Nexstar lays off local TV journalists including Glen Walker, Lu Parker
Nexstar Media Group is slashing personnel from its TV stations, including several on-air veterans at Los Angeles outlet KTLA.
Glen Walker and Lu Parker, anchors of KTLA’s late morning and midday newscasts, are out along with meteorologist Mark Kriski, according to people briefed on the moves not authorized to speak publicly.
Kriski had been with KTLA since 1991, while Walker has been at the station’s anchor desk since 2010. Parker joined KTLA in 2005.
A representative for Nexstar said the company does not comment on personnel issues, adding it is “taking steps necessary to compete effectively in this period of unprecedented change.”
The layoffs are part of a company-wide cost reduction across Nexstar’s stations. The Irving, Texas-based media giant, which recently agreed to a $6.2-billion merger with station group Tegna, is looking for savings as traditional TV viewing declines and puts pressure on ad revenue as consumers continue to move to video-streaming platforms.
Television station groups have been lobbying the government to lift restrictions that limit them to 39% coverage of U.S households. They say lifting the cap will enable them to better compete with technology companies that have no such restrictions.
Nexstar is the largest TV station ownership group in the U.S. It also operates the cable network NewsNation, which has been slow to make significant inroads against established channels CNN, Fox News and MSNBC since it launched in 2020.
Nexstar has been chipping away at the staff of its Chicago station WGN, which produces 12 hours of local news daily. A total of 21 people have been cut in recent weeks, including nine reporters and anchors on Monday.
Known locally as “Chicago’s Very Own,” WGN has long been a source of civic pride in the city. Insiders at the station say they have been deluged with emails and texts expressing dismay over Nexstar’s moves, which eliminated a number of staffers with decades of experience and institutional knowledge.
Among those let go is Dean Richards, WGN’s longtime entertainment reporter and critic who has been a fixture at Hollywood press junkets.
At New York’s WPIX, Nexstar eliminated at least three on-air positions, including weekend anchor and reporter John Muller and afternoon anchor Arrianee LeBeau, who covered transit for the morning newscast.
SAG-AFTRA, which represents employees at KTLA and WGN, issued a statement blasting the cuts.
“By laying off journalists across the country, Nexstar is eroding the resources and talent that local communities rely on for trusted news,” SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin said. “These actions highlight the risks of media consolidation and underscore the urgent need for regulators and the company to prioritize the public interest and the professionals who serve it.
KTLA, WGN and WPIX have been part of Nexstar since 2019, when the company completed its acquisition of Tribune Broadcasting.