She's a great reporter, aggressive, with a hard-news take on stories. I was never happy to see her on a story I was covering, because that meant the competition was there. In the month before her firing, for example, Fowler secured the sole television interview with Mayor Martin O'Malley profanely excoriating State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy. Fowler was also aggressive in reporting on a recent police corruption inquiry, informing viewers that FBI agents were administering polygraph tests to members of the Baltimore police internal affairs division. Even so, during the first days of the month, Fowler was called into the office of news director Gail Bending and told that her contract, due to expire in April, would not be renewed.
Fowler is no longer on the air.
While Bending made the announcement, it was made at the behest of WJZ general manager Jay Newman. The newsroom was given no explanation. Neither Fowler nor Newman would discuss the issue for this column. Colleagues say Fowler has been outspoken, on occasion, about philosophical disagreements with Newman over selection and presentation of her stories on the station's personality-driven newscast. Peers responded to her firing by covering her desk with flowers, cards, presents and bottles of liquor.