It’s not secret where our website stands in opposition to WSMV. We were critical of them for the better part of 2017 – they’re mishandling of Paul Heggen, the firing of Snowbird, and the allegations of age discrimination towards Nashville news icon, Demetria Kalodimos. For months, speculation has been running wild over Kalodimos’s future with the station. Well, she’s no longer with WSMV – and the terms of her departure came out a couple of days ago.
First thoughts are, “damn – why did this have to come out when we closed our office for the holiday?! We leave for 10 days and this story drops!?! TEN DAYS!!?!” Guess that’s the risk you run when you take time off at the end of the year.
But, my second reaction was, “wow – this is bad. WSMV seems to keep digging itself deeper into this PR hole.” So, let’s get to the details:
Demetria Kalodimos expressed disappointment with WSMV Monday, taking issue with the station’s version of how she and Channel 4 split, and calling it “quite sad to end a nearly 34 year career the way this company chose to end it.”
Kalodimos said in a statement the end came “with a letter left on a desk, no conversation, no face to face meeting, no thanks.”
Her latest contract expired Dec. 31.
The veteran anchor also said there was no real offer to extend her contract as WSMV asserted, just an offer for two more weeks “so that the station could create the illusion that I retired.”
Kalodimos’ statement came just a few hours after WSMV sent a release to the Tennessean saying Kalodimos gave “no timely responses” to the station’s offer of “an extension of her contract for the purpose of discussions.”
A woman puts in 34 years worth of work – not just “work,” mind you, but she established herself as one of Nashville’s most beloved figures…and you reward that career without so much as a ‘thank you?’
Demetria was an all-star professional. I’m 31 years old – she’s been in Nashville my whole life. She provided a certain comfort through the news. When Demetria was on, it just felt like home. I know I’m not the only one to hold her in this regard, either.
How should WSMV expect native Nashvillians to respond? The people that have been here long enough to remember this:
That photo’s been circulating on the Twitter machine since this whole ordeal started, and man – if you’re old enough to remember that lineup, you know what a newscast it was. That’s Nashville royalty in that photo. I see that and immediately think of the good ol’ days. What does WSMV care about that?
We said WSMV seemed like a toxic workplace. They’re firing people who have been institutions in this market for year. It seems once someone hits 40 years old, WSMV wants to replace them with someone younger and cheaper. They’ve been accused of age discrimination, reportedly referring to Kalodimos as an “old maid.” Now, the disrespect behind her exit at WSMV is out, and it’s outright appalling.
Because they don’t care about the news. They don’t care about Nashville. They care about the bottom line.
That is unacceptable. I stated in my last piece that I have multiple sources corroborating that assertion. And, what is WSMV doing to dispel that?
Nothing – in fact, so far, they’re doing nothing but feeding it.
A week or so after the lawsuit was filed, Kalodimos — on vacation — came in to work to cover a parole hearing. After the hearing, she got a text message from the news director to pick up something important, which turned out to be a letter saying her contract wouldn’t be renewed.
Much later that night, without any explanation to colleagues, Kalodimos cleaned out her belongings at her desk and a storage area.
The next day, news director Eck held a meeting to tell staffers Kalodimos still worked at the station and that Eck had no idea why Kalodimos had cleaned out her work areas.
That move confused colleagues and drew a rebuke to Channel 4 from longtime News 2 anchor Bob Mueller on Facebook.
“It would be the height of disrespect if the last time Demetria exits Ch4 is at 2 in the morning through the back door with a box of memories from her 33 years of service,” Mueller wrote, but took down the post several hours later.
Bob, another Nashville news legend, is right here. I know he had to take down the post, but damn – did he nail it or did he nail it?
These people – this new guard – at WSMV are toxic people creating a toxic workplace. They’ll discuss personnel matters when it benefits them (saying Kalodimos did not respond to their offer in a timely manner), but then when someone holds them accountable for their actions, they don’t (all the canned “we don’t discuss personnel matters” responses).
In her statement, Kalodimos noted the changes by saying:
“Longtime and loyal viewers need no explanation of what’s been happening at WSMV, a once lauded ‘legacy’ television station.”
Ouch. Demetria, off the top rope.
All the leverage we have is with our remotes, but it seems like WSMV doesn’t really care about ratings. We’re a small media company – we don’t have any pull in the Music City – but I’ve told all of our readers that they can always expect us to point out these wrongdoings and hold people accountable.
We’re not naive enough to think we can say, “shame on you, WSMV – bring back Demetria Kalodimos! Paul Heggen! Snowbird! etc. etc.,” and it’ll happen. So, this isn’t a call to action. It’s just us pointing out how shitty this company has become and holding those people accountable.
I do genuinely feel for all of the good people that do work at WSMV, because there is a lot of talented reporters, who are also standup human beings, in the building. My hope is that those folks never have to go through something like this and certainly never have to face discrimination because of their age.
Seems like the people running the show at WSMV don’t have a lot of respect for Nashville and they certainly haven’t shown that they care about anything other than making money.
Change the fucking channel, Nashville.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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