Alycia Lane

Infobox journalist
name = Alycia Lane


caption = Alycia Lane
birthname =
birth_date = birth date and age|1972|5|10
birth_place = Lake Grove, New York
age =
death_date =
death_place =
education =
occupation = Television journalist
alias =
gender = Female
status = Single
title = Newscaster
family =
spouse = Dino Calandriello (2000-2004)
Jay Adkins (2005-2007)
children =
relatives =
ethnic = Puerto Rican, Welsh
religion =
salary = $800,000/annually [http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20080620_Alycia_Lane_sues_CBS3.html Alycia Lane sues CBS3 | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/20/2008 ] ]
networth =
credits =
agent =
URL =

Alycia Lane (born May 10, 1972) is a former American television journalist. Until January 2008, she served as co-anchor of the weekday evening newscasts on KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Background

Lane, a native of Lake Grove, New York, is of Puerto Rican descent on her mother's side and Welsh descent on her father's. She has a Master's Degree in Broadcast Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Albany where she graduated with honors. She is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and speaks fluent Spanish.

Career

Lane's television career began while completing her Master's at Northwestern, serving as a Washington, D.C.-based reporter for KSNT in Topeka, Kansas.cite news|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20071219083103/http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20071217_Alycia_Lane_bio.html
title=Alycia Lane Biography|author=|date=|publisher=Philly.com|accessdate=2008-03-11] After completing her studies, she returned to her native New York and joined Cablevision-owned News 12 the Bronx, where she served as an anchor and reporter. Among the stories she covered there was the 1999 shooting of African immigrant Amadou Diallo, who was shot to death by four New York City police officers.

In 2000, Lane moved to Miami, after being hired as a reporter for Fox affiliate WSVN. She joined a rival station, NBC-owned WTVJ a year later, and spent two years there before moving to Philadelphia and CBS-owned KYW-TV in September 2003. KYW-TV paired her with Larry Mendte on their 11 o'clock newscast, and by early 2004 had experienced "an amazing 61%" rise in the show's ratings. [cite news|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA420381.html|title=CBS Stations Soar in Sweeps: New talent, vision transform losers into winners|author=Steve McClellan|date=2004-05-04|publisher=Broadcasting & Cable|accessdate=2008-03-10] In 2005, she was awarded a local Emmy Award for her "Holiday Traditions" special. [cite news|url=http://www.natasmid-atlantic.org/archives/2005.php
title=2005 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award Winners|author=|date=|publisher=NatasMid-Atlantic.org|accessdate=2008-03-11]

Controversies

Bikini pictures

In May 2007, Lane became the center of a national media story when reports surfaced that she emailed pictures of herself and friends, depicting her in a bikini, to the NFL Network's Rich Eisen via an account that he shared with his wife, Suzy Shuster. Shuster's email response became public.cite web|url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/05012007/gossip/pagesix/pagesix.htm|title=Bikini-e-mails Rattle TV Wife|accessdate=2007-05-02|author=Richard Johnson|work=New York Post] cite web|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/hot_topics/Report__Wife_not_amused_by_Alycia_Lane_s_email_come-on__.html|title=Report: Wife not amused by Alycia Lane's email come-on|accessdate=2007-05-02|author=Staff Report|work=Philadelphia Daily News] Lane insisted that the pictures were harmlesscite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070504042932/http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20070502_Bikini_breach.html|title=Alycia Lane defends "saucy" e-mails|accessdate=2007-05-02|author=Micahel Klein|work=Philadelphia Inquirer] and that she and Eisen have been "purely platonic" friends "for almost 10 years", and that they "regularly exchange e-mail and photos".cite web|url=http://ww.tmz.com/2007/05/01/bikini-clad-news-babe-sexy-pix-purely-platonic/|title=Bikini-Clad News Babe: Sexy Pix "Purely Platonic"|accessdate=2007-05-02|author=TMZ Staff|work=TMZ.com]

Assault charges

Lane was arrested in the early morning hours of December 16, 2007 in New York City, accused of physically and verbally assaulting a female police officer, as well as wielding homophobic slurs.cite web |url=http://media.philly.com/documents/lane_complaint_2.pdf |title=NYC Police Complaint |accessdate=2007-12-18 |author=Criminal Court of the City of New York|publisher=philly.com|date=2007-12-17|format=PDF] Lane was charged with one felony count of assault on a police officer.cite web |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/Alycia_Lane_Arrested_in_New_York_for_allegedly_assaulting_an_NYPD_officer.html |title=Alycia Lane Arrested in New York for allegedly assaulting an NYPD officer |accessdate=2007-12-17 |author=Dan Gross |publisher=Philly.com |date=2007-12-16] cite web |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/12550876.html |title=Ugly new details on Alycia's arrest |accessdate=2007-12-17 |author=Dan Gross |publisher=Philly.com |date=2007-12-16] cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/nyregion/17anchor.html?ref=nyregion |title=Anchorwoman Arrested |accessdate=2007-12-17 |author=Associated Press|publisher=nytimes.com|date=2007-12-17] The criminal case was effectively closed on February 25, 2008, when a New York judge dropped the felony assault charges against her and reduced Lane's charges to misdemeanors. The case was then adjourned, with an additional provision that the charges against Lane would be dropped on the condition that she is not arrested, at any time, over the next six months. At that point, the initial charges will be null and void and her record will be ultimately cleared. [ cite web|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jEn8Pbipg_yg92ABCwF2AevckVpgD8V1JTPO0| | title=Ex-Philly News Anchor's Charges Reduced|accessdate=2008-02-21 |author=Samuel Maull |publisher=ap.google.com |date=2008-02-25]

