuser . I feel blessed. So I think you just have to pursue your passion, whatever it is. She announced her termination from the station on July 27, 2021. When concerns like these have been raised with upper management, sources say, theyve been brushed off and sometimes blatantly disregarded. Those whod received high marks for decades, threes, fours and fives on a five-point scale, suddenly earned scores of one and two. Jason Hahn. Because once its out there, you cant pull it back. Exit announcements have been made without consent of those leaving the company, breaking industry etiquette, and job offers from other networks were pulled when word got out across News 12. I just don't understand why they were fired. Other news sources in the area forecast a bit of morning rain and brief precipitation, with clearing in the afternoon. Because, in many cases, news directors have imposed on them so that we not only want you to file a story by 5 oclock today, but we want you to do five Facebook posts, and we want you to go on your Twitter account. So theres this rush to get information out, and I think we have to be very cautious that that information be accurate before we broadcast it to the world or podcast it to the world or type it to the world or put it out on any venue, even a radio station. Sources also claim that there were instances in which they followed Waldmans production notes and when the broadcasts were deemed incorrectly executed by managers further up the chain, Waldman blamed her subordinates for the moves. "When I came into the station, our general manager John Seabers told me they were exercising the termination clause in my . Four senior News 12 Long Island anchors and reporters exited the channel Friday in a newsroom reorganization, owner Altice has confirmed. Getty Images. Its a wonderful opportunity for me. A year later that half-hour newscast morphed into the nation's first 24-hour local news channel, News 12 Long Island. The document goes on to say that there is credible evidence that Waldman pressured the networks head of human resources to use a coworkers false statements as a precedent to fire Evseroff. One day late last year, a meteorologist commented to another staffer that there was no reason News 12 should announce its in Storm Watch mode. . Dont you guys have more serious crimes to report than humiliating this woman? read one comment. Yes, everybody cares about whats going on nationally, whats going on internationally and nationally, if theres a terror attack, or if theres a nuclear threat. The effect of Natzs draconian changes, as one former staffer calls them, made life difficult for News 12 personnel, particularly the old guard who commanded the highest salaries because, sources speculate, Altice harbored a desire to save money on staff salary cuts. She is a New York City native who grew up in Queens. Lukas. Patsy Carter, Morning and Noon Anchor/Reporter. (Ultimately, the hurricane claimed the lives of at least 16 New York State residents.). Please select a region to stay informed on the latest local news via news12.com. . She was the best anchor. JR: Im here as a journalist asking people to comment on the news of the day. February 13, 2017. She was also inducted into the Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society in journalism and mass communication. And history repeats itself. Donald Lynn "Don" Owen, News Director/Weekday Evening Anchor. "Mornings with News 12" is the only place to get the local news that matters to your community. However, more than one source speaks positively of Waldman, saying they had no issues with her and in some cases that she was kind, generous and supportive of them. Multiple sources express dismay over leaderships insistence that meteorologists play up weather events to sound overtly threatening when they are not. I feel nothing but blessed, and Ive taken a little time off, which was good, because when youre in the news business, you go, go, go, and the phone is ringing 24 hours a day, and it was a lot of responsibility. The station's parent company, Nexstar Media Inc., confirmed Mester was no longer with the company when reached by PEOPLE on Thursday. Jackie Lukas is a television journalist, anchor, and reporter from the United States. 6 min read. While sources say many stations have similar weather forecasting tools, and that they understand such a vehicle can be useful in certain weather events, the Thunderbolt has become a must-see in weather stories, often without justification. In June, TVNewsCheck reported that toxic working conditions inside News 12 New Jersey, one of seven Tri-State area cable news channels in Altice USAs News 12 network, compelled the bulk of the stations editorial team to resign in close succession. She went on to thank her audience for supporting her work with KSAT. Other voices outside the company are mixed in their criticism. Jackie Lukas has left the News 12, as her 16-year long journey came to an end on January 2022. You have to be prepared to work and want to love what you do. Part of the companys weather branding, sources say, is another Altice-initiated gimmick: the News 12 forecasting vehicle, Thunderbolt.