Anchor's career in the balance

For Alycia Lane, the future comes down to trust.

Can the anchorwoman fired on Monday by CBS3 after allegedly assaulting a New York police officer last month still get a TV news audience to take her seriously?

If she can sustain her credibility through this public relations maelstrom, she will in all likelihood continue to work as a newswoman, if not in this market, then in another.

And if she can't?

"I don't think Fox is still doing celebrity boxing," said Robert Thompson, professor of television, radio and film at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Lane's New York imbroglio has gotten her the kind of boldface press nobody likes.

"News vixen," gossip Web site TMZ.com branded her.

"Bad-news babe," the New York Post scolded on its tattletale "Page Six."

"Becoming the star of 'Page Six' really compromises her credibility," Thompson says. "Let's face it - their news anchor had become a punch line."

Anchors are supposed to draw viewers, not laughs. And they're certainly not supposed to be carted off after run-ins with with police.

Most TV journalists sign a contract that includes a morals clause, said Center City lawyer Lloyd Zane Remick, president of Zane Management, a firm that represents athletes and entertainers.

"A morals clause holds an anchor to a certain standard in the way they present themselves," explained Remick, who stressed he was not referring specifically to her case.

Morals clauses vary in their strictness, according to Remick, who said he has not seen Lane's contract.

"Some actually require a conviction [before the journalist can be fired]," he said. "With others, just the taint [of impropriety] can be grounds for termination."

In a statement announcing her firing CBS3 said, "We have concluded that it would be impossible for Alycia to continue to report the news as she, herself, has become the focus of so many news stories."

Lane's dismissal without severance has raised the prospect of a lawsuit by the ex-anchor against KYW. Lane is represented by Paul Rosen, a tough litigator who has called the firing "unwarranted" and "unfair."

Perception has a lot to do with a TV journalist's on-air cred.

"I think there's a very interesting dichotomy here," Remick said. Americans love to put their celebrities on pedestals, then tear them down if the celebs falter.

The best thing for the celebrity is to apologize, Remick said. "Then the empathy factor sometimes kicks in. People come back and can resurrect their careers. Look at Don Imus - he's back on."

David Brunner, owner of DB & Associates, a television news talent agency in Neffs, Pa., said he doesn't think Lane's career is over.

"She will work again," Brunner said. "Is she tainted? I think she probably made some bad judgment calls, but I think she's talented. She's a very good news presenter."

Brunner said he thinks KYW took as much time as they did to fire Lane because she has been such a popular anchor.

But popular though she may be with Philadelphia viewers, Brunner said her future probably will be somewhere other than Philadelphia.