Dr. Anna Marie Chwastiak, who left ABC-affiliate WMAR in 2001, is back on Baltimore TV.
NBC-affiliate WBAL has picked up Chwastiak’s half-hour syndicated show “Your Life with Dr. Anna Marie.”
“Maryland has long been my home base and now, finally, I am coming home,” she told The Baltimore Sun. “I am excited about returning to Baltimore TV.”
After leaving WMAR, Chwastiak started her own production company and began developing “Your Life,” which now airs on stations across the country.
As she was departing WMAR, Chwastiak stirred up controversy when she began negotiating strategic partnerships with many of the institutions she had been covering. The Sun explains:
Before she was officially let go, she tried to develop future program opportunities with hospitals on her beat. While she attributed those overtures to youthful enterprise and preparation for an uncertain future, her producers and media watchdogs publicly criticized her, calling those business contacts unethical journalism.
With “Your Life,” though, Chwastiak doesn’t face the same type of ethical scrutiny since the program is clearly packaged as “edu-tainment.”