It looks like someone’s been eating their Quaker Oats!
After a two-day hiatus to focus on her health – and spend time away from the stresses and pressures of reading the evening news – Joleen Chaney announced yesterday she has accepted the position of Director of Communications for the decimated and dismantled Oklahoma Department of Education – an apocalyptic hellhole that will spend the next year repairing the damage already done.
Via Facebook:
That’s cool!
Outside of joining a PR firm – or serving as spokesperson for a car dealership or public utility – government PIO work is one of the more common fields entered by former TV journalists, so I guess we can’t be surprised that Joleen scored a well-paying, long-hour gig within the halls of government.
I can’t wait to see all the good work she does, or if she has to shove Dylan Brown away the first time he chases Lindell Fields down a hallway!
In all seriousness, congrats to JoJo! I bet the only controversy she causes is being a bit too nice to people. There’s obviously nothing else to see here and no elephant in the room to discuss. Everything’s fine, and we’re going to end this post with her and the newly single Bobbie Miller on a pile of watermelons in 2010:
“Really, Patrick? You’re taking the easy misogynistic way out? She said she was leaving KFOR due to her diabetes and to enjoy life. Now, just two days later, she’s accepted a higher-paying, higher-pressure job at the very state agency she’s been covering for nearly twenty years? Something about this doesn’t feel right.”
Okay, so maybe we should talk about that.
I’m hearing via the Ogle Mole Network that some longtime folks at KFOR are a bit salty over Joleen’s departure.
Apparently, she had over a year left on her contract and provided plenty of medical documentation to prove she needed to quit over stress. Now, without so much as a breather, she’s taking an equally – if not more – stressful position with a state agency.
I guess I can see their frustration. This would’ve been like Linda Cavanaugh quitting Trash or Treasure because she hurt her hip, and then two days later accepting a job as Director of Receivables for Goodwill.
That being said, I’m team JoJo when it comes to using health as an excuise to quit a job.
The corporate owner of KFOR, Nexstar, is a terrible, unscrupulous company that treats its employees poorly and has no problem firing or releasing anchors from their contracts if it pleases them.
If JoJo had to play a medical card to get out of hers for a better opportunity, good for her. Screw Nextstar.
My only question is why she leaned so hard into the health stuff in the Facebook farewell? I’ve seen what diabetes can do — it wrecked my grandmother’s health and quality of life — but if this new gig was already in the works, the whole thing feels a bit performative. Why play that angle up?
Then again, maybe that’s just her TV news instincts at play. The industry loves pandering to peoples emotion — it’s practically in the job description – and detailing your battle with a disease is a great way to pull at the heartstrings and get likes and attention.
I bet she’ll do the same thing when ghostwriting press release quotes for Lindell Fields:
“Living with seasonal vertigo has taught me the value of stability — a principle we’ll bring to Oklahoma classrooms,” said State Superintendent Lindell Fields. “Some days the room spins, other days it just tilts slightly, but either way, I’ll stand upright, working for Oklahoma students.”
Anyway, back to reality — or whatever this is.
Even though she played up her departure to the social media hug emoji crowd, I’m still happy JoJo got the new job.
First of all, I like the irony that Joleen Chaney – the lead anchor for the channel that was deemed "illegitimate" by Ryan Walters – now gets to run the department’s propaganda. I bet that made Ryan throw up in a box of kitty litter.
Second, it will make for some fun awkwardness to cover whenever KFOR’s Spencer Humphrey investigates JoJo's salary or travel on the state dime.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
