Fox 2 cleaning house - Feldman, Carr and Thomas gone

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in..._carr_and.html

SOUTHFIELD, MI - Not one, not two, but three staples of Detroit television news will soon be off the air. Murray Feldman, Jason Carr and Lee Thomas are all leaving FOX 2 News, and it appears to not be their decisions.

Multiple people who work at WJBK-TV FOX 2 News tell me they believe the contracts of Feldman, Carr and Thomas are just about up, and News Corp, which owns FOX 2, has decided not to renew the contracts in possible cost cutting measures. Neither News Corp nor FOX 2 has made a statement on this.

Feldman is FOX 2's "money man." He's been reporting and anchoring at the station for 40 years. That's longer than anyone currently on Detroit TV. Feldman anchors the 5:30pm news with Sherry Margolis. He also has his popular "Job Shop" and "Money Minute" segments.

Carr and Thomas are both feature and entertainment reporters. They are also the anchors of FOX 2's popular "The Nine" morning show.

Carr has been at FOX 2 for 12 years. Before WJBK-TV, he was at ABC-12 in Flint, where he met his wife and current FOX 2 reporter and anchor Taryn Asher. Lee Thomas has been with FOX 2 for more than 10 years. He has interviewed just about every movie and TV start you can think of.

All three would be big losses for the station. There's no word on when their last days will be on-air or who might replace them.

Edward Pevos is the entertainment reporter for Mlive covering Detroit and Southeast Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter @PaparazzoPevos

Too bad. But, I suspect all three won't be destitute in the near future.I'm wondering if there will be replacement reporters for "beats" like local jobs/business news.. I guess "anybody" can do pop-culture entertainment..

How you can let someone go after 40 years is beyond me. Its too bad these three are being forced out. I enjoyed them all.

1953

It's Fox, so it doesn't surprise me.

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Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

It's Fox, so it doesn't surprise me.

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Actually it's the "TV Biz", so it's no surprise to me.

Comes with the profession. Yeah, it sucks but these folks know what's up long before they get in, and before they get fired -- which almost everyone goes through in visual media [[and audio and print, too).

Looks to me the TV stations may be doing what the news papers had to do long ago because of free news on the net vs high paid anchors at the brick and mortar TV station

Then the corporations complain that there is no loyalty in the business world. Used to be if you were a valuable employee, you could count on working for a company for as long as they were in business. Sadly, that is no longer the case with so much overseas competition, companies no longer stay afloat long enough to give anyone job security.

This is happening at almost every station [[and station group), in every market. A combination of legacy contracts [[i.e. highly paid veteran staff), declining broadcast revenue, and shifting media consumption patterns has done away with a lot great on air talent. Murray Feldman is the hardest one to swallow. Not so much for the length of tenure [[although 40 years at one station is Cal Ripkenesque in the broadcast world), but because he was a real journalist covering local business. Only the great, retired Jennifer Moore covered local business on his level. Local TV [[not just Fox 2) has slowly evolved into mostly fluff, some sensational stories, and lots of reports from pool reporters, not original work by hard-charging local journalists. Sad but inevitable, I guess. I wish all 3 the best. I hope they can stay in Detroit.

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Originally Posted by 1953

How you can let someone go after 40 years is beyond me. Its too bad these three are being forced out. I enjoyed them all.

1953

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Isn't 40 years enough of a career? Frankly, he's quite fortunate to get 40 years.

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Originally Posted by dguy4evr

Then the corporations complain that there is no loyalty in the business world. Used to be if you were a valuable employee, you could count on working for a company for as long as they were in business. Sadly, that is no longer the case with so much overseas competition, companies no longer stay afloat long enough to give anyone job security.

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I'm as loyal to my company as they are to me. When my company sends out newsletters going on and on about how wonderful our "global partners" [[that's low-paid employees in India) are and trumpeting a plan to hire 3000 more of them, while tasking me to babysit them so they get their work done on time [[along with mine), then I'll pledge my undying loyalty to them.

