The Associated Press reported that a once-prominent anchor at one of Iowa's biggest local television stations has filed a lawsuit alleging she was let go last year because of her gender and age.
Former WHO-TV investigative reporter and anchor Sonya Heitshusen filed the discrimination lawsuit against the NBC affiliate's parent company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
The lawsuit alleges that Heitshusen was “thrown out to pasture” after she turned 53 because she was no longer seen as camera-worthy, after enduring years in which her older male colleagues received better pay and working conditions.
Heitshusen says she hopes her lawsuit encourages a “cultural shift” in the TV news industry.
Nexstar has called Heitshusen's firing a reduction in force.
Shop Talk is a weekly panel discussion about journalism issues. This week’s program featured Will Buss, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University and advises the student editors at the Western Courier, the students at student radio station The Dog, and the WIU chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists; Rajvee Subramanian, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University; and TSPR News Director Rich Egger.
