Three female anchors on cable's HLN channel saluted Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News Channel newswoman who recently sued the network's chairman alleging years of sexual harassment. Carlson's lawsuit resulted in the departure of Roger Ailes, who had founded Fox News Channel two decades before.
"Maybe I'm lucky, but I haven't witnessed it and I haven't been subjected to it" during her career, said Robin Meade during a session Sunday at the Television Critics Association conference. "But it's infuriating that somebody would allegedly try to make you feel that your talent wasn't enough, that somehow you needed to supplement that."
"It takes a great deal of courage to do what she did," Michaela Pereira said. "I commend her for having the chutzpah to be able to speak up. She represents, unfortunately, a lot of women in the country that are dealing with that kind of discrimination in the workplace."
"I hope that what comes out of this is a really important conversation about what is important when you do your job, and what are the skills that matter," Erica Hill said. "I hope it makes everybody think."
Turner-owned HLN is returning to its news roots and boosting its live dayside lineup with this trio of women.
The new direction is represented by the continuing presence of Meade, who celebrates her 15th year on HLN and hosts the Atlanta-based "Morning Express."
Pereira recently launched a three-hour morning news program. "Michaela" is the only such national cable show to air from Los Angeles. Pereira was previously based in New York as a co-host of sister network CNN's "New Day."
Hill becomes a new addition with her two-hour daily news-and-interview program, as yet untitled, to originate from New York starting in September, HLN announced Sunday. Hill rejoined CNN and HLN earlier this summer after stints with CBS News and NBC News.
Their shows will carry out the new mission of HLN, offering a faster pace and wider range of news stories than does CNN, while skewing a bit younger and a bit more female.
"For each of us, with our shows, we have three different personalities," Pereira added. "That will come through in our broadcasts."
