Astrid Martinez, a reporter at CBS46, has decided to move on after nearly five years.
She confirmed her departure with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution but did not say what her next move will be.
Martinez joined the station in April 2016 and did plenty of stories about the entertainment scene, doing a regular segment called “Astrid in the ATL.” She interviewed celebrities such as Eva Longoria, Oprah Winfrey, Robert De Niro and the late John Lewis.
On social media, Martinez wrote that her last day is Wednesday, Dec. 23. “Thank you to our viewers and to CBS46 for this incredible journey which is propelling me to my next step... Thank you all for making Atlanta such a beautiful experience.”
Her CBS46 general manager, Deborah Collura, said they wanted her to stay, but she chose to leave.
Martinez, in a text to the AJC, said she requested to expand her skill set by doing fill-in anchoring. They turned her down, saying she was great at live reporting. “I’m seeing newer employees get these opportunities,” she said. “It’s a bit disheartening because I’ve done a great job building visibility for our station in the Latino community and accomplished so much in just 5 years.” She felt the renewal offer “didn’t reflect this and gave me no opportunity for personal or professional growth.”
She also said the new contract the station offered would have required her to go solo more often without a camera person with annual raises capped at 2 percent.
Martinez said she doesn’t leave with bad feelings and doesn’t blame current top management, which arrived in February, noting this is more of an ongoing issue with the parent company. But she did note that “in the last month, two other people of color left... I think it speaks volumes.”
She added: “I just don’t think the vision I have for my career aligns with the station’s vision for me.”
And while she said Collura and the news director, Matt King, have been complimentary of her work, she said compliments “don’t pay the bills. I took a pay cut in the summer. We all did. Got tear-gassed covering the protests while exposing myself to the pandemic.”
Collura said she could not respond to Martinez’s comments regarding what they offered her to sign a new contract.
Martinez also worked a side job for the Atlanta Braves generating content geared to its Latino fan base.
Before Atlanta, she worked at stations in Dallas and Charlotte.
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Corey Dylan has left New Country 101.5 after two years. She first joined as a co-host with former morning host Cadillac Jack and then moved to middays in July 2019.
She has landed a new job hosting mornings in San Diego at 100.7 Big FM, an adult-leaning pop station.
“With the state of radio, I am extremely fortunate,” Dylan said. “It’s been a great ride and a fantastic team to work for.”
She said returning to the West Coast made sense to her since her family is in Seattle, and she has a sister who has lived in San Diego for 25 years.
This leaves an opening at New Country 101.5. Jason Pullman, a former morning host at 94.9/The Bull, recently joined Atlanta-based Cumulus Media, which owns New Country. He will be hosting a show at a country station in Dallas but said he has been promised more work at other stations in Cumulus, which owns dozens of country stations nationwide.
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Paul Ossmann’s lawsuit against his former employer CBS46 and its parent company Meredith Corp. remains unresolved.
Ossmann, the former chief meteorologist at the station, sued his former employer in July 2019 in federal court for “racially and ethnically discriminatory termination,” accusing the CBS affiliate of fostering a “racially hostile work environment.”
The station, in response, released a statement saying that Ossmann was terminated April 8, 2019 “for cause based on multiple complaints from female co-workers of conduct that violated our workplace policies. CBS46 conducted investigations into each of these multiple complaints. Ossmann’s discharge was not only appropriate, but necessary and consistent with our values. Meredith will defend vigorously against Mr. Ossmann’s false allegations that attempt to obscure that fact.”
In August of this year, a federal judge ordered mediation. But the mediator gave up in early September, according to court documents.
Early in November, the judge granted a motion by Meredith for confidentiality and a protective order. It said that discovery will involve production and review of sensitive and private information. Otherwise, discovery in the case is scheduled to go through mid-March.
Ossmann was at CBS46 from 2012 to 2019, becoming chief meteorologist in 2017. He previously worked at WAGA-TV for ten years and WXIA-TV (11Alive) for 13.
>> RELATED: Ossmann had a terrible 2011 and tells the AJC all about it
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