Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Sunday, March 15, 2015
It was kind of expected given Karyn Greer's mysterious disappearance from 11 Alive the past seven weeks, but she officially announced her departure Sunday afternoon on her public Facebook page.
It's been a very difficult decision, but after 15 great years and prayers and discussions with my family I have decided to leave 11alive. The new contract options offered to me did not provide the opportunity to grow as the journalist I am constantly striving to become. I will miss working day to day with my great colleagues and friends and I will miss the love from all you loyal viewers. I am stepping out on faith but I know in the end God has my back. Keep me and my family in your prayers. Love you..mean it!
In just a couple of hours, she received hundreds of "thumbs up" likes on her Facebook postings on both her personal and public pages and plenty of "best wishes" comments from fans and friends.
UPDATE: 4/1/16: Greer is now working full time at CBS46 as part of its investigative unit.
11 Alive, someone had noticed this morning, had already taken her off their "Meet the Team" page. I have not heard from anyone of authority at 11 Alive about her situation.
I talked to her on the phone Sunday afternoon. As she noted in her Facebook post, she said she pondered long and hard and talked to her family and ultimately decided this was the best move for her at the moment. "You just have to move forward," she said.
She is also recovering from an unspecified surgery she had a few weeks ago, but she said she'll be okay. Greer had been a long-time morning host on 11 Alive but last year was bumped to day-side when 11 Alive hired Vinnie Politan. She was also supposed to be given expanded digital duties, which never came to pass.
I heard from a source inside 11 Alive that the station had offered her a hefty pay cut in her new contract to stay and she chose not to take it.
Ratings in general, I'm told, have not been strong lately for 11 Alive. The station tends to be in third place in the market, behind Fox 5 and Channel 2 Action News.
Greer wouldn't say how long her non-compete clause is but the standard in this market is six months. She has been a long-time presence in this market and is active in the community. Another station might very well pick her up. She would like to stay in the business.
"I'm a good communicator," Greer said. "I will see what options are out there, who'll be knocking at the door."
Before 11 Alive, she worked at WGNX-TV (which is now WGCL-TV, the CBS affiliate) as a weeknight anchor from 1989 to 1999.
This is the second big-name departure from 11 Alive this week. Sports broadcaster Fred Kalil last week said he was moving to CBS Atlanta starting March 23.
The Facebook responses on my blog about Greer's departure were highly supportive of her. A sampling:
Rick Segers Another in a long line of screw ups by management,
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