Dave,
It's good to see you covering news of real interest,instead of your recent obsession with Jon and Kate. We will miss MB.

....She will be missed.

Mary Beth Marsden is the only reason I watch the news on Channel 2! She should be made an offer "she can't refuse" in order to get her to stay. She's a very likeable, credible woman - and comes across that way on-air. You won't find another anchor like her. Channel 2's loss!

you shall truly be missed....GOD BLESS YOU and good luck.....

No big surprise here. Hey, the ONLY reason I ever tune in WMAR-TV is to watch "Jeopardy" at 7 pm. And there have actually been days that the show was pre-empted by some local hogwash. As soon as that was apparent the remote was put to work anew.

Not surprising news at all given how things are going in the television "news" business. Mary Beth has always been the brightest and most capable star on what, for no fault of her own, has always been somewhat of a train wreck of a newscast long engineered by out of state corporate bean counters and consultants who know little about Baltimore. She can, and will, do better.

MB will be missed. I have watched her for a lot of years. WMAR has been going downhill since Scott Garceau left. I figured it was only a matter of time before other people would leave. Take care MB and Good Luck to you in the future.

Good Luck and Best Wishes for a bright future. You are blessed to be able to spend valuable time with your family.

Dave,

Many years ago, more than Mary Beth and I would care to remember, she was a production assistant at WJLA TV in DC. (I was the assignment manager.) She asked me how she could get higher up in the new pecking order to become a reporter or eventually an anchor... I recommended to her to go to a smaller market and work her way up the ladder and back up the market size pathway... She did this and for this and many other reasons, I have always had the utmost respect for her and her credibility - she has been one of WMAR's brightest moves over the past several decades, which is saying a lot when you think of the many "bad" things that have happened at that station since the AFTRA strike in the early 80's... All the best to Mary Beth and whatever happens next in her braodcasting life!

When Stan Stovall left Channel 2, I was disappointed but continued to watch the 11:00 pm news because of Mary Beth. Now that she is leaving, I will no longer have an allegiance to WMAR. I believe that the station is making a huge mistake letting Mary Beth leave. I'll be going to bed earlier now with her departure. You will be greatly missed Mary Beth. All the best to you and your family. Have a Merry Christmas.

She is one of the best. I will truly miss her. Good luck to you in whenever you choose to do.

So, is WMAR going to have a newscast at all now or are they closing down all local news coverage?

There's a rumor going around that WMAR is about to eliminate all of its local news programming and fall back on "rip and read" wire stories. This recent development makes that seem more likely to be true.

Mary Beth has always been a class act and Baltimore is better having had her on the air for so long. Hope she lands on her feet.

How sad to see Mary Beth Marsden's departure. She was (and still is) a breath of fresh air and Baltimore will be losing out on one of the best tv anchors. Wishing the very best to Ms. Marsden and her family.

I happen to think Channel 2 has the best news presentation and quality out of the three.

I'm sorry to see Marsden go but I'm not surprised given the current state of the economy.

A little nicer than the "perky," one whose ratings are low as the Democrats; nevertheless, a big lib. (E.G., speakers conferences at the Myerhoff)

Now Channel 2 can slip even further in the ratings. MBM was one of the few reasons to tune in WMAR. Good move, Channel 2!

I agree with Shelia. Channel 2 presents news in a straight forward fashion and covers much more pertinent local stuff than the others do. I don't want flash with my news. I liked MB. Good Luck and I wish her the best.

I will be moving on also - to another station. Mary Beth was a ray of sunshine along with Norm Lewis. What were they thinking?????

How has Rod Daniels lasted so long? Stan Stovall should have replaced him eons ago. He's a nice fella, but fumbles more than a freshman tailback. MB is smooth. One of the remaining local outfits will make her a deal.

A few people emailed this news to me this morning knowing that MBM was a friendly acquaintance who I have mentioned in 3 of my novels. For me, MBM has always been one of the best things about Baltimore. Smart, charming and quirky, which is kind of what Baltimore is. I hope she finds her way back to Baltimore TV soon. And, if she stumbles upon this, I wish her the best.

My favorite time watching MB was in the "old days"...when Big Don O'Brien was the Weather Guy and Keith Mills was on Sports. The weekend 11:00 newscasts were the best because the guys would try everything to crack MB up. I believe it was her first anchor job.

