Five of joint FOX and CBS local affiliate Action News Jacksonville's lead anchors have been notified that they will be let go before the end of the year.
The Florida Times-Union and Jacksonville Business Journal reported on Wednesday that Mark Spain, Paige Kelton, Lynnsey Gardner, and Mike and Tera Barz were informed last week that they were being let go, and that that their last day on air will be around Sept. 1.
A source who spoke with the Jacksonville Business Journal's Ashley Gurbal Kritzer said the group was told that station's parent company, Cox Media Group, had "decided to go in a different direction" and was "hitting the reset button."
Tera Barz, whose husband Mike Barz is also among those being dismissed, told the Business Journal they want to stay in Jacksonville and continue to be "involved in the community."
Their firings may be behind a pair of seemingly random tweets sent by two of the anchors on the evening of May 22, around the time reports indicate they were notified they would no longer have jobs at the station.
Be kind for everyone is fighting a hard battle.
— Mark SpainABC13 (@MarkSpainTVnews) May 23, 2014
All is well my friends. Feeling loved tonight.
— Paige Kelton (@PaigeANjax) May 22, 2014
Both of those tweets were also re-tweeted by Lynnsey Gardner.
You can follow Patrick Donges on Twitter @patrickhdonges.
