A pair of local TV news anchors had a surprise for viewers at the end of their 6 p.m. newscast on Tuesday:They announced their resignation on air surprising their viewers,Los Angeles Times said.
Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio, anchors for ABC’s WVII affiliate in Bangor, Maine cited disputes with management over journalistic practices.
“And finally tonight, this will be Tony and my final show together right here on ABC 7,” Michaels told viewers. “The last six years have been an interesting and enjoyable time for us as we have been the longest-running news team in Bangor.”
“On behalf of Cindy and me, we have loved every moment bringing the news to you,” Consiglio said. “Some recent developments have come to our attention, though, and departing together is the best alternative.”
“There was a constant disrespecting and belittling of staff,” Michaels told the Bangor Daily News. “We both felt there was a lack of knowledge from ownership and upper management in running a newsroom to the extent that I was not allowed to structure and direct them professionally. I couldn’t do everything I wanted to as a news director. There was a regular undoing of decisions.”
“It’s a culmination of ongoing occurrences that took place the last several years and basically involved upper-management practices that we both strongly disagreed with,” she continued. “It’s a little complicated, but we were expected to do somewhat unbalanced news, politically, in general.”
General manager Mike Palmer says they were on their way out, anyway. He says sometimes people leave their jobs before they’re asked to leave.
“Upper management is not involved in the daily production of the news. Period,” said Palmer, He also cited the creation of 10 new full-time jobs at the station amid other changes and investments in the station.