Pittsburgh anchor Wendy Bell has been fired from ABC affiliate WTAE.
“WTAE has ended its relationship with anchor Wendy Bell,” Hearst said in a statement. “Wendy’s recent comments on a WTAE Facebook page were inconsistent with the company’s ethics and journalistic standards.”
Bell, who was with the station for 18 years, recently posted a story on Facebook where she gave her opinion about who was responsible for a recent mass shooting.
“They are young black men, likely teens or in their early 20s,” wrote Bell. “They have multiple siblings from 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. They’ve made the circuit and nothing has scared them enough. Now they are lost. Once you kill a neighbor’s three children, two nieces and her unborn grandson, there’s no coming back. There’s nothing nice to say about that.”
The station gm Charles Wolfertz went on air shortly after the post became news and apologized to viewers.
A Hearst Television spokesman declined further comment.
[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]