40+ employees, only 8 Blacks. KATV-TV, Channel 7, News Director Nick Genty has been fired by Sinclair Broadcast Group amid outrage from viewers and the National Association of Black Journalists over a pattern of behavior in the ABC affiliates newsroom. // ============================================== The news director for KATV, Channel 7, has been fired, Sinclair Broadcast Group confirmed Friday. Sinclair officials confirmed the firing Friday, and KATV later issued a statement to Adweek.com saying that "swift action was important to hold the responsible parties accountable." The station was criticized after a white anchor appeared on air wearing an afro wig to celebrate weather in the 70-degree range, calling the segment a return to the 70s, according to a Twitter post from Dorothy Tucker, president of the National Association of Black Journalists. Klein's imminent exit was first reported by FTVLive' - NY Times"; Whitfield sought a public apology for the station's "thoughtless subversive racism," and called for "culturally competent training and education" for the entire KATV news and production teams. KATV ABC 7 in Little Rock, Arkansas covers news, sports, weather and the local community in the city and the surrounding area, including Hot Springs, Conway, Pine . The news director for KATV, Channel 7, has been fired, Sinclair Broadcast Group confirmed Friday. Anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt have apparently been sidelined after appearing in curly black wigs during a segment in the 10 p.m. newscast Sept. 16 linking the return of temperatures to the 70s with a throwback theme of the 1970s. if(window.ImageLoader) window.ImageLoader.bootstrap({}, document);Squarespace.afterBodyLoad(Y); FTVLive FIRST reported in a Patron Only story. // Set up the quotations to be shown, below. // pattern, adding to the array. The Bank Holiday excitement is a bit too much for some! KATV later released a statement to Adweek.com: It was determined through our investigation into the recent events at KATV that swift action was important to hold the responsible parties accountable. It was a spoof on the 70s that just went wrong., This is beyond disappointing @KATV. On Oct. 4, Tucker posted on Twitter: We had productive conversations with @WeAreSinclair CEO and upper management. Sinclair Group Manager John Seabers said Nick Genty was suspended Sept. 17, but Seabers declined to say when or why Genty was terminated, saying the date was "inconsequential" and that he does not comment on personnel matters. Quotation[4] = "'FTVLive a TV news website that is often on the money' - LA Times"; A person that works for Sinclair, but not KATV tells FTVLive that the two are set to return to work at some point next week. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. The two faced backlash from local activists for the stunt and one of the parent stations execs issued an apology. May, a Little Rock native who returned home in 2016 after big-market stints in Boston and Philadelphia, said he was sorry and thankful for being given a second chance, adding we must do better. Brandt, a KATV mainstay since 1997, said hed been insensitive in making what he once believed was a lighthearted reference to the 1970s using a prop [the wigs] during my forecast. He said hed learned from the criticism, which included complaints from the National Association of Black Journalists and several Channel 7 viewers who were offended.
