Big-Bosomed Babes vs. Tough Broad Anchors

Fired female anchors, ousted because of their fading beauty, are an age-old story (no pun intended). Where is Connie Chung, or Deborah Norville, or Renee Siler? Remember Ashleigh Banfield?

Sure, Katie Couric is still limping around the CBS Evening News, albeit she's a bit bedraggled now, with her diminishing ratings. And Diane Sawyer, a Candace Bergen look-alike, is still going strong.

But the fact is, unlike Peter Jennings or Dan Rather, women in journalism -- heck, women in general -- don't get better with age. Wrinkles and gray hair simply don't suit us. At least that's the perception.

The Wall Street Journal's law blog reported today on an employment discrimination complaint originating out of Connecticut. Seems Shelly Sindland, a forty-year old television reporter, claims she is being discriminated against on the basis of her gender, age, marital status, and participation in an internal review of her employer's work environment.

One of the bombshells? A twenty-three year-old bombshell, Sarah French, was tapped to replace one of Ms. Sindland's co-workers -- a thirty-four year-old woman who had more experience -- as anchor for the weekday news.

Moreover, claims Ms. Sindland, men in management passed Ms. French's bikini photos (snapped during her stint as a beauty pageant contestant) around the office.

Err, ahem. Ms. French, pictured here on the right, would be hard for anyone to compete against, if appearance were the sole criterion.

Ms. Sindland's lawyer explained her grievances this way:

As her complaint affidavit alleges, Fox 61 actively encourages younger women to 'be sexy,' and favors younger women and men of all ages over older, more experienced female on-air news professionals. It is always a difficult decision for someone who is still employed to file a complaint against their employer, particularly in this industry. The issues in the complaint have been raised by Shelly and others internally without any corrective action, however, and as a result, Shelly felt it was appropriate at this point to file a formal complaint with the Commission.

Ms. Sindland wrote on her own blog,

I am doing this for my daughter as well as the other women at the television station both young and “old”. I do not in any way see this as a case of of “us” versus “them.” It is quite the contrary. I have come to think of the younger women at the station as friends and truly care about them. What is happening to me, is, by no means, their fault.

It’s just that, one day, they too will also be older and perhaps, mothers as well, and may not be considered “sexy enough.” The simple truth is that such issues should not be considered negative factors in a workplace – whether it is a factory or a television news organization.

A most egregious allegation, it seems to me, is that these media men in the financial red made comments in meetings that the station's ratings had skyrocketed when the female reporters wore "tighter than usual" shirts on Fridays. "Hey, whatever it takes," was the station general manager's alleged response.

Fox 61, the television station, has declined comment. And of course at this point, Ms. Sindland's allegations are just that -- allegations.

I have, however, noticed -- and this is only my opinion -- a similar pattern at Fox News (owned by the Tribune, which also owns Hartford's WTIC Fox 61).

Here, a few pictures, past and present, of Fox's favorite pundits and anchors:

So, it would appear, Ms. Sindland has a point.

Then again, it would also appear Ms. French will be getting a call from Fox News any day now, rendering at least one of Ms. Sindland's allegations moot.