Philadelphia Inquirer veteran Gail Shister, one of the country's premier television columnists, is being moved to the metro desk.

Her longtime television column was killed in April, and she has been writing features since then. She had made no secret of her disappointment about the decision.

A couple hours ago, she was informed of the change.

"I was told that I was being assigned to the Metro staff, effective August 1, and that it would be a great move for my career and for the paper and for the section. It would give me a fresh start, that's what I told," Shister said.

She said she had been talking to editors about a possible Metro move for the last month, but was shocked about today's abrupt assignment...