Inqlings: 6ABC drops two reporters
Two veteran reporters have confirmed that they were let go from Action News. Denise James hasn't been seen on 6ABC since January, when she went on leave with a shoulder injury. She now says she is officially gone after 23 years at the station because her position was eliminated. She says she is teaching broadcast-news writing at Temple University and "living life." James was honored Tuesday by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists.
Two veteran reporters have confirmed that they were let go from Action News.
Denise James hasn't been seen on 6ABC since January, when she went on leave with a shoulder injury. She now says she is officially gone after 23 years at the station because her position was eliminated. She says she is teaching broadcast-news writing at Temple University and "living life." James was honored Tuesday by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists.
Also gone is Lauren Wilson, the station's Delaware reporter and a 24-year veteran, who left the payroll in June. She says she is teaching and is part-owner of a media production and communications company while looking for the next phase of her career. Her departure leaves the station without a full-time Delaware correspondent.
Both women's biographies remained on the station's website Wednesday. The station has ignored requests for comment and explanation.
Winner
Philly's Diana Zalewski, 25, a grad of Mount St. Joseph Academy in Flourtown and the University of Pennsylvania, won $61,600 on Wednesday's episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Zalewski, a recruiter with PSE Co., looked at this $250,000 question and elected to walk away: "In the classic thriller Fatal Attraction, what is the name of the bunny who meets an untimely end boiling on a stovetop?"
A: Hopper
B: Whitey
C: Fluffy
D: Snowball
Read on for the answer.
Politics as usual
Glassboro actor Damian Muziani has been hitting the talk-show circuit, distancing the national Republican Party from a West Virginia political commercial. Muziani and several locals played casually dressed West Virginians sitting in a diner, talking disparagingly of Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate. West Virginians grumbled when they learned that the commercial was filmed not in Charleston or Wheeling but at the venerable Oregon Diner in South Philly. If that wasn't bad enough, word got out that the phrase "hicky, blue-collar" had been used to describe the desired look of the diner patrons.
Muziani, who also hosts on PHL17, made it clear on ABC's Topline, MSNBC's Hardball, and the syndicated Inside Edition that the phrase was used on a casting sheet - not by the ad's sponsor.
Briefly noted
Phillies relief pitcher Ryan Madson had a rocky start to his 2010 season, but did he turn it around - lowering his 7-plus earned-run average to 2.55 by the end of the season. He and his agent, Craig Kaplan, have dubbed his new charity campaign "Finish Strong," and Madson is selling T-shirts ($18.99) online at www.finishstrongphilly.com, with a cut of proceeds benefiting the Variety Club.
The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia sold out its Nov. 19 banquet, which will feature Camden County-bred talk-show queen Kelly Ripa getting the person-of-the-year award. The sellout at Bala Golf Club was so swift that some hall-of-fame inductees couldn't secure tickets for family and friends. Organizers scored a much larger venue - the Hilton on City Avenue - and have put additional tickets on sale via www.broadcastpioneers.com.
Cast members of Jersey Boys, at the Forrest through Dec. 12, will participate in Sunday's AIDS Walk Philly, starting at the Art Museum. Wearing "Walk Like a Man" T-shirts, they'll lead pre-walk aerobics/stretching at Eakins Oval.
The correct answer to the Fatal Attraction question above is
B: Whitey.