Marshall Hired by Channel 13

John Marshall, the veteran, award-winning reporter whose firing last month by KNBC Channel 4 outraged viewers and his colleagues, has been hired by KCOP Channel 13 and will start work on Monday.

Marshall, 49, an Emmy and Golden Mike winner, said Thursday that KCOP, which is building a state-of-the-art news facility, “is investing in the future in terms of people and equipment to cover the news. They’re not spending money on what folks in the (TV news) business call bells and whistles, but hard news.

“I think that’s what Los Angeles wants and needs, and I learned that from the many people who contacted me after Channel 4 let me go. The issue was not about me but about the news. Even Tom Brokaw (NBC news anchor) called me to express his outrage.”

Marshall, who was let go after two decades at KNBC as part of the ongoing paring of staffs at network news operations, added: “I’ve learned the hard way that what were the biggest TV news-gathering operations in town are, in the name of efficiency, slowly letting the air out of their own tires, and the viewers know it.”

Jeff Wald, head of news operations at KCOP, said that Marshall will be a field reporter: “He wants no titles. He just wants to be one of the guys. We want him to be a general assignment reporter because of his vast experience in Los Angeles. He will set the standard for the caliber of reporter I want working at KCOP.”