Pittsburgh's WTAE anchor and reporter Wendy Bell has been fired for making racist comments about a suburban shooting that left four people dead
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WTAE severed their ties with Wendy Bell following her virulent rant
She was referring to an ambush in Pittsburgh on March 9 that left four dead
Claimed suspects were likely 'young black men... in their early 20s'
Added that they probably have 'multiple siblings from multiple fathers'
Continue to story ...
She apologized for the remarks just 48 hours before she was fired
Parent company Hearst Television said her remarks were 'inconsistent with ethics and journalistic standards'
A Pittsburgh TV station has fired a white anchorwoman over racist comments she posted on Facebook about a deadly mass shooting.
WTAE
severed ties with Wendy Bell following her controversial comments she
made about a suburban ambush that left five people - including a
pregnant woman and her unborn child - dead on March 9.
Parent company Hearst Television said Bell's comments were 'inconsistent with the company's ethics and journalistic standards.'
It comes less than 48 hours after the journalist, who has won 21 Emmys, apologized for the vulgar remarks.
In
the virulent rant on March 21, she wrote: 'You needn't be a criminal
profiler to draw a mental sketch of the killers who broke so many hearts
two weeks ago Wednesday.
'They are young black men, likely teens or in their early 20s.
'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.'
She
also goes on to contrast the 'young black men' with a black teen she
witnessed bussing tables at a restaurant, saying that teen would 'make
it'.
Bell
also mentions how she praised the black teen's work ethic to the
restaurant manager, then wondered 'how long it had been since someone
told him he was special'.
Authorities have not made any arrests in the killings or provided a description of the possible suspects.
Siblings
Jerry Michael Shelton, 35, Brittany Powell, 27, and Chanetta Powell,
25, along with two cousins, Tina Shelton, 37, and Shada Mahone, 26, were
killed in the ambush shooting, police said. Chanetta Powell was nearly
eight months pregnant.
On
Wednesday, Bell defended herself, saying she didn't get a 'fair shake'
from the station, and that the story was not about her, but about
'African-Americans being killed by other African-Americans.'
Bell's Facebook comments have now been
removed, but claimed the unidentified suspects of the shooting were
'young black men' and that one didn't have to be a 'criminal profiler'
to image that
'It
makes me sick,' she told The Associated Press when reached at her home
on Wednesday. 'What matters is what's going on in America, and it is the
death of black people in this country. ... I live next to three
war-torn communities in the city of Pittsburgh, that I love dearly.
'My
stories, they struck a nerve. They touched people, but it's not enough.
More needs to be done. The problem needs to be addressed.'
Bell joined WTAE in 1998 and has won 21 Emmy Awards.
Her
post drew mixed reactions from viewers. Some saw her comments as
offensive and called for her firing, while others said the comments were
not racist and applauded her honesty. Facebook pages in support and
opposition of Bell were created in the wake of the incident.
Parent company Hearst
Television said Bell's (pictured with some of her 21 Emmys) comments
were 'inconsistent with the company's ethics and journalistic
standards.'
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