Big Don was also a D.J. at that time and would work at popular bars and clubs on the nights he wasn't on TV. He showed up to work the 11 o'clock newscast one Saturday night with a cast on his arm. Mary Beth asked him why he had the cast, and he told her he had a "skiing accident;" quickly moving on with the weather. Both MB and Keith were trying really hard not to laugh. It was already pretty well known around town that the night before he had been dancing on the bar while d.j.'ing to "Louie Louie" and had "missed that last step. " They had a great newscast ribbing Don and relieving MB of any nerves. It was very funny!

My brother, David and I will miss seeing you on TV. We used to live in Mt. Washington and remember so well your bringing Jack home from the hospital and offering us hot chocolate on the night we got locked out. You are a wonderful human being, a great newswoman and you will be missed.

I wonder if all the stations are union or not? They probably can't compete due to the higher cost of employees.

Ditto re the high regard for MBM and expressions of regret that she is leaving. I too will miss her and believe that she deserves something bigger and better.

That don't make any sense. She will truly be missed!!

Channel 2???
I didn't even know it was on my television set. Hmmm, I'll have to take a look at my remote and make sure I even have a number 2 on it.

This is like letting your franchise player go to another team. "Bad Move". MB will shine. on another network. Good luck MB, and may God Bless.

She's doing three newscasts solo as the anchor while doing the sports besides and they think they can do better? Where are we? Idaho?
What happened to Rob Carlin anyway?

Maybe now Ch2 can get some personnel to boost their ratings. Its been a long time since they even came close. A change has been indicated for years -maybe now...Who knows.

She's just a victim of the general implosion of the American economy, especially local media. Let's hope someone else picks her up, maybe to replace Thorner for the second time in her career.

Great. Now I have a choice between obnoxious Rod (MikeN, you have no idea how right you are) or ditzy Denise. (Fox45 has good anchor personnel, but I want at least some pretense that my news is coming from somewhere *near* the middle!) One more reason to be glad I have one foot out of this hole of a state.

They should let MBM replace Katie Couric! Or maybe she'll pick up a Scripps (HGTV, etc.) show like Sandra Pinckney did... although that didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. Wonder what she's up to lately?

Rob Carlin is doing pre-and post-game for the NY Islanders. Good on him for jumping off the sinking WMAR ship.

Who cares? All the news is pre-packaged garbage anyway. Thank God for alternative media

MB Is a true professional! Continued success in your life and career!

Just another case of showing that local news is no longer important as a public service, only as a money maker. This market has the issue of cable and airwave availability of DC local news which makes a dog like WMAR really have fleas when it comes to ratings. With no hope of getting improved ad revenue, it makes economic sense to abandon all but maybe one half hour show with a different format.

Baltimore area residents are the poorer for it.

Mary Beth was new to Channel 2 when i first moved to Maryland. I've always enjoyed her presence on TV. She came across as professional, friendly and real. i wish her the best.

Dave could we see Mary Beth Marsden replaced Sally Thorner at WJZ like she did at channel 2 all those years ago? And channel 2 should just temp discoutinue there news operation also Rod Daniels is a good news anchor.

Hi Donta,

I don't think WJZ is looking to add any more salary. But I could be wrong. I do not think WMAR will discontinue news operation, but what emerges from this latest retooling could be drastically pared down. Rod Daniels is good, I agree. Z

Maybe she will replace Sally Thorner again?

Count me as one who is happy that Mary Beth is leaving. She has been around way too long. I cringed every time she yucked it up with Norm. Talk about hokey .Thank god for cable news which is less of an insult. I've been dumbed down by MB and Denise and Sally and ...... Get rid of all of them. Local news in Baltimore is a disgrace.

Mary Beth - enjoyed your telecasts when I lived in Baltimore (now in Florida). Best of luck in your next career step!

The only thing that Channel 2 can do now is to bring back - Action News, and I'm Tom Sweeney!

BIG DEAL. SHE NEVER MADE A RATINGS DENT AT WBAL OR WJZ. PAGING JENNIFER GLADSTONE!!!

Mary Beth - I always felt you were sincere. I hope you return to Baltimore news soon. Enjoy your time off! Good luck to you with whatever you choose to do.

