Two Channel 5 Anchors Fired for 'Political Activity' (Waiting in Line for Jay Z Tix)

TV industry news and gossip site FT Live is reporting that WEWS morning news anchor Jackie Fernandez and weather anchor Somara Theodore were fired after posting to their social media accounts that they were standing in line to get free Jay Z tickets on company time. The Jay Z concert was in support of Hillary Clinton.

WEWS Channel 5 has already removed Fernandez's and Theodore's bios from their staff page.

"Insiders" told FT Live that both women were popular with viewers, but that Scripps, Channel 5's parent company, "had no choice" but to let them go, especially after they'd sent out a memo advising staffers not to participate in political activities before the election.

Somara Theodore, incidentally, was featured in Scene's 2016 People Issue.  

Neither WEWS general manager Steve Weinstein nor news director Jeff Harris were immediately available by phone for comment. Harris did issue a statement to Cleveland.com, saying, "We don't discuss internal employee matters. However, News 5 holds all of its journalists to the highest ethical standards. It is important to the reputation of our station and to Scripps, our parent company, that our news coverage is fair and unbiased. Those crucial qualities have been emphasized repeatedly during this contentious election season.

"We remind our journalists frequently to avoid even the appearance of support for any sides of this election. It is imperative that we maintain objectivity in the work we do to serve our communities in NE Ohio."