News Director, Deuce Blown Out in Tampa

WFTS News Director Bill McFarland and Assistant News Director Michele Murray were both canned at the Scripps Tampa station. 

In a memo the staff WFTS General Manager Nick Nicholson said that McFarland and Murray "were no longer with the television station. We wish them the best in their future endeavors."

Sources tell FTVLive that KSHB (Kansas City) Assistant News Director Matt Brown  is being brought in to act as interim News Director while station searches for replacement.

Sources tell FTVLive that the firings come after both McFarland and Murray voiced displeasure as to the way Reporter Cameron Polom handled the story when he found a missing child.

Polom found a 10 year old boy, who had been reported missing by his family. Polom returned the boy to his home, but not much of the reunion was caught on camera and Polom was not featured in the reunion.

Sources say that McFarland and Murray thought that Polom should have been more involved in the story and should have played up the station finding the boy more. Insiders say that staffers complained to upper management about how McFarland and Murray handled the situation and the station promised to investigate.

They did and now both are gone.