Christine Craft challenged the different standards by which male and female on-air broadcast news anchors were being judged in the U.S. media industries in a federal district courtroom. 

Craft's broadcast career began in 1974, when, when she was 29. She took a job as a weather reporter in Salinas, California. In 1977, Craft was hired by the CBS television network to do features on women athletes for CBS Sports Spectacular for the segment entitled "Women in Sports." According to Craft, this was her first experience with being "made over," and she hated it. Among the physical characteristics that were altered was her hair, bleached so that she appeared on-camera as a platinum blonde. After a year at CBS, Craft returned to California where she again worked in several news positions including co-anchor for the ABC affiliate in Santa Barbara.

Craft's life changed when she received a phone call from the Metromedia, Inc. ABC affiliate in Kansas City. According to Craft, a consulting firm had made a tape of her without her permission or knowledge and marketed it around the country. Based on her experience at CBS, Craft states that she told the station management that she "showed signs of her age and experience" and was not willing to be made over. She interviewed and auditioned for KMBC studios and won a two year contract. Eight months later, Craft was informed that she had been demoted to reporter because focus group research had indicated that she was "too old, too unattractive and wouldn't defer to men." Craft decided to challenge the action of management, and when asked for a comment on why she was no longer anchor she, told a Kansas City newspaper what had occurred.

Craft left the station in Kansas City and returned to television news in Santa Barbara, where for two years she prepared a breach of contract lawsuit against Metromedia. In a ten-day trial held at Federal District Court in Kansas City, at the conclusion of which the jury unanimously returned a verdict in favor of Craft, awarding her $500,000 in damages. United States District Court Judge Joseph E. Stevens, Jr. then threw out the verdict, and called for a second trial in Joplin, Missouri. After a six-day trial in Joplin, the jury again returned a verdict in favor of Craft. Metromedia appealed, and the 8th Circuit Court threw out the second verdict. When the U.S. Supreme Court would not hear the case, Craft's years of litigation ended.