The Chronicle‘s Mike McDaniel reports that some local “community leaders” are upset that two KPRC-2 anchors have been demoted:
Speaking on behalf of a coalition of community leaders, the Rev. William Lawson today called on KPRC-TV to restore anchors Linda Lorelle and Khambrel Marshall to their original on-air positions and asked that viewers and advertisers boycott the station
Lawson also said that the problems at Channel 2 extend to all local media.
“The statistics on minority employment in Houston’s media fall well below the extremely poor national statistics,” he said. “Across the board, change is needed.”
Lawson was joined by a dozen supporters, including Serbino Sandifer Walker, president of the Houston Association of Black Journalists; Sylvia Brooks, president of the Houston Area Urban League; Johnny Mata and Mary Ramos of the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Roy Marsh of Everyones Internet.
The main problems at KPRC-2 are a fluffy approach to news and consistently lagging ratings.
In a colorful post on the topic, Laurence Simon asks: “[A]ren’t you glad that all these so-called African American community leaders are worried about two blacks making six-figure salaries instead of tens of thousands of blacks barely making five figure salaries or no salaries at all?
It’s not just African American community leaders, but Roy Marsh of EV1 (maybe EV1 got tired of meddling in bad college bowl games and decided it was time to meddle in bad local news broadcasts). Still, it’s a good question. We hope that the local “community leaders” are just as active the next time METRO announces cuts in bus services, for example.
MORE: Shocking Media News — Ratings Challenged Newscast Switches Anchors … Film At 11 (John Wagner).
