According to one local legal insider, Alycia Lane’s impending Paul Rosen-honchoed lawsuit might allege not only wrongful termination, but also defamation, simply based on the fact that CBS 3 followed through with not-so-quietly booting her out the door.

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Yesterday’s ending of embattled anchorprincess Alycia Lane’s time at CBS 3 came swiftly and coldly, with the requisite emotionless press release from station management and somber, measured newsreading from a shell-shocked Larry Mendte. It was an outcome that shouldn’t have surprised anybody.

Amid The Mighty Dan Gross and Regina Medina rubble, Jenice Armstrong got an interesting quote from La Salle communications professor and author of Inside Local Television News Richard Goedkoop, who speculated about what the future will hold for Lane.

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It’s official: CBS 3 has given alleged name-caller and cop-slugger Alycia Lane the boot. The Mighty Dan Gross has the early details.

Come back to the Daily Examiner tomorrow morning for wall-to-wall Alycia madness with A.J. Daulerio.

Professional Alycia Lane ditch-digger The Mighty Dan Gross has posted an item hinting that “rumors are flying” about a major announcement from CBS 3, which may or may not involve the fate of the city’s embattled anchorprincess.

MDG also offers up that, in preparation for her imminent demise, Lane may be pulling together a legal team to file a wrongful termination lawsuit. (Maybe it’s Stephen A. Smith’s attorney?)

Gross also offers up his own opinion about a pending suit, suggesting that perhaps Alycia should just take her iPhone and go home: Most TV reporters and anchors have what’s known as a morals clause in their contracts that are typically phrased in legalese, but which loosely translate into “Don’t get arrested or do anything else to embarrass the station.”

Stay tuned …

Will CBS 3 Announce Alycia’s Fate Today? [PhillyGossip]

The 2008 Alycia Lane overload kicks off with a Daily News report on her post-NYPD-scuffle status at CBS 3. Sadly, the news is not extraordinary. The official word snatched by the Mighty Dan Gross is a hazy “nothing new to report” line from station reps.

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The Philadelphia Gay News received an “official” statement/apology from CBS 3 regarding Alycia Lane’s alleged “dyke” comment:

“All of us at CBS 3 certainly understand the disappointment the community must feel about the disparaging remark our anchor is alleged to have made. Alycia and her lawyer have categorically denied that she used this language. While Channel 3 is in the midst of its own investigation, we can state without hesitation that we find this language offensive, intolerable and inappropriate under any circumstance. Our longstanding relationship with the GLBT community is important to us and we hope this alleged incident will do nothing to change that.”

Short version: It’s not us — it’s her.

CBS3 Reaches out to paper over Alycia Lane flap [Inquirer]
Philadelphia Gay News gets scoop and sends to all [Metropolis]

Bald-headed microphone fiend Michael Smerconish emerged from his Murdered by Mumia plug-fest to finally address the Alycia Lane controversy in his Daily News column this morning. Smerconish writes that his personal website received quite an uptick in traffic over the weekend thanks to a harmless photo showing him and Lane together. Interesting. But Smerconish also goes on to write that he’s convinced some of the allegations from that fateful Manhattan morning are most likely true:

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The inevitable “How are the gays feeling about the Lane flap?” story was first broached by Philebrity yesterday, and now the Philly Metro picks up the cue and confronts Mark Segal, publisher of the Philly Gay News, to get his take on Alycia’s whole “fucking dyke” routine:

“It’s like using the word faggot or the n-word,” Segal said. “If she said it, it’s extremely offensive. A news anchor is not a celebrity like Paris Hilton. A news anchor has to have credibility and if she made those statements, her credibility is totally shattered.”

The paper also tracks down Abigail Williams smoking a cigarette outside of the bar Sisters and gets her smoke-blown pshaw: “I really don’t run into that much. For her to say it, it’s whatever …”

Metro does point out that that Lane attended the Philadelphia Gay News’s 30th anniversary party last year and made sure to mention that CBS 3 has been gay-friendly for years.

Until this all gets sorted out, expect the station’s standard weather forecast to be “party cloudy with a 100 percent chance of rainbows.”

Word choice affects anchor’s credibility [Metro]

The enterprising kids at the no-longer-paper-based Philly Edge point out this Cafe Press store dedicated to all sorts of cheaply made paraphernalia now available in response to the Alycia Lane maelstrom.

All the typical, unoriginal Cafe Press duds are there: mugs, bumper stickers, hoodies, long-sleeved T’s. Though this was perhaps an inevitability, there has to be better quality out there someplace.

Urban Outfitters, an ironic T-shirt nation needs you now more than ever.

Free Alycia [Cafe Press/Phillyburbs.com]

Yesterday’s late-breaking Alycia Lane news might be the most startling yet: For some reason, Lane chose to call Governor Ed Rendell soon after she’d been released from prison in New York City. This latest report, on top of the alleged derogatory insults and police officer assault, paints a clearer picture about the real person — not the anchorperson — at the center of all of this unwanted, unnecessary attention.

The Rendell call, however innocent, was a mind-blowing display of tactlessness and hubris that’s almost beyond comprehension: Of course a popular local anchorwoman should ring up one of the most influential men in the state after a night in jail to “get her side of the story out” — who better? Does Ukee Washington have that kind of pull as well?

Based on how CBS 3 is not-so-discreetly erasing her from its promos and coverage thanks to the allegations, this bubble-headed breach of boundaries will probably be (or should be, rather) the reason she loses her job.

It was funny watching some of the 11 p.m. news coverage of Lane last night — NBC’s Tim Lake, in particular, could barely contain his shit-eating grin while reporting it. Then, at approximately 11:12, CBS 3’s Larry Mendte solemnly, soberly reported the news about the NYPD’s allegations and police report, almost chastising his co-anchor in the process: “Ah-lee-see-a,” he said in a fatherly, scolding tone, “allegedly also made a derogatory remark …” What else could he do?

Regardless of how this story shakes out — pre- or post-April 3rd court date — it’s probably a safe bet that Alycia Lane is in dire need of a professional makeover. It’s probably more accurate, however, to say that she needs a personal one as well.

Fast lane to guv [Daily News]
Rendell talks Alycia on 610 WIP [The Mighty Dan Gross]
Rage’ Anchor Dropped from Special [New York Post]