Christine Craft
Encyclopedia
Christine Craft is an attorney, radio talk show
host
and former television
news anchor. She became known in the broadcast industry
in the 1980s for her age
and sexual discrimination lawsuit against a television station that had demoted her from news anchor to reporter.
, California
. After graduating from college with a degree in English in 1966, she spent time as a classroom teacher and competitive surfer in the Santa Barbara
area.
reporter at KSBW-TV in Salinas
, California
.
While working for KSBW, she served in a variety of reporting roles, including news reporting and sports. She then moved from KSBW to the CBS
affiliate
, KPIX-TV
, in San Francisco
where she continued working as an "all around" reporter.
In 1977, CBS
hired Craft to do the weekly segment, "Women in Sports", for the CBS Sports Spectacular
. As part of her on-air reporting, she was required by CBS to undergo a make-over which included having her hair bleached platinum blonde; Craft later stated that she hated the experience. After a year at CBS
, Craft returned to California where she again worked in several news positions, including a stint as co-anchor for Santa Barbara
's ABC
affiliate, KEYT-TV.
Craft continued with KEYT for several years before moving to Kansas City
to work for the Metromedia, Inc.
ABC
affiliate, KMBC-TV
. Craft claims that unbeknownst to her, a media consulting
company produced a tape of her and had it shopped around to several stations throughout the country, including KMBC
. As a result of this exposure, executives at KMBC requested Craft come to Kansas City for an interview; following the interview, she was hired. Craft states that at the time of her hiring she told the station management she "showed signs of her age and experience", and after the experience with CBS, was not willing to once again be "made over".
. Following the addition of Craft to the news program, the station's newscasts went from third to first in the ratings. Eight months into her two-year contract, Craft was removed from the anchor position in August, 1981 after a focus group
had determined she was "too old, too unattractive and wouldn't defer to men." At that time there was only one woman over the age of forty anchoring a newscast at a network affiliate in the United States
. Craft refused to accept the demotion, and went public with her disagreement with the station through an interview in a local newspaper. She left KMBC and returned to doing television in Santa Barbara
.
While working in Santa Barbara, Craft filed a TITLE VII lawsuit against Metromedia
, and in 1983, a federal jury in Kansas City awarded her $500,000 in damages. A federal judge overturned the award and ordered a second trial, this time in Joplin
, Missouri
. The second jury also awarded her $500,000. Metromedia appealed and the 8th Circuit Court
subsequently overturned the decision. Craft's appeal to the United States Supreme Court's decision was denied, although Supreme Court Judge Sandra Day O'Connor
did write in favor of hearing the case. Several employment-law references include her case as an example of Title VII discrimination lawsuits.
in Sacramento
where she was also managing editor and went on to do television programs for San Francisco's KQED. Craft then went to law school, graduating in 1995 from the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law, passing the California Bar exam that same year. It was during her studies in law school when Craft first started working in talk-radio, hosting a program at KFBK
, in Sacramento.
after a failure to reach a new contract agreement with the station manager. Currently, Craft is a fill-in talk radio host at KGO in San Francisco and practices law worker's compensation and employment law at the law offices of Farrell, Fraulob and Brown in Sacramento
. She is also involved in doing pro-bono work in the area of animal abuse and arguing for stronger statutes against such crimes. She has lectured at hundreds of colleges, universities and law schools about Title VII litigation (the Civil Rights Act of 1964) and her media experiences and has been named one of the top five collegiate speakers in the United States in 1984. Her story has been featured in an exhibit at the Newseum, an interactive museum of news and journalism located in Washington, D.C.
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
host
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
and former television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
news anchor. She became known in the broadcast industry
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
in the 1980s for her age
Ageism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice, discrimination, and subordination...
and sexual discrimination lawsuit against a television station that had demoted her from news anchor to reporter.
Early life
Craft was born in 1944 in San MarinoSan Marino
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino , is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. After graduating from college with a degree in English in 1966, she spent time as a classroom teacher and competitive surfer in the Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
area.
TV career
In 1974, Craft took a position as a weatherWeather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
reporter at KSBW-TV in Salinas
Salinas, California
Salinas is the county seat and the largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52 feet above sea level. The population was 150,441 at the 2010 census...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
While working for KSBW, she served in a variety of reporting roles, including news reporting and sports. She then moved from KSBW to the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate
Affiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
, KPIX-TV
KPIX-TV
KPIX-TV is the CBS owned and operated television station in San Francisco, California. Through its parent company CBS Corporation, KPIX is co-owned with The CW affiliate KBCW-TV ....
, in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
where she continued working as an "all around" reporter.
In 1977, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
hired Craft to do the weekly segment, "Women in Sports", for the CBS Sports Spectacular
CBS Sports Spectacular
CBS Sports Spectacular is a sports anthology program produced by CBS Sports. The series began on January 3, 1960 as The CBS Sports Spectacular, and has been known under many different names, including CBS Sports Saturday, CBS Sports Sunday, Eye on Sports and The CBS Sports Show.The program...
