Winning anchor woman assails TV's standards
Kansas City, Mo.
Anchor woman Christine Craft says her $500,000 damage award for being demoted because she was too old and unattractive demonstrates television's ''hogwash'' standards that make appearance more important for women newscasters.
A judge must still decide if he accepts the jury's decision Monday that Metromedia Inc., former owner of KBMC-TV in Kansas City, was guilty of sex discrimination and fraud when it demoted her in 1981. The jury failed to accept the reporter's claim on a third matter - that she was paid unequally compared with a male colleague. The jury decided that Metromedia should give Ms. Craft $ 375,000 for lost pay and actual damages she suffered when she was removed from her co-anchor job. The jury also decided she should receive $125,000 in punitive damages.