FTVLive has heard from a number of people at WCNC that did not seem happy that the station hired troubled Reporter Austin Walker.

We got this email from a Charlotte insider:

“To show how much people know about this guy, I have already this morning gotten 4 texts and emails from people I know in the Charlotte market (3 from his new station). They are horrified. I’m sure you’ll be getting messages too. One actually said it’s apparent the person doing the hiring doesn’t read your site.”

And sure enough, yesterday the messages came rolling in. But, the line about the person doing the hiring at WCNC not reading FTVLive, might be off the mark.

Let me deep dive here a bit.

First off, if you don’t know the back story, Austin Walker was hired fresh out of school at KVOA in Tucson, where he lasted about a year before being let go.

He then popped up at Scripps’ owned KXXV (Waco) where again after about a year, he has left the station.

Walker posted he was headed to WCNC in Charlotte and many are wondering why the station would hire him?

First off, WCNC is a Tegna station and we have seen a number of questionable hires over the years. But, this might go deeper than that.

WCNC’s General Manager is none other than Joan Barrett.

Barrett and her memos were a fixture on FTVLive when she was the GM at KDVR/KWGN in Denver. Barrett did not like being featured on FTVLive and tried a number of steps to make sure that her internal memos were also not making FTVLive (those steps didn’t work).

Insiders believe that Barrett gave the okay to hire Walker because he has also been called out on FTVLive.

Now, we know for a fact that managers have hired people that have been featured on FTVLive for doing great work. A number of News Directors have told us firsthand that they have hired a person that was praised for their work by FTVLive.

This might be the first time the opposite happened.

So, I guess if you make FTVLive for doing some good work, it is a plus and can help you find your next job.

But, it appears that if you are a screwup and make FTVLive, it also might help you land that next job as well.

Then again, if it was me, I think I would rather be in the first category.

Just saying….