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November 18, 2005
COMMUNITY VIEWPOINT Former KPVM anchor looks for work in valleyBy LEW GITLIN
I sat down in station owner Vern Van Winkle's office and was handed a letter that basically said this: Although I was a real asset to the station, because of a major corporate reshuffling I was no longer news anchor, I was no longer news director, my pay would be cut by 60 percent and my new role was to sell advertising time for commission and be the morning talk show host. In order to match my current salary, I would have to sell $10,000 of airtime per month - a goal that has never been achieved in the station's eight-year history. This seemed to me to be a cost-cutting move, and being a former business owner myself I could appreciate that. It's no big secret that Channel 41 has had difficulties meeting payroll, and my compensation of $32,500 a year was apparently too much for them to pay. I had a decision to make, and it wasn't a difficult one. I could either try to accomplish the impossible for $15,000 a year plus the hope of some commission, or seek other employment in my field ... journalism, not sales, not being Regis Philbin. I got on the phone to Channel 30, and sure enough they were interested in hiring me. Channel 30 was interested in hiring me that is, until Vern Van Winkle threatened to sue them if they did. It seems Channel 41 doesn't want me to work in my chosen profession for them, but they don't want me to work for anyone else either. Channel 30 had already spent some $5,000 successfully defending themselves from another flimsy lawsuit brought by Channel 41. That happened when Peter Liakopoulous resigned from Channel 41 on the air, and announced he was going to work for Channel 30. In my case, I was happy at Channel 41 and had no plans to leave. My hand was forced. And even though Channel 30 is convinced Channel 41 has no legal grounds for blocking me from making a living, they are not interested in shelling out additional cash to prove they're right a second time. Funny, last time I checked this was still America, and in America people desiring to earn a living lawfully in their chosen profession can't be stopped from doing that. But that doesn't seem to matter to Channel 41. Where is the fairness here? I want to take this opportunity to let Pahrump know that I'm committed to this market and to working here again as your anchorman. With help from the community, I will fight against a business that treats its people as indentured servants, and I will be back on the air soon bringing you the evening news. Hopefully, my loyal viewers will let Vern Van Winkle know they think it's unfair, un-Christian, and un-American to stop a man from working. Oh and by the way, the only person to be "reshuffled" in Channel 41's so-called reshuffling was ... you guessed it. Gitlin writes from Pahrump. |
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