A LOCAL ANCHOR IN PITTSBURGH WAS FIRED AFTER SHE POSTED
STEREOTYPICAL COMMENTS ABOUT BLACK INDIVIDUALS ON HER
PUBLIC FACEBOOK PAGE.
LIKE MOST PUBLIC FIGURES, SHE HAS A PUBLIC PAGE THAT
ANYONE CAN READ, INCLUDING HER FANS, AND SHE HAD SOME
CHOICE WORDS FOR MEMBERS OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
SOME CONTEXTS.
THERE WAS A TERRIBLE SHOOTING THAT OCCURRED IN A
PITTSBURGH SUBURBS.
REPORTS SAY THAT AT THE END OF THE AMBUSH THAT HAPPENED AT
A BARBECUE, FOUR PEOPLE WERE INJURED AND SIX WERE DEAD,
INCLUDING A WOMAN WHO WAS EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT.
THE ASSAILANTS FLED THE SCENE.
UNDERSTAND THAT AT THE POINT THAT WENDY BELL MADE HER
STATEMENTS ON FACEBOOK, THE ANCHOR, POLICE HAD NOT
RELEASED ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUSPECTS.
WE KNEW NO INFORMATION ABOUT THEM WHATSOEVER, BUT
WENDY BELL WENT ON HER FACEBOOK PAGE AND WROTE THE FOLLOWING.
" YOU NEEDN'T BE A CRIMINAL PROFILER TO DRIVE A MENTAL
SKETCH OF THE KILLERS WHO BROKE SO MANY HEARTS.
THEY ARE YOUNG BLACK MEN, LIKELY TEENS OR IN THEIR EARLY 20S.
THEY HAVE MULTIPLE SIBLINGS FOR MULTIPLE FATHERS AND THEIR
MOTHERS WORK MULTIPLE JOBS.
THESE BOYS HAVE BEEN IN THE SYSTEM BEFORE.
THEY'VE GROWN UP THERE.
THEY KNOW THE POLICE.
THEY'VE BEEN ARRESTED."
SHE HAS ALREADY CONCLUDED THAT THE ASSAILANTS ARE BLACK,
WHICH AGE GROUP THEY ARE IN, SHE HAS ALREADY CONCLUDED WHAT
THEIR FAMILY HISTORY WISE, ALL THIS BEFORE SHE HAD ANY
EVIDENCE OR INFORMATION OF WHO THE ACTUAL SUSPECTS ARE.
AS A RESULT SHE GOT FIRED.
SHE ALSO TALKED ABOUT HOW HER HUSBAND AND HER WENT TO A HOUSE
ñ HOW SHE AND HER HUSBAND WENT TO A RESTAURANT AND HIM ñ
THEY ENCOUNTERED A YOUNG BLACK CHILD THERE, SHE SAID THIS.
THEN SHE GOES ON TO TALK ABOUT HOW SHE TALKED TO HIS
MANAGER AND SAID, YOU KNOW THAT KID IS GOING TO MAKE IT.
AND THEN SHE FELT GOOD ABOUT HERSELF BECAUSE SHE FELT
LIKE THAT ENCOURAGEMENT WAS GOING TO ENCOURAGE HIM TO
DO THE RIGHT THINGS IN LIFE, AND ALL OF THESE OTHER BLACK
PEOPLE COMMIT ALL OF THESE CRIMES BECAUSE THEY DON'T
HAVE STRONG, INTELLIGENT, INDEPENDENT MOTHERS.
PUSHING A LOT OF DIFFERENT STEREOTYPES IN A PUBLIC FORUM,
AS A SOMEBODY WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE A BROADCAST JOURNALIST.
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.
I CANNOT BE AS MAD AT HER AS I WANT TO, BECAUSE IT IS A
REALLY EMOTIONAL TIME FOR PITTSBURGH.
EVEN THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY SAID THAT THIS WAS THE MOST BRUTAL
CRIME THEY HAD SEEN IN EIGHTEEN YEARS, AND THIS WOMAN HAS THESE
IDEAS THAT REEK WHITE SAVIOR
COMPLEX, THAT REEK OF INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM, BUT IT
IS NOT OUTWARDLY INCITING HATE
SPEECH.
I THINK AT SOME POINT WE NEED TO ALLOW THESE CONVERSATIONS
TO HAPPEN IN A PUBLIC FORUM.
SO WHEN PEOPLE GET TOGETHER AND SAID INSTANTLY THAT WE NEED
TO FIRE THIS PERSON INSTEAD OF COMMUNICATING WITH HER AND
SAYING, HERE IS WHY WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS WRONG AND HAVE THAT
BACK AND FORTH COMMUNICATION, IMMEDIATELY THE TELEVISION
STATION FIRING THIS PERSON IS NOT THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
I FEEL LIKE THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT OPENS THE DOOR
TO BACK AND FORTH DISCOURSE.
BUT I THINK IT WAS REALLY IRRESPONSIBLE OF HER
BECAUSE SHE IS A SEASONED NEWS ANCHOR.
21 EMMYS, FOR GOSH SAKES, SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER.
THAT IS WHAT I WAS ASTOUNDED BY.