I keep telling my nephew and any high school or college-age kid--VOCATIONAL TRAINING is where it's at. You need to find a job where YOU need to be present, not a job that can be done by an employee on the other side of the world.

I liked Jason Carr and Lee Thomas. Feldman was meh to me...

It's show business, I don't feel betrayed or anything. I hope Feldman can retire and I hope the other two find jobs quickly.

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Originally Posted by 1953

How you can let someone go after 40 years is beyond me.

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If someone is no longer valuable to an organization, 40 years won't matter.

My wife is a teacher and she sees this all the time. Many of the most jaded, inflexible, and unwilling to change teachers are the ones with 25+ years. They're at the top of the pay scale, but they're so resistant to any change that administration can't implement new ways of doing things or new technologies.

You have to adapt and change, otherwise you've got decades of old thinking and inflexibility. You have to provide value, especially if you're at the top of the pay scale.

48307 you are correct. But I don't suspect Murray Feldman was a recalcitrant old coot. He has added new tech coverage to his beat, and seemed as "up to date" as anyone else. I think letting him go probably saves more money than letting anyone else go, except probably Huel, Monica, and Sherry.

I do agree that tenure should have no impact on your value to a business. In my line of work [[restaurants), long term employees fall into one of two categories: excellent professionals with great customer service skills and deep institutional knowledge; or jaded, bitter slugs who should be working in a different field altogether. The latter eventually find themselves out of jobs, and they never leave peacefully because they think being there so long should protect them from needing to work hard, be friendly, or open to new ways of doing business. The former roll with it, smiles on their faces.

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Originally Posted by 1953

How you can let someone go after 40 years is beyond me. Its too bad these three are being forced out. I enjoyed them all.

1953

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After 40 years, you should be ready to retire.

Murray is gonna have to check the Job Shop!
He's probably all set on a serious note.

I really like Jason Carr. I will be very sorry to see him leave. I hope he can find a spot somewhere else in Detroit. I also like Murray Feldman. I emailed him a long time ago with a financial question, and he got back to me before the day was over. This is sad news!

Why don't they get rid of LeDuff instead? All he does is sensationalize and spin the story to his own beliefs, as does Perkins and Langton.

How can they dump these three and justify keeping on Langton whose voice and personality are so over the top. He interrupts the people he is interviewing, he screeches above the other voices, he can't stand still. I have to hit mute whenever he is on camera and I can't even watch the weekend news on 2 because of him. Maybe they should just let Mike Morse and the Bernsteins and maybe even Lee do the broadcasting - they are obviously paying to keep the news on the air, think of the savings if they could do the news and interject their advertising into the stories at the same time.

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Originally Posted by preserve

How can they dump these three and justify keeping on Langton whose voice and personality are so over the top. He interrupts the people he is interviewing, he screeches above the other voices, he can't stand still. I have to hit mute whenever he is on camera and I can't even watch the weekend news on 2 because of him. Maybe they should just let Mike Morse and the Bernsteins and maybe even Lee do the broadcasting - they are obviously paying to keep the news on the air, think of the savings if they could do the news and interject their advertising into the stories at the same time.

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And here I thought it was just me; Langton is The reason I don't watch FOX2 on the weekends.

I enjoy Fox 2 in the mornings when I'm home. I usually turn the channel at noon. I'm not a fan of Wendy Williams and never watch her show at all.

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Originally Posted by birwood

Why don't they get rid of LeDuff instead? All he does is sensationalize and spin the story to his own beliefs, as does Perkins and Langton.

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Agree about LeDuff and Langton. But Huel Perkins? I think he's a pretty straight shooter.

