Pissed Off in Atlanta
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Dorsey took to Facebook Live to say that she was moving to the newly rebranded morning newscast (it debuted yesterday) and how the show would be “centered” around her.
The Atlanta station, along with the rest of the Meredith station recently went through massive job cuts and Dorsey weighed in on that saying that she agrees with station management as to who they cut and why.
Needless to say, it was that take that really pissed off some current and former staffers at the station.
A number of them reached out to FTVLive and here is the take of couple of those people:
Ella Dorsey’s Facebook live is a perfect example of why you don’t tell her things you want repeated. I wouldn’t be surprised if what Ella said on her now-deleted video is what the news director, Matt King, told her in order to convince her that a move to the mornings is a good thing. This isn’t the first time Ella has put her foot in her mouth.
The sense I get from my former CBS46 colleagues is they are upset. Not only are they doing more with less people, they now have to hear a co-worker claim that management “made the right decisions” in firing good people who did their jobs well. It also seems like a jealous insult toward Molly McCollum, a former CBS46 meteorologist who was well-liked in the newsroom and lost her job in the Meredith budget cuts.
I also take issue with Ella’s remarks about the previous morning show being boring. When I still worked at CBS46, I got the ratings every day, and the ratings showed the morning show was growing. The producers who worked on that show did the best they could with the resources they had available under whoever was the latest manager in the revolving door. For her to say it was “not well produced” and “the most boring thing to watch” is her own opinion.
As for the new morning show? Matt (King) needs to realize he doesn’t work for Tegna anymore. CBS46 tried the “happy talk” format on the morning show a few news directors ago. It was called Better Mornings, and it didn’t work. Matt, as Ella mentioned, is “notorious” for blowing up morning shows. Good luck. That newsroom has enough craters from previous news directors “blowing up” things that didn't last.
Ella mentioned she signed a three-year contract and will be “on your TV until, what, 2023.” I lost count at the number of people who were under contract and still lost their jobs during my tenure. But good luck with that, Ella, because from the looks of it, your contract makes up for the goodwill you’re losing in the newsroom.
And here is another take from an insider:
Wow! Just WOW!
I've seen a lot of arrogant, self-centered, egotistical, narcissistic and ignorant anchor behavior but Ella Dorsey's Facebook Live announcing her role on "Wake Up Atlanta" has to be one of (if not the most) obnoxious news anchor thing I have ever seen.
I'm so glad I watched her Facebook Live video before she deleted it -- without explanation!! It's just gone.
She is the weather person on that show -- but she thinks the show is built around her. I honestly don't know how she can face her coworkers after all the things she said in that video.
She likely destroyed any chemistry that might have existed among the Wake Up Atlanta talent before the show even launched. I don't see how that show could ever succeed now.
How nice that she gets a two-hour break every day to run errands or take a nap and she gets a half-day on Fridays. With all that free time, is she every going to do any reporting or contribute any meaningful, substantive content to the station's newscasts?
Oh Yeah. And I feel much better knowing that the weather person approves of who got laid off at the station. I'm sure she has a right to pass judgment on how people perform at work.
I could go on and on. I mean OMG! WTF! Who the hell does she think she is?
After the FTVLive story was posted, Dorsey pulled the Facebook Live video. If you didn’t get a chance to see it and you are an FTVLive Patron, you can watch an edited version at this link.
If you are not an FTVLive Patron, go here.
