A St. Louis news station issued an apology after one of their news anchors called Black homeowners "colored" during a segment about discriminatory housing practices.
KMOV news anchor Cory Stark began his story with the outdated term:
“Tonight, colored homeowners are sounding the alarm when it comes to undervalued home appraisals."
The news anchor and the station were called out immediately, with many wondering if anyone at KMOV even noticed the error in the first place.
National Association of Black Journalists issued a statement on its website Friday, calling out the station for using the term.
“The term is outdated, offensive and racist."
“We are concerned that no one in the KMOV newsroom caught this error, and we question KMOV’s editorial process when it comes to cultural awareness.”
Both KMOV, which is a CBS affiliate, and Stark issued apologies over the incident.
Stark apologized on air last week, telling viewers:
“The word should have never come out of my mouth, and it does not reflect who I am or what First Alert 4 represents."
JD Sosnoff, vice president and general manager of KMOV, claimed the term was "mistakenly read" after a last-minute script change.
“It was in an original script as ‘homeowners of color’ and was inadvertently changed and mistakenly read on air."
“We regret the error and apologized to our viewers on air.”
Some people on social media appreciated Stark's on-air apology.
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Steve Harmon/Facebook
@stltoday I appreciate them addressing it and hope the person that changed the words in the teleprompter is held accountable.— (@)
Others don't believe the station or the anchor properly took ownership of the error.
Steve Harmon/Facebook
And many are still baffled as to how the term went unnoticed, both in the script beforehand and when it was read aloud.
Steve Harmon/Facebook
Steve Harmon/Facebook
Steve Harmon/Facebook
Steve Harmon/Facebook
Steve Harmon/Facebook
St. Louis County NAACP President John Bowman believed Stark's error was an innocent oversight and the anchor meant no harm intentionally.
“Trust me, I’ve had enough experience dealing with people who intentionally show discrimination or racist behaviors."
“But I’ve interacted with Cory Stark, and at no time have I ever felt that about him.”
How this happened in the first place is beyond comprehension, but we can almost guarantee it won't happen again, at least at KMOV.
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