Television: The Dangers of Dropping Anchor

In the world of television, where decisions are driven by ratings, an anchorwoman's victorious sex discrimination suit against a Hartford station is causing a lot of static. A federal jury awarded Janet Peckinpaugh $8.3 million against WFSB Thursday after she was dismissed because the station had too many female anchors (three) to pair up with its male anchors (two). Though the jury's decision hinged on a number of factors -- including broken promises of job security and retaliation for complaining about alleged sexual harassment -- one of the potential consequences of the jury verdict struck many in the industry as odd and troublesome. Says TIME senior television reporter William Tynan, "Station management and news directors have always looked for anchor teams that appeal to their audience and reflect its composition." Since clearly both men and women watch TV news, they've opted for male-female teams.

But by apparently pressing stations to better justify their choice of mixed-gender teams, the decision could paradoxically appear to give a nudge in favor of same-gender teams -— all in the name of nondiscrimination. "To feel pressured to reach a result that has just men or just women present the news seems more discriminatory," says Tynan. Not to mention less appealing and less likely to draw a larger audience. "Just as stations have labored to improve ethnic diversity, they've strived for gender diversity," says Tynan. The decision could now leave many station managers dangling: How should they go about composing their anchor teams in the future? Stay tuned.