THE RHETORIC COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER, I DON'T KNOW IF IT
IS NECESSARILY GROUNDS TO FIRE HER LIKE THAT, AND A LOT OF
PEOPLE ARE BOYCOTTING THE STATION.
THEY ARE BOYCOTTING THE STATION BECAUSE SHE GOT FIRED.
THERE WAS A POSITION TO HAVE HER FIRED THAT WAS SIGNED BY
1000 PEOPLE, AND THEN AFTER SHE GOT ñ
VIDEO BUFFERING ñ
IT IS ONE THING IF THEY HAD NAMED TO THE SUSPECTS WERE,
AND THEN SHE SHARED HER STEREOTYPICAL VIEWS ON
FACEBOOK, THEN I'M WILLING TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT,
HEY YOU KNOW WHAT?
THESE ARE NOT HEALTHY STEREOTYPES TO BE PUSHING, OR
ANY STEREOTYPES ARE NOT HEALTHY TO BE PUSHING ON A
PROFESSIONAL PAGE WHERE PEOPLE LOOK TO YOU FOR AN OPINION,
BUT IT IS ESPECIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE TO DO IT
BEFORE ANY SUSPECTS HAVE BEEN NAMED AT ALL.
YOU HAVE ALREADY DETERMINED THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE BLACK, YOU
HAVE NO IDEA.
YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO REPORT ON SOMETHING UNTIL YOU KNOW
THE FACTS.
SHE KNOWS THE DEMOGRAPHIC MAKEUP OF HER COMMUNITY.
I'M AWARE OF WHY SHE MADE THIS ASSUMPTION, AND
UNFORTUNATELY SHE WAS RIGHT.
WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY IS, I GUESS I'M REALLY AGITATED
WITH EVERYONE ALWAYS CONSTANTLY CENSORING OTHER PEOPLE'S
PERSONAL OPINIONS.
THIS IS NOT HER PERSONAL ñ PERSONAL OPINION, YOU WANT
TO SHARE WITH YOUR FAMILY THAT IS FINE, SHE SHARED IT ON ñ
SHE DID JOURNALISTS, THE INTERNET LENDS ITSELF TO
THAT THESE DAYS.
EVERYONE IS A PUBLIC PERSON THESE DAYS.
I DO THIS, I HAVE 6000
FOLLOWERS, WHICH IS NOTHING, BUT TO SOME DEGREE IT IS PUBLIC.
WHAT I PUT OUT THERE CAN BE INTERPRETED IN DIFFERENT
WAYS AND BE USED AGAINST ME.
SHE WAS A FIXTURE OF THE COMMUNITY AS A PERSON WHO
PROVIDED NEWS TO THAT COMMUNITY, THAT IS WHY I THINK IT WAS
IRRESPONSIBLE AND WHY SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
I DON'T KNOW IF SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED FOR IT BECAUSE I
THINK IT IS A TEACHING MOMENT.
I DON'T THINK SHE MEANT THESE VIEWS FROM A PLACE OF HATE,
I AGREE WITH YOU IT IS NOT HATE SPEECH, BUT SHE SHOULD HAVE
KNOWN BETTER.
AND SHEEP ñ SHE APOLOGIZED PROFUSELY.
A LOT OF THE COMMENTS WERE IN POOR TASTE, THE COMMENT
ABOUT THE KID IN THE RESTAURANT, COME ON, THIS IS NOT THE BLIND
SIDE, YOU ARE A JOURNALIST, YOU ARE A NEWS ANCHOR.
WHAT BOTHERED ME THE MOST WAS HER SPECULATION TO BEGIN
WITH, SPECULATION OVER EVERYTHING.
BUT THEN ON TOP OF THAT, MAKING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE
FAMILY THAT THESE KIDS CAME FROM, OR THESE GUYS CAME
FROM, I THINK THAT WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND.
YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SPECULATE AS A PROFESSIONAL
NEWS PERSON.
WE SPECULATE ON THIS SHOW WHEN WE ARE DOING SILLY STORIES,
POP-CULTURE STORIES, BUT WHEN YOU ARE DOING A STORY ABOUT
HOW SIX PEOPLE WERE INJURED AND FOUR WERE KILLED, YOU ARE
NOT SUPPOSED TO SPECULATE.
IF YOU WANT TO COMMENT ONCE YOU HAVE THE FACTS, I'M TOTALLY
OKAY WITH IT, BUT YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL IN THE WAY THAT YOU
STATE YOUR OPINIONS.
POINTING A FINGER TO THE MOTHERS I THINK GOES ABOVE AND
BEYOND WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO.
SHE WAS NOT POINTING A FINGER AT THE MOTHERS IN HER COMMENTARY,
I THINK SHE WAS SAYING THESE CHILDREN ARE DOING ALL OF
THESE THINGS DESPITE THEIR MOTHERS WORKING MULTIPLE JOBS.
THE RACIST COMMENT WAS ABOUT THE FATHERS.
THAT'S TRUE, HOW THE FUCK YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FATHERS?