Firing from KYW-TV and wrongful termination lawsuit

On January 7, 2008, KYW-TV announced that Lane had been released from her contract. In a statement, the station explained that the decision to terminate Lane, stating:

"After assessing the overall impact of a series of incidents resulting from judgments she has made...we have concluded that it would be impossible for Alycia to continue to report the news as she, herself, has become the focus of so many news stories." [ [http://cbs3.com/topstories/Alycia.Lane.New.2.624823.html cbs3.com - CBS 3 Anchor Alycia Lane Released From Contract ] ] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwPmjBa78o8 YouTube - CBS 3 announses Alycia Lane termination ] ]

Lane's legal counsel subsequently released a statement which countered the station's reasoning:

"The termination comes at a time when there has been absolutely no determination that Alycia is guilty of any wrongful conduct, and after KYW-TV has aired her categorical denial of the alleged charge that is pending against her. The termination is unfair because Alycia has never had an opportunity to defend against this charge, and tell her side of the story publicly, before KYW-TV has taken this unusual and unwarranted step to terminate her employment."cite web |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS201440+07-Jan-2008+PRN20080107|title=Spector Gadon & Rosen P.C. press release |accessdate=2008-01-08 |author=Paul Rosen |publisher=Reuters|date=2008-01-08]

On January 30, 2008, Lane's lawyers filed a writ of summons on her behalf, a preemptive move towards a lawsuit against KYW-TV in connection with her dismissal. [ [http://news.justia.com/cases/featured/pennsylvania/paedce/2:2008cv00777/256602/ Lane v. CBS Broadcasting, Inc.] ] cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080201111016/http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/15021057.html | |title=Alycia’s lawyer: We want facts |accessdate=2008-01-31 |author=Michael Klein |publisher=Philly.com |date=2008-01-30] On February 19, 2008, lawyers for CBS, KYW-TV's parent company, sought to move Lane's state court writ to the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, though a provision in Lane's contract stated that employment disputes were to be handled in New York, where the network is headquartered.cite web|url=http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/dan_gross/20080220_Dan_Gross__CBS_makes_federal_case_of_Alycia_a.html | |title=CBS makes federal case of Alycia |accessdate=2008-02-21 |author=Dan Gross |publisher=Philly.com |date=2008-02-20]

On June 19, 2008, Lane filed suit against KYW-TV and station manager Michael Colleran alleging that she was exploited and defamed. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. A spokeswoman for KYW-TV had no comment on the pending litigation.

Invasion of privacy

On May 31, 2008, it was reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer that KYW-TV anchor Larry Mendte was under investigation by the FBI for allegedly reading Lane's private e-mail, which if true would be a federal offenseFact|date=August 2008. The charges specify that he logged into her accounts 537 times in a four month period. The intrusions allegedly began in March 2006 and are estimated to be in thousands, seven to eight thousand log-ins in total, according to sources. Mendte is allegedly responsible for feeding her private information to gossip columnists over the years and violating attorney/client privilege in doing so during her New York legal problems and pending lawsuit against KYW. [ cite web|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080531_Larry_Mendte_probed_for_snooping_on_Alycia_Lane__sources_say.html| | title=Larry Mendte Probed for Snooping on Alycia Lane, Sources Say|accessdate=2008-06-02 |author=Philadelphia Inquirer |publisher=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=2008-05-31] Mendte was dismissed by the station on June 23, 2008. [ [http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080623_Larry_Mendte_fired.html Larry Mendte fired | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/23/2008 ] ] On July 21, 2008, Mendte was charged with one felony count of intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization. Despite the hundreds or thousands of intrusions which actually took place, Mendte was charged with only one count, allegedly in exchange for an expected guilty plea on August 22, 2008. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/21/email.snoop.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview Fired TV anchor charged with e-mail snooping - CNN.com ] ] He has also admitted to once having an "improper relationship" with Lane during his marriage to fellow Philadelphia TV personality Dawn Stensland.

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before=Marc Howard | title=CBS 3 6pm & 11pm Eyewitness news anchor| years=2003 – 2008 (with Larry Mendte)| after=Larry Mendte & Susan Barnett|

References