Our favorite newsroom fit-for-daytime drama has another chapter.

LAT’s Carol J. Williams writes:

Santa Barbara News-Press journalists fired in a dispute with the publisher over control of the paper’s news content lost a round in court Tuesday when a federal appeals panel declined to order them reinstated.

The 2-1 decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was a legal victory for News-Press owner and Publisher Wendy McCaw in her ongoing battle with employees who contend her intrusions damage the paper’s journalistic integrity.

The employees’ dispute with McCaw became public in the summer of 2006, when five top editors resigned to protest what she characterized as efforts to correct biased reporting.

Dozens more journalists left over the next year and circulation dropped as writers and editors urged readers to cancel their subscriptions to show support for editorial independence

SB media blogger Craig Smith writes:

After 10 months of waiting, the wait is finally over. And, if you were rooting for the fired newsroom employees of the Santa Barbara News-Press, it was hardly worth waiting for.

Read his full take here.

Previously on FBLA: