Courant hides most serious charge made by Shelly Sindland: that Fox 61 traded news for ads

As the Courant continues to be under the “Ethics” microscope, it might useful to see how the largest newspaper in Connecticut handled the incendiary charges filed by a veteran television reporter at The Courant’s sister TV station – Fox 61.

 Television personality ShellySindland filed a sex and age discrimination against Fox 61 and Richard Graziano – who is publisher of both The Courant and the TV station – on July 7. The Tribune, owner of both The Courant and Fox 61, has until Friday to respond.

It was reported that day by several news outlets, including ctnewsjunkie.com, where you can see her actual complaint.

At that time I was still working at The Courant and knew from my sources that a story – written by the Associated Press – went up on The Courant’s website. Minutes later, when Courant/Tribune management saw the posting, it was ordered removed.

Two days later, after everyone else had covered the story, The Courant ran a short story by one of its chief investigative reporters, Matt Kauffman. I have worked with Matt for many years. He worked for me when I was business editor. I can tell you there is no one at The Courant who is more thorough and more accurate than Matt.

The story he wrote – or at least the story that appeared under his name – failed to mention the most critical aspect of Shelly’s suit – accusing Fox 61 of selling news for advertising. Most other accounts also did not mention that fact, instead focusing on the more sexual aspects of her complaint.Â

But knowing Matt, there is no way he missed those allegations in the 18-page complaint. I made a decision not to call Matt to discuss this because I can’t imagine him failing to mention that, and I don’t want to put Matt on the spot with management, which has little sense of humor these days.

But I can imagine management telling him he can’t put the claim of selling news in his story.

This is what the complaint includes:

As early as February Sindland said she told management of her concerns that the station was improperly getting paid for airing news stories.

She said that in mid-May she went to her company’s personnel department “regarding my concerns that the respondent (Fox 61) was committing ethical violations related to receiving payment for news stories.”

She said she was told that if her allegations were investigated by the company it would “only make matters worse” and could lead to Sindland’s losing her job.

Her complaint does not provide any further details about her allegations. However, I believe that some television newscasters were given special instructions on how to interview key advertisers and how to present their stories. I called Sindland Friday and asked her to provide the public with more specifics of her claims. She declined, citing her attorney’s instructions.

I sent an email to Courant management last week asking for response to these questions:

1) why did the story not include the serious charge Ms. Sindland made that Fox 61 gave favorable news treatment to advertisers?
2) why was the courant at least two days late in reporting the accusations that it did report?
3) why was the original AP story that appeared on the Courant’s internet site taken down?
4)Why has the Courant and Fox 61 removed the July 9 story from the Internet?

The answer came today:

“WTIC-TV takes very seriously allegations of discrimination, harassment and retaliation, all of which are prohibited by company policy.”

Shelly Sindland, a reporter at Fox 61, has filed a discrimination complaint against the television station, saying she was harassed and mistreated by senior managers based on her gender, age and status as a single mother.
The 18-page complaint, filed with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, alleges that General Manager Richard Graziano – now also publisher of the Courant – repeatedly joked that he was the father of the unmarried Sindland’s baby, that News Director Bob Rockstroh once described a newscast as “Big Boob Friday,” and that older female reporters and anchors generally have been pushed aside in favor of younger, more-recent hires.
Sindland, who turned 40 in April, said she had been passed over for plum assignments, received little production support for her weekend public-affairs show and was left out of recent promotional materials produced by the station – even as younger female colleagues were featured prominently. The complaint also alleges that during a photo shoot for those promotions, female reporters were told to be more “sexy.”
Joseph Schiltz, vice president for creative services and marketing for Fox 61, would not address Sindland’s specific claims but said the filing came as a surprise and that the complaint had no merit.
The complaint says that in June, Sindland was given a negative performance review – the first in her 14 years at the station. Days later, she was offered a one-year contract that reduced her pay from about $73,000 to $60,000.
Sindland also claims other women in their 30s and 40s faced discrimination and said that former News at Ten anchor Susan Christensen, 42, who left the station in June, told her in April during contract negotiations: “Oh my God, they want me gone. … I’m sorry I got old.”
Last April, the station also promoted 23-year-old Sarah French to the morning anchor spot, displacing 35-year-old Rebecca Stewart. French is a former Miss Missouri, and Sindland’s complaint includes an allegation that earlier this year, Graziano and Rockstroh showed male employees bikini pictures of French from a beauty pageant.
Schiltz said in a statement, “Although WTIC-TV typically does not comment on personnel matters, in this case, because of the personal nature of Ms. Sindland’s attacks on the station and her colleagues, we feel we must respond by saying emphatically that this complaint has no merit and that WTIC-TV will vigorously defend itself in this matter.