Another sign of Baltimore's decline. This is a city that can't sustain two major newspapers, can't keep corporate headquarters and looks as though it can't sustain three local news channels. If it wasn't for Washington DC government jobs, we'd be considered Detroit-South. We certainly can keep the police busy trying to solve all the murders. I'll move wherever Mary Beth does.

Who watches local broadcast news
anymore?
TV news used to be a male with a
monotone drone who gave news,
weather, and sports. When TV
stations realized it was profits to
be had, they changed the format
by expanding it to an hour and told
anchors to tell the audience
they were their friends (whether they
actually met you or not was beside
the point). Eventually, blacks and blondes began to dominate, a circus
atmosphere prevailed, and you have
the mess you have today. Thank God
for the internet.

Wish MaryBeth well, she was much easier to take then those two chattering yenta's on JZ and maybe a hair behind Marriane on BAL.

If it bleeds, it leads. Thank you, Ms. Marsden, for helping to kill local "news."

why no mention of whether or not there is a non-compete clause.

She is free to go anywhere she wants. Z

Best wishes, good luck and enjoy your family !

Ch 2 still has Megan and Jamie in the morning. I find them entertaining. Good luck MBM.

How long before WMAR-TV goes blank?

The best thing Channel 2 can do for their news department is make Eric Cartman the lead anchor. What's the big deal about these local news anchors. They sit in front of a teleprompter and read us what's written in the Baltimore Sunpapers. They have no talent other than their ability to read. If reading is a talent, I say they have open mic at 6pm and we all can stand in line to read the lastest news to those that aren't watching anyway. Local news is like watching a talent show for 5th graders. They even have traffic reports for all of us who are already stuck in traffic. How many of us are watching the traffic report while we're sitting at a dead stop on I-95?

Is it just me? I cannot understand the point of Dirk's comment. MBM is an anchor. She is not a producer. She does not have the deciding role in determining what "leads", bleeding or otherwise.

I thought that she was good. Brought more personality to the job that some of her competitors.

Now that 2 and 45 have had to make obvious cuts in what were already mediocre news operations, can't they create a partnership (becoming more common in other cities)? They could combine their news operations and produce newscasts together -- cutting out duplication. The shows could air on 45 at 5:30 and 10 and on 2 at 6:00 and 11. With a little creativity, they could even combine their morning shows.

Mary Beth' s sincerity of broadcast was best exemplified by her demeanor no matter what news formatting was being used.

She never acted like she was personally wounded by a tragic news story, nor did she offer the overly dramatic isn't-that-just-awful condescending attitude so prevalent in today's media.

And yet, her delivery was not stiff or vacuous. There was always a comfortable connection offered by her regardless if she was giving a meaty news story or a chummy lead-in to those rising temperatures we've been hearing about.

I'm not smart enough to know what role a local news show on television has in today's media frenzy but whatever that role is, it would be better off with more Mary Beth Marsden types -- not fewer.

Indeed the local news landscape is now
primarily composed of a group of aging house frau-like women and a bunch of glib
black guys. Can you believe that Oprah emerged from this mire?

This is very sad news. Mary Beth is one local celebrity that makes Baltimore truly feel like home. She will be missed! I hope Norm can stick around...at least for a little while.

With so many departures recently, I'm surprised ABC2 still has a newscast. The reason I watch 2 is for Jamie Costello in the morning and MB at 5, 6 and 11. While Terry Owens seems like a nice guy, I don't think he could carry 5, 6 and 11 on his own. Any word of what the plan is for Channel 2? Back in the day Sandra Pickney, Jo Anne Bauer, Denise Dory or even Janet Roach probably could have transitioned in without much trouble - but short of Megan Pringle moving from GMM to evenings, I don't see any logical choices.

She'll be on channel 13 by Feb 1.

I remember working at the FanFest in 1993 when the baseball all-star game was here. I met Mary Beth. Originally, I didn't recognize that it was her because of her height......lol.

But overall, she was very kind. You will be missed, MB!!

She is gone because she was UNION. When reagan(notice lower case for that idiot) started the bust the union craze Americans didn"t understand that the big money conservatives would end up cutting saleries,benefits and hours of non-union workers. Now they are cutting so many jobs (and blaming the current administration ) and outsourcing them to countries with camels, pyramids, pagodas and sombreros at one third the pay and no perks. And then they sit on their Wall St. A$$e$ and worry about thr DOW. How can we bring back jobs if all of them are out of the country. Bumper stickers use to say "BUY AMERICAN". We need new ones that say "HIRE AN AMERICAN". AND A MESSAGE TO DIC TOM---YOU'RE A MORON !!!