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Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn

This is happening at almost every station [[and station group), in every market. A combination of legacy contracts [[i.e. highly paid veteran staff), declining broadcast revenue, and shifting media consumption patterns has done away with a lot great on air talent. Murray Feldman is the hardest one to swallow. Not so much for the length of tenure [[although 40 years at one station is Cal Ripkenesque in the broadcast world), but because he was a real journalist covering local business. Only the great, retired Jennifer Moore covered local business on his level. Local TV [[not just Fox 2) has slowly evolved into mostly fluff, some sensational stories, and lots of reports from pool reporters, not original work by hard-charging local journalists. Sad but inevitable, I guess. I wish all 3 the best. I hope they can stay in Detroit.

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To MikeyinBrooklyn:

For your edification, the great Jennifer Moore is NOT -- I repeat, NOT -- retired. She is DEAD!!!
Better get your facts straight, bud.

From Gregoire

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Originally Posted by gregoire

To MikeyinBrooklyn:

For your edification, the great Jennifer Moore is NOT -- I repeat, NOT -- retired. She is DEAD!!!
Better get your facts straight, bud.

From Gregoire

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I am sad to hear she died, but I am not incorrect on the subject. I know for a fact she retired [[from television) and went into communications consulting. She was a straight laced, hard news reporter. Sadly, she probably would not fit in today in the fluff-centric TV News of today. RIP Jennifer Moore.

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Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn

I am sad to hear she died, but I am not incorrect on the subject. I know for a fact she retired [[from television) and went into communications consulting. She was a straight laced, hard news reporter. Sadly, she probably would not fit in today in the fluff-centric TV News of today. RIP Jennifer Moore.

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To MikeyinBrooklyn:

It is good to know you are sad to hear she [[i.e. Jennifer Moore) died. After all, everyone I know feels bad this straight-laced, hard news reporter is dead, but you ARE -- I repeat, ARE -- most definitely incorrect on the subject. She did NOT -- I repeat, NOT -- retire from television to go into communications consulting. She QUIT -- I repeat, QUIT -- the job she had at NBC affiliate WDIV-Ch.4 in 2002 to launch media consulting firm Konrad & Moore Inc. with longtime friend and colleague Beth Konrad, who also left WDIV. [[She was recruited from an Akron, Ohio, radio station to come to Michigan in the 1970s by radio station WJR AM 760, where she worked until going to WDIV in 1979.) Moore completed her broadcast career as corporate news manager for Ford Motor Co. until she RETIRED -- I repeat, RETIRED -- in 2013. She died at age 64 on July 11, 2014, from cancer. You are right about one thing, however -- award-winning journalist Jennifer Moore probably would not fit in at all in the fluff-centric TV News of today. Amen, RIP Jennifer Moore.

From Gregoire

Gregoire,
This seems a little silly. I don't have any mental need to be correct on this issue, and I welcome any corrections to any errors in fact that I write. But your corrections seem to point out, more or less, what I had already written. She did, actually, leave her career as a broadcast journalist when she left WDIV, and went on to start her own consulting business. Whether one applies the word "retired" or "quit", when referring to her departure from being a broadcaster is immaterial; it conveys essentially the same meaning. Especially since I later stated that she kept working- in consulting- after leaving Channel 4, which would have clarified for any reader [[I guess except you) that she had not retired entirely, but had moved on from broadcast journalism. She may well have been corporate news manager for Ford [[I was unaware of that fact, thank you for sharing it), but she was not a broadcast journalist at that time. She was on the other side. Her leaving WDIV can correctly be labeled a retirement from that profession, even if she moved onto another. And she was, by your own account, retired at the time of her death. I merely didn't mention her death [[I think I hadn't heard about it; if I had, I had forgotten).

I regret sincerely if you think my application of the word "retirement" was in some way a slight at Jennifer Moore or her career. But I don't think that it was in either fact or tone. She was a classy, professional, top-flight news pro. I don't think I mislabeled or disrespected her career or life at all. And we can agree that we wish she rests in peace, and we need bot bicker on semantics any further. I'm retiring from the argument.