KOTV dismisses news anchor Jones (2024)

Lisa Jones, the KOTV news anchorwoman who was often promoted as one of the station's "hometown" personalities, was dismissed by channel 6 last week.

Station officials told Jones, who has been with KOTV since November 1992, that her anchor position had been eliminated. Jones said she was fired.

Jones, who co-anchored the noon news with Kim Graham and the 6 p.m. newscast with Scott Thompson for the CBS-affiliated station, said she had no idea that her job was in jeopardy.

The Collinsville native said she was told of the decision to eliminate her position Wednesday. Ironically, Jones had spent most of that morning filming station promotions and opening credit sequences for the news broadcasts.

"I thought, with contract negotiations going on at the station, that (a meeting with station general manager Bud Brown) was something about that," Jones said. "I had never even had a conversation with the man, and he had been there since August. When I got back in the office, I went in and he proceeded to tell me that I was being laid off and he started going on about why.

"I told him it sounded like I was being fired and he said that it was a layoff. I was just shocked. That is the only way to describe how I was feeling."

Reading from a prepared statement, News Director Carolyn Williams said, "KOTV news anchor Lisa Jones was told last week her position is being eliminated due to a staffing cutback at the station. We hope to announce a new anchor lineup for our noon and 6 p.m. newscasts as soon as possible. KOTV wishes Lisa the very best."

Williams said she could not comment further except to say that "it was a very difficult decision" and that the station cannot refill the position because it has been cut.

"I have to figure out how to stretch our resources," Williams said.

Jones said that the week prior to her firing, she had been taping other station promotions, had already shot her pieces for the November sweeps ratings period and also had completed a piece for the KOTV 50th anniversary special, which airs Friday.

"The 6 p.m. newscast had won an Emmy. I had won an Emmy for an hour-long broadcast. A few months back, we won an Edward R. Murrow regional award for the Terry Nichols sentencing piece that Terry Hood and I did. We are up for a Katy Award, which is given by the Dallas Press Club. The ratings on the noon and 6 p.m. shows that I co-anchor are the highest they have ever been," Jones said. "We've either won or come within one ratings point of winning the 6 p.m. news slot, and it's been a long time since KOTV has seen that.

"I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in my life."

Jones said the station chose not to honor her contract (scheduled to run through August, 2000), used the 13-week severance clause and paid her a lump sum. She was also told that the common "no compete" clause used in on-air contracts was also not in effect, she said.

"They did the minimum that they had to do for someone who had stayed with them and was committed to them. . . . They didn't honor the agreement. I have nothing but good things to say about Belo Corp. (which owns KOTV) until I am proven wrong. But I am terribly disappointed with KOTV right now."

Jones said that on the day she was dismissed she was asked if she wanted to do the day's noon and 6 p.m. newscasts and she said she "couldn't do it." She also received a call from the news director asking if she wanted to tape a farewell to her viewers. Jones hasn't returned Williams' call.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do," Jones said. "There are no local options that I know of. None have been presented to me."

Jones' dismissal is the second major change in KOTV's on-air personalities in the last month. On Oct. 18, KOTV demoted sports director Scott Higgins and replaced him with former weekend sports anchor John Holcomb. Higgins, whose contract expires in March, has taken over as weekend sports anchor. Holcomb was given a new two- year contact.