There’s a story that’s been in the news lately that I think would make an awesome play… now I just have to get my husband, an accomplished playwright, to pen it…
Have you heard the one about the dueling newscasters? For 4 years, Larry Mendte and Alycia Lane co-anchored the evening news together at KYW-TV, the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. Last December, Lane was fired because she allegedly got into a scuffle with an NYPD officer. Somehow, details of her arrest were leaked to a Philadelphia Daily News reporter, along with other details of her personal life which has included 2 divorces. She complained to the tv station that someone was reading her emails, but they treated her as if she was paranoid.
It turns out that her co-anchor, Mr. Mendte, had bought a keystroke-logging device to get her passwords in August 2006 and was intercepting e-mails from Lane’s two personal accounts and one work account. He was fired also – a shame because the duo was making gains on their competitor, longtime leader news leader WPVI-TV, the ABC affiliate in the area. Mendte is now facing criminal charges and has pleaded guilty to one count of illegally accessing a computer. His motivation? Jealousy over his co-anchor’s $780,000 yearly salary because his was only a measly $700,000. I had no idea news anchors make that much! But anyway, there’s an extra little tidbit to this story that wouldn’t even need to be embelished when writing it into a play: Mendte’s wife Dawn Stensland is also a news anchor; she works at the Fox affiliate in Philadelphia. Coming to a stage near you!
Great diva potential…