. As part of her on-air reporting, she was required by CBS to undergo a make-over which included having her hair bleached platinum blonde; Craft later stated that she hated the experience. After a year at CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Craft returned to California where she again worked in several news positions, including a stint as co-anchor for Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
's ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate, KEYT-TV.
Craft continued with KEYT for several years before moving to Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
to work for the Metromedia, Inc.
Metromedia
Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...
ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate, KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV virtual channel 9 is a television station affiliated with the ABC television network, located in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV is owned by Hearst Television and its studios are located on Winchester Ave. near Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The station's high guyed mast broadcast...
. Craft claims that unbeknownst to her, a media consulting
Media consultant
A Media Consultant is a term used to describe a marketing agent or public relations executive, hired by businesses or political candidates to obtain positive press coverage....
company produced a tape of her and had it shopped around to several stations throughout the country, including KMBC
KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV virtual channel 9 is a television station affiliated with the ABC television network, located in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV is owned by Hearst Television and its studios are located on Winchester Ave. near Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The station's high guyed mast broadcast...
. As a result of this exposure, executives at KMBC requested Craft come to Kansas City for an interview; following the interview, she was hired. Craft states that at the time of her hiring she told the station management she "showed signs of her age and experience", and after the experience with CBS, was not willing to once again be "made over".
Lawsuit
In January 1981 Craft became co-anchor with Scott Feldman on the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscast on KMBC-TVKMBC-TV
KMBC-TV virtual channel 9 is a television station affiliated with the ABC television network, located in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV is owned by Hearst Television and its studios are located on Winchester Ave. near Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The station's high guyed mast broadcast...
. Following the addition of Craft to the news program, the station's newscasts went from third to first in the ratings. Eight months into her two-year contract, Craft was removed from the anchor position in August, 1981 after a focus group
Focus group
A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging...
had determined she was "too old, too unattractive and wouldn't defer to men." At that time there was only one woman over the age of forty anchoring a newscast at a network affiliate in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Craft refused to accept the demotion, and went public with her disagreement with the station through an interview in a local newspaper. She left KMBC and returned to doing television in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
.
While working in Santa Barbara, Craft filed a TITLE VII lawsuit against Metromedia
Metromedia
Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...
, and in 1983, a federal jury in Kansas City awarded her $500,000 in damages. A federal judge overturned the award and ordered a second trial, this time in Joplin
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the US state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 50,150...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. The second jury also awarded her $500,000. Metromedia appealed and the 8th Circuit Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...
subsequently overturned the decision. Craft's appeal to the United States Supreme Court's decision was denied, although Supreme Court Judge Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...
did write in favor of hearing the case. Several employment-law references include her case as an example of Title VII discrimination lawsuits.
Authorship, law school and talk-radio
In 1986, she published her semi-autobiographical book, "Too Old, Too Ugly, Not Deferential to Men". Craft continued doing television, anchoring the news at KRBKKMAX-TV
KMAX-TV, channel 31, is the CW affiliate serving the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, California broadcast area. The station is owned by CBS Television Stations along with the local CBS station, KOVR; the two stations are two of the 3 English network O&Os in the market, along with Ion Television...
in Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
where she was also managing editor and went on to do television programs for San Francisco's KQED. Craft then went to law school, graduating in 1995 from the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law, passing the California Bar exam that same year. It was during her studies in law school when Craft first started working in talk-radio, hosting a program at KFBK
KFBK
KFBK is a radio station in Sacramento, California broadcasting on a frequency of 1530 kHz. KFBK is a class A clear channel station, formerly designated as a class "I-B" station, sharing 1530 with WCKY in Cincinnati, Ohio...
, in Sacramento.
Current life
In the Fall of 2007, Craft left her hosting duties at KSAC in SacramentoSacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
after a failure to reach a new contract agreement with the station manager. Currently, Craft is a fill-in talk radio host at KGO in San Francisco and practices law worker's compensation and employment law at the law offices of Farrell, Fraulob and Brown in Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
. She is also involved in doing pro-bono work in the area of animal abuse and arguing for stronger statutes against such crimes. She has lectured at hundreds of colleges, universities and law schools about Title VII litigation (the Civil Rights Act of 1964) and her media experiences and has been named one of the top five collegiate speakers in the United States in 1984. Her story has been featured in an exhibit at the Newseum, an interactive museum of news and journalism located in Washington, D.C.
Further reading
- Lowe, Denise, Women and American Television, An Encyclopedia, ISBN 0874369703
- Smith, S. B. "Television Executives Upset by Kansas City Finding." New York Times, 9 August 1983.
- Thornton, M. "Newscaster Wins $500,000." Washington (D.C.) Post, 9 August 1983.
- "Woman in TV Sex Bias Suit is Awarded $500,000 by Jury." New York Times, 9 August 1983.