REBECCA AGUILAR FILES FEDERAL DISCRIMINATION CHARGE AT KDFW FOX 4

I guess you could see this coming for miles, especially after the "extended" long suspension that KDFW FOX 4 place on Rebecca Aguilar over a reporting incident last fall.

Rebecca Aguilar claims that she was fired from Channel 4 Fox KDFW-TV in March 2008 based on discrimination and her attorney says his investigation has revealed that Aguilar did nothing wrong in October 2007 when KDFW management suspended her over an alleged controversial interview.

The suspension came just two weeks after Aguilar, a 26 year news journalist veteran, was awarded Broadcast Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

This week Aguilar filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, better known as the “EEOC.” The attorney says Aguilar conducted more than 6,000 interviews in fourteen years at the owned and operated Fox station, but news management retaliated against her for advocating change inside the newsroom.

"I'm confident the EEOC will uncover what our investigation has unveiled. Fox 4 wanted my client to advocate change in the community through her reports, but to keep silent in improving working conditions in the newsroom," says Steve Kardell, her attorney.

Background on Aguilar:
-Recognized with more than 47 Broadcast Awards and Nominations
-Multiple Emmy Award Winner
-2007 Broadcast Journalist of the Year from NAHJ
-2005 Texas A.P. Broadcast Journalist of the Year
-2003 News Corp (Fox) Global Employee of Year

"La Estrella" to be renamed "La Estrella en Casa" in May

Editor and Publisher published a story on the changes coming to La Estrella.

"'Ft. Worth Star-Telegram' Merging Hispanic Papers Into One Home-Delivered Pub 



Betting that the key to the success of a Spanish-language paper is targeted home delivery, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram is merging its two Spanish-language newspapers into one publication dropped on doorsteps.

"I think as much as think as much as we focus on content -- and content is king -- we lose focus on distribution, and here in this case distribution is the prince," Star-Telegram Publisher Gary Wortel said in a telephone interview Thursday.

The Star-Telegram publishes two free Spanish-language papers during the week. 

La Estrella is a traditional newspaper with hard news and sports coverage of Dallas-Fort Worth and Mexico. The 14-year-old newspaper, which was briefly a five-day daily and returned to weekly publication last year, is distributed almost entirely through racks.

La Estrella En Casa is an entertainment-oriented, eight-page publication that is delivered on weekends to 100,000 households in Hispanic neighborhoods of Dallas-Fort Worth. The paper was launched last May, and has been a big hit with advertisers, Wortel said.

"Advertisers love it because they know it's getting into the homes," he said.

Beginning May 2, the two will be merged into a single home-delivered paper that will be called La Estrella En Casa. It will be bigger in page count than the current weekend paper, and will include hard news and sports. 

La Estrella competes with Al Dia, a free-distribution, six-day Spanish-language newspaper published by The Dallas Morning News. Its circulation is largely through racks and store stacks, and averages about 33,000 during the week, and 53,000 on Saturdays, according to its media kit.

NAHJ Members Safe from Star-Telegram Cuts

The April storm came a bit early for Star-Telegram employees this morning. In their inbox was an email from the publisher breaking the myth that jobs at the StartleGram are safe.

Pink slips were given out to 8 newsroom employees and more in the advertising, circulation and marketing. As far as we know, no NAHJ members were part of the list, for now. However also announced were major cutbacks and budget freezes. The days of having the paper pay for ALL your NAHJ or Unity conference, room and hotel are gone.

In addition, OK Carter, long time Arlington columnist, announced his retirement from the Star-Telegram. No connection is being implied to the job cuts letter but it is a bit ironic.

The blame all points down to less newspaper circulation and higher prices for everything else. For those who had doubts that the recession would ever hit "where the West begins," today was proof that Fort Worthians are not immune. More updates to follow.

Actual Letter to employees:

Email to All Employees

April 17, 2008

Today, we are announcing the restructuring of management level positions in several areas of the newspaper. This is not an across-the-board layoff, but a restructuring that focuses primarily on consolidating work and streamlining various levels of management throughout the organization. As a result, 20 positions are impacted, although we are working with these individuals to identify other possible opportunities. This is approximately 1.5% of our employee population. The positions impacted are in the newsroom, marketing, operations, circulation and advertising.

We have met with each of the affected employees to discuss the changes being made. These employees have served us well and will be treated fairly. They will be eligible to apply for any other available positions for which they are qualified within the newspaper. If they do not apply for a comparable position, most affected employees will be leaving on April 25th and will be offered a transition plan that includes severance pay, extended medical coverage, and outplacement services.

This is not a review we have taken lightly. We know it’s a difficult message to hear and certainly creates anxiety. We will work with those affected to make this transition as smooth as possible. Please let your manager know if you have any questions.

Gary Wortel

President & Publisher

Star-Telegram