I'm sorry to see Mary Beth leaving channel 2 - she is a fine reporter, as are all of the reporters on there. I watch channel 2 every evening and have always liked MB very much and admired her dignified, professional manner. I wish her well. My only complaint about channel 2 is that I feel they concentrate far too much on the violent, negative side of life here in Greater Baltimore. I've had visitors staying with me who have seen the channel 2 news and they get an appallingly negative view of life around here and leave with the impression that it's all fires, drugs, gangs and violence here. Channel 2 really needs to focus more on the positive side of life here as there are indeed a lot of talented, intelligent, people contributing to the world at large in a positive way here in Maryland. We need to see more of that and less of the negative stuff. Anyway, I wish MB all life's best!

I'm sorry to see Mary Beth leaving channel 2 - she is a fine reporter, as are all of the reporters on there. I watch channel 2 every evening and have always liked MB very much and admired her dignified, professional manner. I wish her well. My only complaint about channel 2 is that I feel they concentrate far too much on the violent, negative side of life here in Greater Baltimore. I've had visitors staying with me who have seen the channel 2 news and they get an appallingly negative view of life around here and leave with the impression that it's all fires, drugs, gangs and violence here. Channel 2 really needs to focus more on the positive side of life here as there are indeed a lot of talented, intelligent, people contributing to the world at large in a positive way here in Maryland. We need to see more of that and less of the negative stuff. Anyway, I wish MB all life's best!

On the rare times I watch WMAR news lately, I wondered if MB had a large glass of water as she never stopped relating the news. Do they have any reporters there? Then again, on weekends, it is like watching QVC (if I had cable), it is one info commercial show again and again. WMAR hs reached a new low for television, they show just give up their license and go blank. Other than Jeopardy (and then only if I watch it on a Washington channel, the only thing I watch and even then not on a regular basic, it Dancing with the Stars. I do wish MB well and hope to see her on another station, maybe we can lose some of the goofiest on the other stations.

Hi Tammy, Thanks for your comment. It had to be a tremendous grind for her to carry so much of the load three shows a night. Z

I like the "local" connection, something missing from the "big guys" down the road. I am going to miss MBM, as I have missed the other (male) reporters/anchors let go in recent years. Until it was brought up, hadn't really thought about the sports coverage. Well ABC has let go of doing broadcasted sports, why not the local stations too. Really, the only thing left is weather with Justin (for now).

I think MBM is the best local anchor in Baltimore. She is articulate, intelligent, genuine, and actually seems to listen to what she is saying. I will miss her broadcasts, but I'm sure she will have no problems finding a position doing whatever she wants.

MB will be missed. I remember the good days of the Friends you can turn to? I always enjoyed the times when I worked with her on the weekends along with Big Don O'Brian and Keith Mills. Those were the days. She will be missed but I would bet money not forgotten as she will be back on the air in B-more.

I hate to see Mary Beth go. I think that she is the best anchor during the evening news and the content of the broadcast is very substantive. I don't know what WMAR is doing but I think its a bad idea to let her leave.

Whatever happened (long ago) to Dina Napoli and Audrey Barnes? I liked them but never heard of where they went; they just disappeared one day!

Mary Beth will indeed be missed.I watch the 11pm news every night on Ch 2 and Mary Beth is like family. She is a respected and responsible news
journalist and she is respected in the community.
What was the management of Ch 2 thinking??? I hope another local station has the good sense to hire her. I plan to change my channel to where ever she will be working next.
Best wishes to Mary Beth !

Mary C

Mary Beth!!! I wish you all the best. You were so nice to meet with me long ago in B'more when I was starting out. My Maryland friends are going to miss seeing you every night.. Take good care & have a Merry Christmas with your family.

MBM I shall surely miss U.
However I know U shall RETURN.
The sooner the better.
Until then,'GOD BLESS&STAY WELL.

Gene.

first Norm Now Mary Beth There is nothing left. Is it true the station is going out of the local news reporting?

The departure of Mary Beth Marsden plus the departure of Norm Lewis equals no reason to watch WMAR news anymore. That is all.