Larry Conners,the KMOV anchor who said on facebook the IRS targeted him after an interview with President Obama last year, is off the air until further notice.

“He’s not suspended. We just all thought it made sense (for him) to take a few days off,” Sean McLaughlin, news director for the St. Louis CBS affiliate, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We take this very seriously, and we don’t expect this to drag on. We’re still looking into the situation and weighing our options.”

>UPDATE: Conners’ attorney told TVSpy in a statement, “As the attorney for Larry Conners, I am constrained to advise you that he is barred by corporate from making statements, posting on Facebook, or participating in interviews on the IRS issue. That is the only reason for his silence.” Read more

KMOV anchor Larry Conners, who claimed he was targeted by the IRS after he pressed President Obama on government spending during a 2012 interview, walked back his allegation on the St. Louis CBS affiliate’s 5 p.m. newscast Tuesday.

“First, I need to state those were my personal views, not those of KMOV-TV,” Conners said (video above). “Second, to be fair, I should disclose that my issues with the IRS preceded that interview by several years. As a journalist I understand the importance of keeping personal matters separate from my professional work — sometimes you have to do that retain your independence as a newsman. Those lines might have been unintentionally crossed yesterday by my [Facebook] post.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Conners and his wife owe more than $85,000 in back taxes.

KMOV anchor Larry Conners suspects the IRS has been targeting him since he pressed President Obama during an interview last year. In a lengthy Facebook post Monday, Conners wrote, “almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me.”

“At the time, I dismissed the ‘co-incidence,’ but now, I have concerns … after revelations about the IRS targeting various groups and their members,” Conners wrote.

During the interview, Conners asked about government spending, telling the President that some KMOV viewers were concerned about the First Family “jetting around on different vacations” and wondered if he was “out of touch.”

“The President’s face clearly showed his anger; afterwards, his staff which had been so polite … suddenly went cold,” Conners wrote on Facebook. “What I don’t like to even consider … is that because of the Obama interview … the IRS put a target on me. Can I prove it? At this time, no. But it is a fact that since the April 2012 interview … the IRS has been pressuring me.”

Conners declined to comment for this post. Watch his 2012 interview with the President here. [h/t Politico]

When you think high tech, you don’t often think of St. Louis, MO.  But local NBC affiliate KSDK has proven itself an early adopter of mobile video app Vine.

The Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri interviewed Meaghan Anselm KSDK’s return path producer about how the station uses the abbreviated technology to communicate with viewers. You can watch the video after the jump.

Anselm told RJI she uses Vine to give viewers a behind the scenes look at the station. “I actually have a few reporters and a few photographers…they really take some great Vine videos while on the scene or if they’re out doing a shoot and they see something else really creative.” Read more

KMOV in St. Louis and WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth have won 2012 Investigative Reporters & Editors Awards.

KMOV’s Craig Cheatham and Jim Thomas won the IRE Award in the small Broadcast/Video category for “War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City,” an hourlong documentary about political corruption in East St. Louis, Ill. Cheatham’s “dogged reporting and hard-hitting questions appear to get inside the minds of hardened politicos who admit to him their wrongdoing,” the judges wrote. The CBS affiliate’s report resulted in the resignation of a police chief and pending criminal charges and investigations.

WFAA’s Brett Shipp, Billy Bryant and Jason Trahan won in the medium Broadcast/Video category for “Unfair Game,” an examination of Texas high school coaches and administrators helping students illegally transfer school districts to put together top athletic teams. Shipp “used an inventive combination of social media and dogged reporting to show how high school athletics had been transformed into a business in which the best players were lured away from their neighborhood schools and sometimes across state lines,” the judges wrote. One coach was fired as result of the ABC affiliate’s report.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting a local man has been charged with harassing employees of St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK.

Thomas Duroso of Overland, MO, has been charged with six counts of misdemeanor harassment for posting threatening messages on employees’ facebook pages as well as making obscene and threatening phone calls since November 2012, according to the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office. Click here to view the probable cause statement posted on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website.

On April 2, police say Duroso made repeated calls to KSDK saying, “something bad would happen to the KSDK family.” He then showed up at the station, asking how he could get in the building. Read more

Chris Stanford will join St. Louis CBS affiliate KMOV as evening weekend anchor.

Stanford posted the news to his facebook page, “It’s been a great year and a half here at WCCO-TV. I feel I’ve learned a great deal and have worked with so many talented people. So, “where are you going”, you ask? St. Louis!! I start Monday at the CBS affiliate KMOV.”

Stanford comes to KMOV from WCCO in Minneapolis where he has been the morning anchor since August 2011.  He previously worked at WQOW in Eau Claire, WI.

News director Sean McLaughlin told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Stanford will anchor his first newscast next weekend.

Lauren Trager, weekend anchor for Little Rock NBC affiliate KARK, has announced she will be joining KMOV in St. Louis, MO.

KMOV news director Sean McLaughlin confirmed with TVSpy, Trager will join the St. Louis CBS affiliate as a general assignment reporter.

Trager made the announcement on her facebook page saying, “It is with very mixed emotions I make this announcement to you all: I’m leaving KARK. Thank you for all the kindness you have shown me here. I’ll always be so fond of my time in Arkansas. Best wishes to you all!”

Trager, who started at KARK in 2008, said her last day at KARK will be Wednesday.

[Arkansas TV News]

Chris Higgins, meteorologist for St. Louis FOX affiliate KTVI, took to his facebook page to defend himself against detractors who took issue with how he forecast the recent storm that hit the St. Louis area.

Higgins responded with what he called an “open letter of sorts”:

This is an open letter of sorts to respond to the many posts from folks who claim this storm was a complete surprise and who have gone as far as to question my integrity by calling me a liar and an idiot. I do this at the risk of getting in trouble but I feel it necessary to defend my integrity.

In his post, Higgins tells viewers he correctly forecast how long heavy snow would fall and where it would fall but admitted he did not correctly forecast how much snow would fall, adding, “But you cannot sit there and tell me I didn’t tell you it was going to snow…and that I didn’t say [it] was going to snow heavily…because I did.” Read more

If viewers of St.Louis CBS affiliate KMOV have been wondering what happened to anchor Larry Conners, they can wonder no more.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Conners has been out of action after a second rotator cuff surgery. He posted the slow progress of his recovery on facebook last week saying,

Pain meds not working again but think infection is improving. Seeing doctor tomorrow. Still hoping [t]o be back on air soon. As always thanks for prayers and don’t forget those much worse off. Read more