Lippman Fired by KCBS-TV : Television: The news director’s dismissal ends a turbulent period marked by deteriorating newsroom morale, decreasing ratings and declining credibility.

John Lippman, the controversial KCBS-TV Channel 2 news director whose confrontational style and tabloid-like “Action News” format ignited furors inside and outside the newsroom, was abruptly fired Friday. The move appeared to surprise and delight staffers at the beleaguered station.

No official reason was given for the termination, which was announced by station managers tostaffers during the regular morning meeting in which the day’s coverage is discussed. A memo to the reporters tersely read, “John Lippman is leaving CBS. He is no longer news director. We wish him well.”

But insiders speculated that increasing bad publicity stemming from deteriorating newsroom morale, decreasing ratings, declining credibility in the community and what reporters called Lippman’s disregard for journalistic ethics and personal feelings led to the decision by top CBS executives.

Pivotal to the decision, sources said, was publicity about an April 6 memo from Lippman to his staff concerning coverage of the verdicts in the Rodney G. King civil rights case. Lippman ordered reporters stationed in the pressroom at the Roybal Building to get the verdicts of the four officers accused of beating King “on the air first,” even if it meant “holding the phone up to (the) speaker and patching it down the phone line to air.”

That would have been a violation of federal law, since the courtroom proceedings, which were relayed to the pressroom via an audio monitor, were not to be taped or broadcast. KCBS management later said that the memo was merely a compilation of notes and had not been meant for distribution to the staff. But the tactic apparently was employed on the day of the verdicts, although management said that it had been unintentional.

An unsigned open letter this week from an unknown number of staffers to Lippman criticizing his manner and approach to news also may have played a role in his removal, according to insiders.

Steven J. Gigliotti, the station’s vice president and general manager, called Lippman on Friday morning and told him that he was being terminated. Gigliotti is now acting news director until a replacement is named.

The news was greeted mostly with elation and cheering in the newsroom, with reporters, technicians and editors hugging and kissing.

“Everyone here is so happy,” said one reporter who asked not to be identified. “We can’t tell you how happy we are. It’s like a weight has been lifted off. We would like to be proud of what we do. But it had come down to, what ethical breach would come next? People were just really outraged here by what was happening, and were worried about how long it could go on.”

The celebration was somewhat tempered by the fact that KCBS made the unusual move of firing Lippman just as the station entered the critical May “sweeps,” one of four yearly ratings periods that help stations determine advertising rates.

“We have to be professional and not let it go to our heads,” said a staffer. “But people around here are saying, ‘Yes!’ ”

Some staffers said that declining ratings were at least partially responsible for Lippman’s removal. Although ratings for KCBS’ 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts improved significantly during the February sweeps, sources said they had dropped again in recent weeks.

Lippman, who arrived at KCBS in January, 1992, after being the top news executive at KIRO-TV in Seattle for the previous 12 years, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Michael Tuck, co-anchor of KCBS’ 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, said that although staffers had not known that Lippman’s departure would come so abruptly, “there was an atmosphere of apprehension. There had been several incidents of negative publicity, and there was concern about that.”

Those incidents included the temporary removal of press credentials of KCBS reporter Bob Jimenez during the King civil rights trial by U.S. District Judge John G. Davies after the judge’s voice was heard during one of Jimenez’s live updates from the pressroom of the Roybal building.

In addition, Lippman had been accused of using sensationalism to pump up the ratings, including incorporating constant “live” remotes and routine banter between anchors and reporters.

Lippman also became embroiled in a highly publicized shoving match with Tuck in the middle of the newsroom last January, which erupted after Tuck refused to ad-lib an update of a bank robbery and hostage story. The station had obtained fresh videotape of the incident, but Tuck said he had not been following the story and was ill-prepared to ad-lib. But Lippman insisted, yelling at him to “Go. Go. Go,” and to get on the air. The two had to be separated by other newsroom personnel.

Tuck on Friday declined to criticize Lippman: “I’m always sorry to see someone lose a job. He’s got a family to support. I wish him well. I hope he lands on his feet.”

However, a local news insider said it was the argument with Tuck that really irritated top CBS executives, who were in Los Angeles for the Super Bowl at the time.

“They were all out here, and they didn’t like reading that stuff in the papers,” the source said. “Their patience with Lippman started to wear a little thin. They told KCBS officials that if they wanted to fire Lippman, they could. But they were told that the station would try to work with John.”

The timing of the announcement was ironic in other ways. CBS this week sent out a magazine all over Los Angeles with articles on programming and the KCBS news department. One of the articles praises Lippman.

“Under Lippman, Action News has redefined broadcast journalism in Southern California, forcing other stations to catch up,” the article said. “His approach? Aggressive. Active.”