KTLA-TV - News Operation - Controversies

Controversies

• In 2004, Zorianna Kit, an entertainment writer for People and The Hollywood Reporter, was hired as an on-air reporter despite having no experience in television news (her only prior television experience was as a panelist on the short-lived Movie Club with John Ridley). Kit then raised ethical questions in January 2005 when she made an on-air criticism of Brad Grey's appointment as the head of Paramount Pictures, without disclosing that her husband, producer Bo Zenga, had sued Grey over profits from the film Scary Movie. The Los Angeles Times reported the issue and in mid-January, Kit apologized on-air. She left KTLA in July 2005.
• In January 2006, KTLA management came under fire for changing the hosts for the station's annual broadcast of the Tournament of Roses Parade. Stephanie Edwards, who emceed the parade for nearly three decades with Bob Eubanks, was moved out of the booth and became a street reporter (Edwards was replaced by Michaela Pereira in the booth). The move was widely seen as insensitive and created a storm of controversy, including a scathing column by Patt Morrison in the Los Angeles Times (which is owned along with KTLA by the Tribune Company). This situation was made worse by the fact that it was raining that day, and Edwards was forced to stay out in the rain. Pereira fully replaced Edwards in 2007, though in September 2008, KTLA management announced that Edwards would resume co-hosting duties with Eubanks for the parade's 2009 telecast.
• Another ethical issue bubbled up in late February 2006 when the Pasadena Star-News reported that the three KTLA personalities – Carlos Amezcua, Sam Rubin and Michaela Pereira – accepted free rooms at the recently renovated Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel and Spa in Pasadena. The station was broadcasting an entire Morning News broadcast from Pasadena, although the hotel was not specifically mentioned. Still, it was widely seen as a significant ethical lapse, one that violated Tribune Company guidelines.
• On March 4, 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Michaela Pereira had accepted $10,000 worth of furniture for her Pasadena home. The furnishings, delivered in September 2005, were to be part of an unaired "Extreme Home Makeover" segment on the Morning News. The furniture company was never paid, stating that it was under the impression that the work was in exchange for favorable coverage.
• In a 2007 MSNBC.com investigation into partisan journalists and newspersons who donate to political parties and causes, KTLA news writer Diana Chi was found to have donated to the Republican National Committee 19 times between 2002 and 2006.
• The Los Angeles Times reported that weekend anchor Lu Parker began a relationship with Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, in March 2009. Her employer KTLA was reportedly unaware of this fact until May 2009. Parker reported several stories on Villaraigosa's political future before being reassigned.