YOUNG VIEWERS IN CHATTANOOGA DON’T LET THEM TAKE AWAY OUR JOBS!

It’s apparent from an article published today, that young professionals view Chattanooga as a desirable place to live and work. Let’s keep it that way. Chattanooga is a wonderful city, but I can’t imagine it will continue to thrive if the executives, such as those at Channel 3, are allowed to operate under their current practices.

What type of person knowingly takes a job away from an up and coming young professional? What type of company allows it to happen? Neal Pascal had a career and a long-time job as a meteorologist. He resigned. It appears that Neal decided he'd like to have that career back. But what about Brian Travers, the young professional who already occupied that job? I enjoy watching Brian on the weekend and I think it is sad and shameless for any individual or company to take advantage of Brian's status as the new kid on the block. How can you trust anyone that's willing to run over the little guy? In my opinion, they are providing coverage that CAN NOT be counted on. It is so challenging to establish a career out of college. It isn't easy to carve out your place in the job force. I know the young viewers of Chattanooga can recognize an injustice. I'm sure many of them will empathize with Brian and hopefully spend any spare time they might have for watching TV on a station that appreciates the struggles of their young viewers. Channel 9 and 12 both have young staff that seem to be promoted over time. If I were a new journalist developing my career, I definitely would NOT seek employment at Channel 3. I would focus my energy on a company that appreciates and values the contribution of new talent. Establishing a career in a small city is a tough. It's even harder when you have to worry that some grumpy old man hiding in a news room is going to replace you with an old guy that already had a chance to build a career. It's time for the new work force take a stand. We want to stay in Chattanooga and build a better city for our children and grandchildren. We can't do that without the support of top executives and sound leaders in the community. Stand up young people! And for goodness sake, help us out leaders! Let's make a positive difference! It's time for you to demonstrate that you are making decisions to take care of our current AND future generations. Let's make sure that decisions made for our "Sustainable City" are based on providing for our futures. We do not need decision makers that focus on putting money in their own pockets. Enough is enough! Hang in there Brian. All of my friends agree that you were not treated fairly. As a group of young professionals, we support you and are confident that your career will continue to grow!

Brian Travers will be just fine. These things happen in the business. Neal Pascal experienced these sorts of career shake-ups when he was a young urban professional. If Brian remains in this business, he will go through this again. But clearly, Brian Travers has the goods to make it in this industry. There is rarely, if ever, fairness involved. These are simply business decisions, and are not personal. In a cosmic sense, this is a great opportunity for Brian. There is only so far he can go in a market such as Chattanooga. It is likely he is being liberated so that he can grow. Hey, look at Kirsten Gum. After her departure from WRCB, she reached heights in her career that were not possible in Chattanooga. She's having a blast, starring in her own show on The Travel Channel. And Kirsten isn't the only one. The national broadcast industry is full of people who cut their professional teeth at Chattanooga stations. It's up to Brian as to how far toward the stars he wants to reach. It's a loss for Chattanooga, but a win for Brian.

I cannot believe they would hire Neal with his past criminal history. While he did not serve prison time, as the two women did (18 months in the federal pen) it is only because he is a male and the Judge stated he wanted to make examples of the women. The women also had to repay almost $200,000 each and he got by with pocket change. He is not a honorable man or he would have stood up for these women as they were only doing paper work and he knew what he was doing was wrong. Shame on you Neal Pascal and Channel 3.