WEWS morning anchor Jackie Fernandez and meteorologist Somara Theodore no longer work at the Cleveland ABC affiliate after getting tickets to a concert given by Jay Z for Hillary Clinton.
A Scripps spokesperson confirmed with TVSpy, the two no longer work at the station.
Theodore
FTVLive reported the two bought the tickets on company time and posted about it on social media.
News director Jeff Harris told cleveland.com the station won’t talk about internal matters, “However, News 5 holds all of its journalists to the highest ethical standards.”
The concert, headlined by Jay Z, is one of many concerts being given to encourage young people to support Clinton.
“It is important to the reputation of our station and to Scripps, our parent company, that our news coverage is fair and unbiased,” Harris said. “Those crucial qualities have been emphasized repeatedly during this contentious election season.
Fernandez
“We remind our journalists frequently to avoid even the appearance of support for any sides of this election. It is imperative that we maintain objectivity in the work we do to serve our communities in NE Ohio.”
Meteorologist Somara Theodore arrived in Cleveland last spring from Savannah, Georgia.
WEWS Channel 5Harris said the station is still figuring out staffing for the morning show going forward.