KTLA Anchor Linked to LA Mayor Demoted to Reporter

By Andrew Gauthier 

The Los Angeles Times

Local television news anchors should beware: Dating Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may have its perks, but career advancement is not one of them.

Lu Parker, a KTLA weekend anchor and general assignment reporter who has been dating Villaraigosa since March, has left the anchor desk. Parker will report for the station, which is expanding its 6:30 p.m. newscast by a half hour starting Monday.

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The apparent demotion marks the second time that a newscaster involved with Villaraigosa has departed the anchor desk. KVEA-TV Channel 52 reporter and anchor Mirthala Salinas, who was involved in an extramarital affair with the mayor in 2007 while she was covering him, was suspended for two months then reassigned to the station’s Riverside bureau when their relationship became public. More…

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