Former WDAM news director Miranda Beard went public with why she’s out at the Raycom-owned Hattiesburg, Miss., NBC affiliate.
“I was fired after the station received a tweet of a slide I had used when I spoke to school leaders after I stopped in Jackson, Mississippi, on my way back from a trip to Tennessee to check on my very sick father, who is making a slow transition from this life, and my mother, who had surgery,” Beard told those attending a press conference set up by the local NAACP on Sunday.
Beard had worked at WDAM for more than 30 years. The Hattiesburg American reports a local politician is calling for a boycott of the station over Beard’s firing.
WDAM GM Joe Sciortino told the Hattiesburg American, “I hope you understand that we do not comment on personnel matters.”
“Those who dismissed me—General Manager Joe Sciortino and News Director Nick Ortego—said they cannot talk about this,” said Beard. “But I can. I want you to know I am not bitter. I am not angry. I am not a former disgruntled employee.”