Two anchors resigned on air at the end of Tuesday's broadcast after "a longstanding battle with upper management over journalistic practices" along with having to offer political news from a biased and unbalanced point of view.
Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio, anchors for ABC's WVII affiliate in Bangor, Maine, announced their joint resignations, citing a dispute with management over journalistic practices.
According to the Bangor Daily News, the two anchors didn't offer many details during their live resignation on air, but they told the paper later that they were both frustrated with management.
"I just wanted to know that I was doing the best job I could and was being honest and ethical as a journalist, and I thought there were times when I wasn't able to do that," said Consiglio.
"There was a constant disrespecting and belittling of staff and we both felt there was a lack of knowledge from ownership and upper management in running a newsroom to the extent that I was not allowed to structure and direct them professionally," Michaels explained. "I couldn't do everything I wanted to as a news director. There was a regular undoing of decisions," she told The Bangor Daily News.
"It's a culmination of ongoing occurrences that took place the last several years and basically involved upper-management practices that we both strongly disagreed with," she continued. "It's a little complicated, but we were expected to do somewhat unbalanced news, politically, in general."
Michaels, 46, said she will remain in Bangor to pursue a writing career and work on a novel, while Consiglio, 28, will continue his career "in another capacity."
