By Zuri Anderson
(Source BIN)
A Missouri television station is facing backlash after one of their news anchors called Black homeowners “colored,” an outdated racial term, during a live broadcast. St. Louis-based KMOV apologized to viewers for a February 26 on-air preview covering racial bias on home appraisals, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“Tonight, colored homeowners are sounding the alarm when it comes to undervalued home appraisals,” anchor Cory Stark, who is white, said live.
The live blunder triggered criticism from viewers, the community, and several Black-focused organizations. In a statement issued on March 1, the National Association of Black Journalists slammed the news station for using an “outdated, offensive and racist” term.
“Given that St. Louis’ population is 43% Black, and the city is no stranger to racial strife, we would hope KMOV would be more sensitive in how it covers the Black community,” the statement reads.
JD Sosnoff, KMOV’s vice president and general manager, said Stark unintentionally deviated from the original script and tried to remedy the mistake.
“It was in an original script as ‘homeowners of color’ and was inadvertently changed and mistakenly read on air,” Sosnoff told reporters.
The news station issued apologies in two broadcasts last week, including one from Stark himself.
“The word should have never come out of my mouth, and it does not reflect who I am or what First Alert 4 represents,” the anchor stated, per the newspaper.
NABJ acknowledged KMOV’s apologies but urged the news station to retrain staff and invest in “recruiting and retaining Black employees both on and off-air.”
St. Louis County NAACP President John Bowman also condemned the incident but believes there wasn’t any malicious intent behind Stark’s mistake.
“Trust me, I’ve had enough experience dealing with people who intentionally show discrimination or racist behavior,” Bowman told the Post-Dispatch. “But I’ve interacted with Cory Stark, and at no time have I ever felt that about him.”
