Sinclair Broadcasting executives apologized after anchors at one of its stations in Arkansas wore afro wigs during a newscast last week to invoke “the 70s.” KATV anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt donned the wigs on camera last Thursday as they spoke of a cold front moving through their area. The station held a Zoom meeting Wednesday to discuss the incident as well as racism in the news business. A regional manager for Sinclair, John Seabers, previously issued a separate apology, calling the incident “abhorrent” and “juvenile.” In the Zoom meeting, Seabers said the network had taken “significant” disciplinary action against those involved and implored concerned viewers, including one Black activist who had written a letter expressing her disappointment, to “give me a chance.” Dorothy Tucker, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, tweeted late Thursday that the station’s news director had been fired. She also tweeted out a picture of a Mammy doll she said had been left at the desk of a new Black anchor as a welcome present.
This just in: The News Director @KATVNews has been fired. @WeAreSinclair We hope this is an indication of your commitment to provide a newsroom that values and respects Black employees. https://t.co/UrmNMQ8dhs
