My adopted home state of Connecticut - admittedly a change from my home town of New Jersey [Jersey City] - has been getting unusual attention. Once known for the wealthy WASPs in Greenwich and Tom Rath [Sloan Wilson's "Man in the Gray Flannel Suit"] who ambivalently commuted from Westport to Manhattan compromise, CT has developed a high profile for its ongoing legal woes.
Today, as Elie Mystal chronicles on Abovethelaw.com, Boobgate has been added to primetime legal news like Travisgate [the Chimp who shouldn't have been allowed a suburban habitat] and Madoffgate [the hedge funds which invested their clients's money with Uncle Bernie].
The complaint, filed by 40-year-old Shelly Sindland of "Fox 61" with the CT Employment Commission, contends the usual: Age/appearance discrimination by local television. Her complaint, reports Mystal, contends those of both genders with youth and sex appeal are given preferential treatment at the local TV network. Since she is still employed by "Fox 61," which is owned by the Tribune Company, Sindland's stand is unusual. Therefore, it will certainly attract more than the usual number of supporters and the intensity of the advocacy.
The reality, though, as all us digital media players know, is that Sindland might well be fighting for a better deck chair on the Titanic. The Tribune Company, along with most of old media, is in a struggle for survival. The odds are that Establishment Media will be over within about 18 months, at least as a force of power and profits. Network TV is not exactly in a position of strength selling commercial time for next season. VOGUE, VANITY FAIR, THE NEW YORKER all have significant drops in ad pages. THE WEEKLY STANDARD was sold by Rupert Murdoch and the grapevine has it his NEW YORK POST could be next.
Sindland might be making a better investment of her time and energy taking an HTML coding course. In 2003 I did just that. Finally, I was moving in the right direction, after about three years of floundering in the new economy
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