ABC Affiliates, Anchors, Hartford-New Haven

WTNH Posts Listing for Current Anchor’s Job

By Andrew Gauthier on January 17, 2012 5:42 PM

In a move that could be either a bargaining tactic or a piece of preemptive hiring, or both, WTNH has posted a job listing on its website that’s essentially the position currently held by anchor Sonia Baghdady.

“WTNH/News 8 in Connecticut has an opening for a main anchor,” the post announces, before stating, “You’ll be anchoring most of your newscasts sitting next to… Darren Kramer.”

Baghdady, who has been with WTNH since 2002, currently anchors WTNH’s 5, 5:30, and 11 p.m. newscasts alongside Kramer.

News director Erik Schrader told TVSpy today that Baghdady is currently employed by the station, but he refused to comment on the job posting or the anchor’s future with WTNH.

Baghdady is in the midst of contract talks with WTNH, according to The Laurel. She has yet to return TVSpy’s requests for comment.

The job posting, which is written in a surprisingly off-hand style (the first paragraph: “WTNH/News 8 in Connecticut has an opening for a main anchor. Big deal. A bunch of stations are looking for anchors. Guess you should have your agent send something here, too.”), could be read as a critique of Baghdady, if she and WTNH are indeed at odds over her place at the station.

For instance…

We want to go deeper, find a reason a story connects to our viewers and tell compelling stories.

We need an anchor who wants to tell those stories, too. We need someone who wants to go out and find stories, someone with a desire to be part of the newscast-building process.

Baghdady’s Facebook page currently includes very little information about her anchor job at WTNH, listing her simply as a “news personality,” and the majority of her recent wall posts are dedicated to her web venture Style Confessions.