School of Journalism
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA
GARY MAITLAND *
A Difficult Personnel Problem
Gary Maitland was a fixture in local television. At 47, he
had spent over 25 years as a reporter and news anchor. In many
ways, Gary was the ideal television anchorperson: extremely
attractive with a strong, authoritative vocal style without a
hint of arrogance; warm and friendly, with a quick wit and good
rapport with the station's reporters and other anchorpeople. He
also had excellent rapport with local and state officials whom he
had often interviewed over the years. He was the market's most
recognizable and best-liked celebrity.
Gary has been at WZZP-TV for 2 years as the sole anchor on
its 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, after 12 years as the market's
number-one anchorperson at a rival station, WQQL-TV. Gary's
defection from WQQL was a highly publicized event, not unlike the
bidding wars which take place for the talents of a free-agent
athlete. After wavering for months, he signed with WZZP. In
addition to getting the highest salary in the market for any
radio or television personality, Gary also gained control over
the content of his newscasts and was given the title of Managing
Editor.
Despite the sweetheart deal and a large-scale promotional
blitz, things did not work out as planned for WZZP management.
While Gary did bring some of his audience over to WZZP, WQQL
retained its number-one position in both the early and late news.
The first rating book after Gary's switch showed the stations in
a virtual tie in both the early and late news; in all subsequent
reports, WQQL led WZZP by three or four rating points.
The main reason for WQQL's lead seemed to be the new anchor
team the station brought in: Bill Valentine and Mary McVee, an
extremely attractive, personable, male-female duo who concentrat-
ed on hard news and investigative reporting. Valentine, who was
African-American, had been a reporter at the station for several
years and McVee, who was white, was new to the market.
But much of the blame for the falling ratings was placed at
Maitland's feet. The WZZP news director knew that Gary insisted
that the producers try to select stories for the newscasts that
were soft and that concentrated on good news which celebrated the
market's conservative, mainstream values. Also, the good-natured
bantering Maitland and other members of the news team enjoyed on
the air at WQQL sounded more like strident antagonism at WZZP.
Gary's off-air personality also changed. Claiming "I don't
have time for all that," he refused to participate in station
community-oriented events. He began showing up in the studio at
the last second before air time and departed the premises within
minutes after the completion of the broadcasts and debriefing
meetings through which he showed his obvious boredom and
displeasure. Between the early and late news broadcasts, he
would give the late news producer some quick instructions about
the angle he wanted on certain stories and then leave for a
leisurely dinner. He usually returned with liquor on his breath.
Twice he had been late for the 11 p.m. newscast, forcing the
producer to forego the pre-show tease and go right to commercials
and the pre-produced show open. On the rare occasions when he
didn't go out for dinner between shows, he would always have
several beers in the newsroom before the 11:00 p.m. newscast.
Gary's problems at home had apparently spilled over into his
professional life. Gary's former wife moved to California,
making it difficult for him to see his two children. There were
reports that Gary's drinking had become excessive. Finally, late
on a Tuesday night, a drunk-driving citation that included
abusive behavior toward a female arresting officer confirmed
almost everyone's suspicions: Gary Maitland had a serious
drinking problem; he might even be an alcoholic.
The general manager of WZZP stayed late on the Wednesday
following Gary's arrest and called Gary into his office the
moment Gary's 11:00 p.m. newscast was over. The general manager
was furious. He screamed at Gary:
"I've had it! This is it! Look at this item in the paper!
You've made the station look awful! You're fired! We have a
morals clause in your contract and I'm invoking it. Your
behavior last night with the cops was totally out of hand. I got
disturbed at 3:00 a.m. by the police chief screaming at me about
your abuse of the arresting officer. How dare you try to fondle
that police-woman and then call her every sexist name in the
book. You're stupid! Not just last night either; I'm also
firing you for being repeatedly late, which is in clear violation
of your contract. Your behavior around here has been awful,
moronic. You're a drunk, Gary, and because your ratings didn't
go up, you've cost me a bundle. I'm paying you exactly twice the
total that Valentine and McVee are making and you've been
terrible on the air--being nasty to the weather and sports people
and to the reporters, and saying filthy things to your producer.
You're a creep and we're getting you out of here before we fall
any further in the ratings and get any more bad publicity in the
newspaper!"
Gary was stunned. He stammered, "What about my paycheck and
my benefits--my hospitalization?"
The General Manager was still angry. "I have no idea. Come
back tomorrow and the business manager will figure all that out.
I don't think you can keep any of those benefits. Damn you,
you've almost ruined this station!"
ASSIGNMENT
1. List all of the things the general manager did wrong in his
Wednesday night meeting with Gary Maitland. What problems
are likely to be the result of this conversation?
2. Assuming the Wednesday night conversation did not take place
(but that all of the facts and accusations are true) and
that you are WZZP's general manager, which of the following
options are you going to select in dealing with Gary
Maitland? Are there other, better options?
a. Terminate Maitland. Fire him and get his bad attitude
and influence out of the station as soon as you can get
the details worked out. It might be best to let Gary
get a fresh start in another market, allowing you to
develop a new strategy against WQQL. While this course
is favored by your news director, it has at least two
drawbacks: (1) If you lose an inevitable court fight
about invoking the morals clause, you will probably
have to eat eighteen months of a $350,000-a-year
contract, and (2) giving up on Gary might reflect
negatively on the station from a public-relations
perspective, now that the public knows about Gary's
drinking problem from the newspaper story. Paying out
Gary's expensive contract will also reduce your
financial ability to employ a two-anchor strategy,
which your news director is urging. Even though
Maitland's contract has a morals clause in it that your
lawyers believe is enforceable because of the incident
with the policewoman, invoking it and firing Gary might
be a problem because if he is an alcoholic, he might be
considered disabled by a court. Also, the lawyers
indicate that you might have to spend almost as much in
court costs as you would if you paid him off if Gary
decides to challenge his firing in court.
b. Suspend Maitland immediately. Grant him a paid leave
of absence and insist that he enter a full-time
rehabilitation program with the condition that if,
after a reasonable time he shows improvement, you will
allow him to resume his duties as an anchorperson, but
not as managing editor. During the suspension you can
try a two-anchor approach in the early and late news.
c. Retain Maitland as your main anchorperson and managing
editor. You will suggest but not insist that he enroll
in a rehabilitation program in his off hours, hoping
that his control over alcoholism will lead to improved
job performance (and better ratings).
d. Overlook this first offense but shift Gary's on-air
contributions. The sales department feels taking Gary
off the air entirely would adversely affect revenue.
You could use this incident as an excuse to switch him
to doing only the early news and try a fresh approach
in the late news with a new two-person anchor team.
This switch would take pressure off Gary and allow him
to work out his problem on his own.
3. What are the broader implications of each course of action?
4. Should the station have a drug-and-alcohol policy? If so
what should it be?
5. Finally, and most important to this case, what are your
goals in your first conversation with Gary?
* Adapted by Charles Warner from the "Go-Go Giddens" case in Barry Sherman's
Telecommunications Management, McGraw-Hill, 1986.
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