Laura Diaz leaving KCBS

I'm really surprised to see on the CBS LA website that Laura Diaz is leaving KCBS Channel 2. On the www.CBSLA.com home page it says that Laura, "one of the most respected and popular broadcast journalists in Southern California" is leaving to produce her own projects. She could be going into the news feature production business, or a wide range of media.

It surprises me that KCBS would let her leave being that she is very popular and prominent in the Hispanic community. But these days, really nothing surprises me about the local news media.

Laura will probably be replaced with some new, young talent from smaller markets who won't know where City Hall is, won't know where Temecula is, and more importantly the audience won't know who they are.

You wonder why KABC remains the best station in town? It's because KABC knows how to keep its familiar faces and to cultivate and keep its audience.

I hope Laura did leave because she wanted to leave and I hope she finds great success in her new ventures. And if the ratings drop for KCBS I hope it serves as a lesson that keeping familiar reporters and anchors on the air keeps the audience.