While on-air teasing a story about Black homeowners, a local St. Louis news anchor referred instead to "colored" homeowners, prompting mea culpas. "Last night at this time, I read an outdated racial term on-air during a story," KMOV anchor Cory Stark said on February 27, NBC News reports. "The word should have never come out of my mouth, and it does not reflect who I am or what First Alert 4 represents. It was unacceptable, and we are meeting with community members as we strive to do better every day." The TV station explained to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the script originally read "homeowners of color," but that the words were "inadvertently changed and mistakenly read on air," the Guardian reports.
The National Association of Black Journalists spoke out after the incident, calling the term "outdated, offensive, and racist" and voicing concern that no one in the station's newsroom noticed the error. "Given that St Louis's 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," it said in its statement. It suggested employees be re-trained on diversity, equity, and inclusion. (More Missouri stories.)
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