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ON THE SEVENTH FLOOR of 30 Rockefeller Center, WNBC's once proud newsroom is now a construction site. But as the area is turned into a "content center" suitable for producing news around the clock, the walls aren't the only things that are coming down.
Morale has plummeted as long-time writers and producers have been told to apply for new jobs as "content producers" - with no guarantee that they'll be hired or paid the same salary. Some will be fired, since management plans to reduce the head count, insiders say.
The changes are coming at a time when the newsroom already feels under siege. Anchors, including Rob Morrison and Lynda Baquero, have been let go or reassigned, top reporters have taken pay cuts, and producers have been told to turn all stories around in a day, a source says.
Most worrisome to veterans has been the lack of emphasis on the kind of journalism that will...